Sociedad Minera Cerro Verde reported earnings and production results for the third quarter and capex for the nine months of 2015. The company posted a USD 6.7 million profit compared with a USD 85.3 million profit a year earlier. Sales dropped 29% to USD 240 million from USD 339 million a year ago.

Capex totaled USD 1.3 billion during the first nine months of 2015 due to spending at its USD 4.6 billion expansion project, which has been completed and will ramp up to installed capacity by early 2016.

Copper production rose 4.8% to 123Mlb from 117.4Mlb a year earlier, while sales climbed 12.3% to 125.6Mlb from 118.8Mlb.

The company is on track to more than double annual copper output to 600,000t in 2016 from an estimated 280,000t 2015.