Antofagasta Navigates Mixed 2025 Results Amid Copper Decline and Precious Metals Growth

Mining major Antofagasta released its full-year 2025 production results, revealing a divergent performance across its commodity portfolio. While copper output—the company’s primary product—contracted 2% year-over-year to 653,700 tonnes, the diversification strategy proved effective, with significant gains in gold and molybdenum production cushioning the decline.

Copper Production Dips as Antofagasta Pursues Diversification

Antofagasta’s copper production of 653,700 tonnes marked a modest retreat from 2024 levels, reflecting operational challenges and market dynamics in the mining sector. However, the company’s focus on by-product recovery and mine optimization delivered stronger results in higher-margin commodities. This shift in production dynamics underscores the importance of portfolio diversification in managing commodity price volatility.

Gold and Molybdenum Shine Brighter in the Antofagasta Portfolio

The real bright spot in Antofagasta’s 2025 results emerged from precious metals and specialty products. Gold production surged 13% year-over-year to 211,300 ounces, while molybdenum output jumped 48% year-on-year, demonstrating the company’s improving efficiency in recovering high-value by-products. These gains highlight how operational improvements at existing mines are unlocking additional value beyond copper extraction.

2026 Production Forecast: Growth Expected Across the Board

Looking ahead, Antofagasta has guided for a recovery in copper output in 2026, projecting production between 650,000 and 700,000 tonnes. A key driver of this growth will be incremental contributions from the Los Pelambres mine, signaling the company’s commitment to ramping up production capacity. By-product guidance for 2026 targets 215,000-235,000 ounces of gold and 12.5-14.0 tonnes of molybdenum, suggesting Antofagasta expects to maintain momentum in higher-margin products.

Market Response to Antofagasta’s Performance

At the previous close, Antofagasta shares were trading at 3,708 pence, down 1.28%, as investors weighed the production decline against the broader portfolio gains and 2026 growth prospects. The market’s initial reaction reflects the balance between near-term copper headwinds and longer-term diversification benefits that Antofagasta is pursuing.