Antofagasta (ANTO) turned in full-year cash profits of $2.22bn (£1.5bn) - down 18 per cent on the 2013 total but broadly in line with expectations. Analysts had anticipated lower profits on the back of falling ore grades and lower copper prices, but the miner, which is majority owned by Chile's Luksic family, has also had to contend with protests and a lawsuit affecting its flagship Los Pelambres mine.
Lower grades pushed annual production back by 2.3 per cent to 704,800 tonnes. Antofagasta is targeting 710,000 tonnes in 2015, although the impact of the disruption at Los Pelambres could force a rethink. A Chilean court has ruled that Antofagasta must demolish a dam that protesters claim is reducing local water availability. Antofagasta is appealing the decision, but the protests have already sapped expected copper production at the mine by 8,000 tonnes.