Codelco Mines To Reopen After Earthquake

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.

Codelco Increases Copper Production By 16 Per Cent

Codelco, the Chilean state-controlled copper miner, increased copper output in 2009 by 16 per cent to 1.78 million tonnes compared to 1.46 million tonnes in 2008. This figure includes Codelco’s 49 per cent share of the El Abra mine controlled by Freeport McMoran, which equated to 80,000 tonnes.

Codelco also produced 22,000 tonnes of molybdenum during the year, against 21,000 tonnes in 2008.

However, profits before tax and extraordinary items fell by 18 per cent to $4 billion due to lower copper prices and the global financial crisis. Revenues rose to US$8.88bn from US$8.74bn the previous year, despite a steep fall at the company’s molybdenum division, registering a fall of $1 billion down to $500 million.

Output was higher for the first time in four years, largely due to investment in ageing plant, and helped by stimulus money from the Chilean government. The company invested $2.13 billion during the course of the year against $1.99 billion in 2008. Production was also helped by the fact that were no strikes at the company during the year.

CEO José Pablo Arellano told a press conference on Thursday that Codelco was the only Chilean miner to register growth during 2009. Figures for Chile’s copper production showed a fall on 5 per cent during 2009. Mr Arellano said that Codelco’s share of Chile’s copper production rose from 27 per cent in 2008 to 33 per cent last year.

Total costs fell to US$1.58/lb last year from US$1.78/lb in 2008. Cash costs following by-product credits and other deductions rose to US$0.93/lb in 2009 from US$0.70/lb in 2008.

Peru Now Second-Largest Copper Producer

Peru’s National Mining, Oil and Energy Society (SNMPE) has reported that Peru became the world’s number two copper producer in 2009, replacing the U.S.

SNMPE based its figures on the U.S. Geological Survey which showed that last year Peru produced a total of 1,273,000 metric tons of copper, whilethe U.S. produced 1,190,000 metric tons in 2009.

Chile occupies first place in the ranking by volume, producing over 5 million tonnes per year - four times as much as Peru.