Safety inspectors have found no major damage at Codelco’s copper mines at El Teniente and Andina. The mines were closed after a power outage following an 8.8 magnitude earthquake that hit the country in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Chilean mining minister Santiago Gonzalez said the mines would open shortly without specifying a time-scale.
Codelco’s mines in the north of the country are operating normally. The company suffered no deaths or injuries as a result of the earthquake. The Escondida copper mine, jointly-owned by Rio Tinto and BHP, is also working normally as a result.
Anglo-American’s copper mines at Los Bronces and El Soldado are also out of action following a power outage caused by the earthquake.
Copper accounts for half of Chile’s $53 billion worth of exports. Codelco is the world’s largest copper producer with annual production of around 600,000 tonnes. Anglo-American produces around 280,000 tonnes a year from its two mines.
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