Q3 Production Report

Antofagasta PLC
26 October 2005

The following statement has been released by Antofagasta plc and is distributed
in London by Bankside Consultants Ltd on behalf of the Company. Contact: Keith
Irons, 020 7367 8873.

26 October 2005

Antofagasta plc
Quarterly Production Report - Q3 2005

Highlights

  • Group copper production was up 6.9% in Q3 at 116,000 tonnes, as all three
    mines increased their production


  • Molybdenum production at Los Pelambres was 2,000 tonnes in Q3 compared
    with 2,500 tonnes in Q2, mainly due to lower molybdenum ore grades, but
    production to end September 2005 of 6,700 tonnes compares with 5,800 tonnes
    to end September 2004.


  • Group cash costs in Q3 were 31.2 c/lb compared with negative 9.6 c/lb in
    Q2, mainly due to lower by-product credits.


+----------------------+-------+------+-------+------+---------+--------+---------+
|                      |  Q1   |  Q2  |  Q3   |  Q4  |   Acc   |  Acc   |Full Year|
|Group Total           | 2005  | 2005 | 2005  | 2005 |  2005   |  2004  |  2004   |
+----------------------+-------+------+-------+------+---------+--------+---------+
|Total copper          |       |      |       |      |         |        |         |
|production            |  118.9| 108.5|  116.0|      |    343.4|   366.1|    498.4|
|('000 tonnes)         |       |      |       |      |         |        |         |
+----------------------+-------+------+-------+------+---------+--------+---------+
|Weighted average      |       |      |       |      |         |        |         |
|Cash costs (cents per |  (7.9)| (9.6)|   31.2|      |      4.8|    28.9|     24.3|
|pound)                |       |      |       |      |         |        |         |
+----------------------+-------+------+-------+------+---------+--------+---------+

Los Pelambres
Los Pelambres produced 81,000 tonnes of payable copper in Q3, an increase of
8.9% over the previous quarter. This increase was partly due to better ore
grades as expected but mainly because of higher ore throughput which averaged
131,900 tonnes per day, 6.3% higher than in the previous quarter and 6.6% above
the average for 2004. The increased throughput, marginally offset by lower
metallurgical recoveries, was due to better ore quality as well as higher plant
utilisation which reached 98% during the quarter.

Cash costs before by-product credits reached 75.6 c/lb in the quarter, 0.8%
lower than the last quarter. Higher cash costs in Q3 were principally due to
market factors, mainly higher roasting charges for molybdenum concentrate and
higher treatment and refining charges for copper concentrate (where higher
copper prices have increased the effect of price participation).

By-product credits decreased to 70 c/lb in Q3, compared to 126.8 c/lb in Q2, as
a result of a number of factors. Molybdenum production decreased 18.3% to 2,000
tonnes in Q3, due to lower than expected grades. Molybdenum market prices, even
though still at historically high levels, averaged US$31.0 per pound in Q3,
compared to US$35.3 per pound in Q2. This also resulted in negative pricing
adjustments of US$ 20.1 million for final settlement of provisional sales,
compared with positive adjustments of US$ 16.1 million in Q2, with an impact of
21 c/lb in cash costs. The by-product credit, which is expressed in cents per
pound of copper produced, was also affected by higher copper production in Q3.

Cash costs net of by-product credits, were 5.6 c/lb, compared to negative 50.6 c
/lb in Q2, mainly due to lower by-product credits as explained above.

El Tesoro
Copper production for the quarter reached 24,000 tonnes, 1.7% higher than in the
previous quarter, due to increased ore throughput. The ore grade decreased to
1.14% in Q3 as expected under the mine plan. Recoveries in Q3 fell to 75%
compared with 81.8% in Q2 due to an increased presence of carbonates in the ore
and the lower ore grades.

Cash costs increased by 13 c/lb reaching 73.1 c/lb in Q3 due to the higher
waste-to-ore ratio, the lower ore grade, the higher water costs (which in the
case of El Tesoro are indexed to the copper price), the strengthening of the
Chilean peso against the US dollar and higher fuel prices.

The regional environmental authority (COREMA) recently reversed its decision of
8 September which had initially approved El Tesoro's optimisation project, and
requested a full Environmental Impact Study instead of an Environmental Impact
Declaration, to assess the impact of the project on local water supplies. El
Tesoro has appealed to the national environmental authority (CONAMA) against
this decision and a final resolution is expected shortly.

Michilla
Michilla produced 11,100 copper tonnes in Q3, 4.8% more than in the last
quarter. This increase was mainly due to improved ore grades at the underground
mine. Ore grades at the open pit continue lower than originally expected for the
year due to the difficulty of operating near old mine workings. Ore throughput
has also increased marginally over Q2.

Cash costs reached 127.6 c/lb in Q3, 4.4 c/lb more than in the previous quarter,
but the high costs in both quarters were mainly due to lower grades in the Lince
open pit and the operational issues previously reported at the underground mine
which affected ore production. These operational factors have since been
resolved with normal rates of ore production restored by the end of September.
Cash costs have also been affected by the strengthening of the Chilean peso,
higher input costs and the additional associated costs for infill drilling in
the Lince open pit.

Transport
Total tonnes transported were 1.8% above last year, reaching 3.3 million tonnes
for rail and 1.1 million tonnes for road transport.

Water
Sales of water during the three first quarters reached 24.5 million cubic
metres, which represents an increase of 1.2% compared to the same period last
year.

+--------------------+-------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+--------+
|                    |  Q1   |  Q2   |   Q3   |  Q4   |  Acc   |  Acc   |  Full  |
|Los Pelambres       | 2005  | 2005  |  2005  | 2005  |  2005  |  2004  |  Year  |
|                    |       |       |        |       |        |        |  2004  |
+--------------------+-------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+--------+
|Daily average ore   |       |       |        |       |        |        |        |
|treated             |  129.0|  124.0|   131.9|       |   128.3|   123.7|   125.9|
|('000 tonnes)       |       |       |        |       |        |        |        |
+--------------------+-------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+--------+
|Average ore grade   |       |       |        |       |        |        |        |
|(%)                 |   0.79|   0.77|    0.80|       |    0.79|    0.89|    0.88|
+--------------------+-------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+--------+
|Average recovery    |       |       |        |       |        |        |        |
|(%)                 |   91.0|   90.2|    88.4|       |    89.8|    88.5|    89.1|
+--------------------+-------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+--------+
|Concentrate produced|       |       |        |       |        |        |        |
|('000 tonnes)       |  222.0|  202.6|   220.9|       |   645.4|   707.6|   948.8|
+--------------------+-------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+--------+
|Average concentrate |       |       |        |       |        |        |        |
|grade               |   37.5|   38.6|    39.0|       |    38.4|    37.8|    38.2|
|(%)                 |       |       |        |       |        |        |        |
+--------------------+-------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+--------+
|Fine copper in      |       |       |        |       |        |        |        |
|concentrate         |   83.3|   76.9|    83.7|       |   244.0|   267.4|   362.6|
|('000 tonnes)       |       |       |        |       |        |        |        |
+--------------------+-------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+--------+
|Payable copper in   |       |       |        |       |        |        |        |
|concentrate         |   80.6|   74.4|    81.0|       |   235.9|   258.5|   350.6|
|('000 tonnes)       |       |       |        |       |        |        |        |
+--------------------+-------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+--------+
|Payable moly        |       |       |        |       |        |        |        |
|('000 tonnes)       |    2.2|    2.5|     2.0|       |     6.7|     5.8|     7.9|
+--------------------+-------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+--------+
|Cash costs (before  |       |       |        |       |        |        |        |
|by-product) (cents  |   64.0|   76.2|    75.6|       |    71.8|    51.9|    53.7|
|per pound)          |       |       |        |       |        |        |        |
+--------------------+-------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+--------+
|By-product credits  |       |       |        |       |        |        |        |
|(cents per pound)   |(109.9)|(126.8)|  (70.0)|       | (101.5)|  (37.1)|  (45.8)|
+--------------------+-------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+--------+
|Cash costs          |       |       |        |       |        |        |        |
|(cents per pound)   | (45.9)| (50.6)|     5.6|       |  (29.7)|    14.7|     7.9|
+--------------------+-------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+--------+

+--------------------+-------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+--------+
|                    |  Q1   |  Q2   |   Q3   |  Q4   |  Acc   |Acc 2004|  Full  |
|El Tesoro           | 2005  | 2005  |  2005  | 2005  |  2005  |        |  Year  |
|                    |       |       |        |       |        |        |  2004  |
+--------------------+-------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+--------+
|Daily average ore   |       |       |        |       |        |        |        |
|treated             |   26.3|   22.9|    29.0|       |    26.1|    25.1|    25.4|
|('000 tonnes)*      |       |       |        |       |        |        |        |
+--------------------+-------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+--------+
|Average ore grade   |       |       |        |       |        |        |        |
|(%)                 |   1.34|   1.41|    1.14|       |    1.28|    1.34|    1.35|
+--------------------+-------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+--------+
|Average recovery    |       |       |        |       |        |        |        |
|(%)                 |   82.4|   81.8|    75.0|       |    79.7|    78.1|    78.1|
+--------------------+-------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+--------+
|Copper cathodes     |       |       |        |       |        |        |        |
|('000 tonnes)       |   26.3|   23.6|    24.0|       |    73.8|    71.5|    97.8|
+--------------------+-------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+--------+
|Cash costs          |       |       |        |       |        |        |        |
|(cents per pound)   |   57.8|   60.1|    73.1|       |    63.5|    52.1|    52.4|
+--------------------+-------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+--------+

+--------------------+-------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+--------+
|                    |  Q1   |  Q2   |   Q3   |  Q4   |  Acc   |  Acc   |  Full  |
|Michilla            | 2005  | 2005  |  2005  | 2005  |  2005  |  2004  |  Year  |
|                    |       |       |        |       |        |        |  2004  |
+--------------------+-------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+--------+
|Daily average ore   |       |       |        |       |        |        |        |
|treated             |   15.3|   14.5|    14.9|       |    14.9|    16.0|    16.1|
|('000 tonnes)       |       |       |        |       |        |        |        |
+--------------------+-------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+--------+
|Average ore grade   |       |       |        |       |        |        |        |
|(%)                 |   1.09|   0.99|    1.11|       |    1.07|    1.10|    1.11|
+--------------------+-------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+--------+
|Average recovery    |       |       |        |       |        |        |        |
|(%)                 |   76.1|   75.7|    74.8|       |    75.5|    75.0|    75.4|
+--------------------+-------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+--------+
|Copper cathodes     |       |       |        |       |        |        |        |
|('000 tonnes)*      |   12.0|   10.6|    11.1|       |    33.7|    36.2|    50.0|
+--------------------+-------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+--------+
|Cash costs          |       |       |        |       |        |        |        |
|(cents per pound)   |  102.4|  123.2|   127.6|       |   117.3|    84.9|    85.6|
+--------------------+-------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+--------+

+--------------------+-------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+--------+
|                    |  Q1   |  Q2   |   Q3   |  Q4   |  Acc   |  Acc   |  Full  |
|Transport           | 2005  | 2005  |  2005  | 2005  |  2005  |  2004  |  Year  |
|                    |       |       |        |       |        |        |  2004  |
+--------------------+-------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+--------+
|Rail tonnage        |       |       |        |       |        |        |        |
|transported         |  1,126|  1,090|   1,085|       |   3,301|   3,297|   4,479|
|('000 tons)         |       |       |        |       |        |        |        |
+--------------------+-------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+--------+
|Road tonnage        |       |       |        |       |        |        |        |
|transported         |    348|    379|     395|       |   1,122|   1,047|   1,414|
|('000 tons)         |       |       |        |       |        |        |        |
+--------------------+-------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+--------+

+---------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+--------+--------+---------+
|                     |  Q1   |  Q2   |  Q3   |  Q4   |  Acc   |  Acc   |Full year|
|Water                | 2005  | 2005  | 2005  | 2005  |  2005  |  2004  |  2004   |
+---------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+--------+--------+---------+
|Water volume sold -  |       |       |       |       |        |        |         |
|potable and untreated|  8,315|  8,242|  7,969|       |  24,526|  24,228|   32,575|
|('000 m3)*           |       |       |       |       |        |        |         |
+---------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+--------+--------+---------+

(*) Note: Water volumes include water transportation of 336 thousand m3 in Q1,
234 thousand m3 in Q2 and 236 thousand m3 in Q3

For further enquiries:

Desmond O'Conor, Antofagasta plc
[e-mail]            (44) 20 7808 0988

Hussein Barma, Antofagasta plc
[e-mail]             (44) 20 7808 0988

Alejandro Rivera, Antofagasta
Minerals                             (56-2) 377 5145
[e-mail]

Issued by:

Keith Irons, Bankside Consultants
[e-mail]                   (44) 20 7367 8873


END



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