Good morning and good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the conference call. Our chairperson today is Andrea. Andrea, please begin your call and I'll be standing by for the Q&A. Thank you.
Thank you, and thank you for joining us for MMG's quarterly production report teleconference. This report and today's discussion cover the operational performance of MMG's sites for the first quarter of 2025. Joining us for this call today are Mr. Zhao Jing Ivo, our CEO, along with other members of the executive team. Ivo was appointed as MMG's CEO and Executive Director of the company on the 12th of April 2025, following the resignation of Cao Liang, who commenced a senior executive role with China Minmetals Nonferrous Metals Company Limited in Beijing. I will now hand over to Ivo, who will take us through the highlights of the report. Following his overview, we will open the call for questions.
Thank you, Andrea. Good morning and good afternoon. Welcome to MMG's First Q uarter Production Reports Teleconference. It's great to be here with you today in my new role as MMG CEO. I'm also joined today by the rest of the executive committee. I'm honored to have this opportunity to lead a business with so many talented people, quality assets, and with the backing of our major shareholder. I would also like to acknowledge Cao Liang for his leadership and support as I have transitioned to my new role. He has helped MMG achieve robust production, profit growth, and improved capital structure while maintaining a focus on safety. This provides us with a strong platform, and I look forward to working with the rest of the exco to ensure that we can continue building on this positive momentum. Now let's move to our production report, which was already released yesterday.
I will take it as read and provide a summary of our results and highlights. The management team and I will be available to answer your questions at the end. At MMG, safety is our first value. Despite our safety performance showing recent improvements, both metrics this quarter are not where we would like them to be. The total recordable injury frequency was 2.4 per million hours worked, an increase from 1.52 in the fourth quarter of 2024. The significant events with energy exchange frequency for the first quarter of 2025 was 1.08 per million hours worked, a significant increase from last quarter. Safety is now an elevated focus company-wide, and all sites will prioritize rigorous contractor management, proactive field task observations, and the effective implementation of critical controls. Now turning to our production results.
In exciting news, MMG's operation delivered a copper production at just over 118,000 tonnes , 76% higher than the same quarter last year. This significant uplift was due to increased output from Las Bambas and Kinsevere, along with full quarter production from Khoemacau. Underpinning this result was stable production at both the Ferrobamba and Chalcobamba peaks at Las Bambas. Whilst MMG's 2025 guidance for production and cost remains unchanged at this time, favorable factors such as stable operation at Las Bambas, reduced treatment charges, and higher precious metals prices do present opportunities for stretch. We will assess the potential to revise our copper guidance over the coming months, which will allow some time for these factors to play out. I will now take you through our production results and highlights at a nested level.
Las Bambas produced over 95,000 tonnes of copper in copper concentrate in the first quarter of 2025, an impressive 71% increase compared to the same period last year. This can be attributed to a number of factors, including an improved ore milled grade and metallurgical recovery rate. Sustained operational stability of mining activities at the Ferrobamba and Chalcobamba peaks contributed to a record high ore mined volume of 20.2 million tonnes for the quarter. It is great to see our team's hard work and commitment to strengthening community relations pay off at Las Bambas. Just one recent example of this groundbreaking work is the Huancuire Community Company, Gold One, being awarded a contract to transport Las Bambas copper concentrate. They are now operating 30 new trucks.
This accomplishment follows the successful implementation of this business model with the Fuerab amba Community Company, which is Apu Llallawa , bringing the mine's total transportation capacity to 155 permitted trucks. Kinsevere produced almost 12,000 tonnes of copper cathode, a 19% increase compared to the same quarter in 2024. This growth was driven by the ramp-up of the sulfide circuit and despite power outages caused by the load shedding from the local grid. The team continued to pursue solutions to enhance power stability, including the commissioning of 12 MW of new diesel generation. Additionally, a 1 MWh trial solar and battery system is currently under commissioning to support the site's administration facilities, further contributing to energy, resilience, and sustainability. As the recently commissioned Roaster- Gas Cleaning- Acid plant continues its ramp-up, it is expected that production will gradually increase throughout the year.
Our Khoemacau assets produced close to 11,000 tonnes of copper in copper concentrate, a 4% increase from the previous quarter. This was primarily due to higher ore grades resulting from mine sequencing. Production was partially offset by lower ore milled throughput due to record rainfall in Botswana. Improved production is expected this coming quarter with the arrival of the dry season. Within the next two years, copper production at Khoemacau will increase to 60,000 tonnes annually. To achieve this, we will utilize the existing process plant, focusing on accessing the higher grade areas of the mine through increased mining fronts and operational flexibility. Production improvements will be further supported by the completion of the primary vent fans installation this month and the ongoing construction of a paste fill plant to enhance extraction rates. C1 costs are expected to improve as the operation scales up.
Our plan to further expand the mine's capacity to 130,000 tonnes of copper in copper concentrate per annum is progressing well. Early works, including camp and road construction, land acquisition, and personnel recruitment, are on the way. Construction of the new processing plant is anticipated to begin next year, with the first concentrate production in 2028 and a projected C1 cost of $1.55 per pound at full capacity. This remains subject to the outcomes of the feasibility study. Now to zinc. Total zinc production was 13% lower than the same period last year. This was due to a combination of factors, including the impact of bushfires and flooding at Dugald River and scheduled maintenance at Rosebery. Despite these challenges, the zinc recovery rate for Dugald River stayed above 90%, whilst the Rosebery strategy of focusing on zinc equivalent production continues to deliver positive results.
Both assets are expected to see improved production in the second quarter and to remain on track to meet their 2025 production guidance. In closing, our team is committed to making safety performance improvements, along with the delivery of our expansion project milestones and priorities at each site. We will continue to progress our Nickel Brazil acquisition and integration plans. Looking ahead, it is exciting that MMG remains at the forefront of delivering the base metals critical to a cleaner, low-carbon future. In each of our operating regions, we're making positive impacts to people's lives by driving economic opportunities and contributions to social development. Our focus remains on working to achieve our long-term goal to become a top 10 global copper producer, driving value from our operations and being a cost-conscious operator.
On behalf of MMG's executive committee, I would like to sincerely thank our team for their hard work and commitment to safe operations. At MMG, we have a bright future, and I'm honored to work with our team to achieve our potential. This concludes our presentation. My colleagues and I are now happy to take your questions. I will hand back to the moderator. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Zhao. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now poll for questions. If you would like to register for a question, please press star one on your telephone. Thank you. Once again, that is star one to register for a question. Thank you. Our first question comes from Chris with Bernstein. Please go ahead. Thank you.
Hi, thank you very much, and congratulations on the great operating performance. I noticed that in the annual report for 2024 that you disclosed yesterday. On page 94, it mentions that on April 1st, 2025, the board resolved to adopt the company dividend policy, and there is a summary shown in the annual report. I'm just wondering if the full document is disclosed somewhere on your website or maybe elsewhere. Also, is there any detail on the specific level of dividend payout ratio? Like, for example, how many percent of the net profits will be distributed as cash dividends to the shareholders as long as the retained earnings turn positive, just like most other companies would do? Thank you.
It's your turn, please. Hello, Qian Song.
Oh, sorry, it's mute. I've actually, sorry, made a mistake. Thank you, Ivo, and thank you, Chris, for your questions. Yes, the board has just approved our dividend policy. Regarding the detailed contents of the dividend policy, Chris, I would suggest you approach Sherry or Investor Relations to ask for detailed information. We will disclose the guidance principles on the website in the future. Regarding the timing for the first dividend distribution, as we have communicated with our investors, we are now, of course, we are now having the accumulated losses as a Hong Kong company exceeding $700 million. Therefore, we still need some time to consume this part of the loss. Before that, we could not make any dividend distribution according to Hong Kong law.
Understood. Okay, thank you very much, Qian Song and Zhao . Thank you.
Thank you. Once again, ladies and gentlemen, that is star one to register for a question. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that is star one to register for a question. Thank you. Our next question comes from Lini with UBS. Please go ahead. Thank you. Ms. Zong, please go ahead with your question. Thank you. Excuse me, ma'am, would you please unmute your line and go ahead with your question? Sorry, she may cancel her question. Once again, ladies and gentlemen, that is star one to register for a question. Thank you. Excuse me, Andrea, there is no further question at this point in time. Thank you.
Okay, thank you. Thank you for joining us. If you have any further questions following this call, please reach out to our investor relations or corporate affairs teams. Thank you for your time and see you next time.
Thank you for your participation. This concludes the conference. Thank you.