Higher copper output boost Atlas unit Carmen's H1 revenues 13%

Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corp. said its wholly-owned subsidiary Carmen Copper Corporation (CCC) posted first half revenues at P7 billion, up 13 percent from a year earlier. Driving the revenue growth is a 33-percent increase in the subsidiary’s copper production despite weaker copper price for the period. CCC produced 45.03 million pounds from 33.87 million pounds in the first semester, when copper was priced at $3.66 per pound from $4.17 last year. In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange Tuesday, Atlas said its two new 6-megawatt ball mills and flotation equipment prompted the expansion in the subsidiary’s production. “With our early action on the purchase of two brand new ball mills that will boost CCC’s processing capacity, the planned throughput buildup from 40,000 tonnes of copper ore per day to 60,000 tonnes of copper ore per day will be attained by mid-2013 instead of mid-2014 as initially projected,” Atlas executive vice president Adrian Ramos added in a statement. The core income of the Atlas subsidiary valued at P1.66 billion, already 72 percent of its core income for the whole 2011. Consolidated net income amounted to P1.61 billion. “The milestones that we have already achieved reinforce the competitiveness and sustainability of our operations. They are strong indicators of the company’s readiness to maximize earnings from a resurgence in the price of copper,” Ramos said. - Marc Jayson Cayabyab/BM, GMA News