Miner Anglo American missed expectations with an almost 40 per cent drop in profits as faltering global economic growth hit prices, and the miner sparked further disappointment with a 12-month delay for its trouble-prone Brazilian iron ore project.
mining major to report first-half earnings, came in below market forecasts with a 38 per cent drop in operating profit to USD 3.7 bn, a miss blamed on spiralling production costs.
“The bigger disappointment was around Minas Rio, where there has been an announcement of a further 12-month delay which is conditional upon getting all of the necessary regulatory, environmental approvals and clearing the legal hurdles by the end of 2012,” Nomura analyst Patrick Jones said.
Anglo is not alone in facing licensing woes in Brazil, where rival Vale and others have also been hit by delays.