Global Copper Miner Distills New Year Vow to Two Words: Cut Debt
- First Quantum aims to reduce debt by $2 billion in two years
- Dividends and growth projects depend on deleveraging progress
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Even as copper pierces seven-year highs, First Quantum Minerals Ltd. is pushing into the new year with plans that hinge on one unsexy goal: cutting debt.
The top-10 copper producer is emerging from a rocky seven years that included disputes with the government in Zambia, where it has two mines, rising debt that peaked at close to $9 billion this year, and strains from building a $6.7 billion project in Panama. Now the plan is to get its Central American mine, Cobre Panama, running full out to benefit the whole company.