Atalaya Mining (ATYM) will stop production at the Riotinto copper mine in Spain, after the government tightened restrictions to halt the Covid-19 outbreak.
The shutdown will last until 10 April at least, with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez moving the closures to include all but a few essential sectors. Mining did not make the cut. Last week, the miner said it would release its 2019 results after the two week delay requested by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ends on 5 April.
The miner was already under pressure from the decline in the copper price, which has fallen by about $1,000 (£807) a tonne (t) since the start of March, to around $4,700/t. Its production guidance for 2020 was 55,000-58,000t, a sizeable increase on 2019’s 42,114t. These added tonnes come from the new processing plant, which has been in operation since January.
Atalaya said it would have some workers on site during the shutdown in care and maintenance roles. Its full-year operating costs for 2019 aren’t available yet but the first half’s cash cost of almost $4,000/t shows is much higher than other copper miners in London.
Its share price was down 7 per cent on the shutdown news, to 7 per cent.
