Abstract: Chilean government data announced on Thursday showed that the output of the country’s main copper mines fell in January, mainly due to the poor performance of the national copper company (Codelco).
According to Mining.com, citing Reuters and Bloomberg, Chilean government data announced on Thursday showed that production at the country’s main copper mines fell in January, mainly due to the underperformance of the state copper company Codelco.
According to statistics from the Chilean Copper Council (Cochilco), the world’s largest copper producer, Codelco, produced 120,800 tons in January, down 15% year-on-year.
The world’s largest copper mine (Escondida) controlled by international mining giant BHP Billiton (BHP) produced 81,000 tons in January, down 4.4% year-on-year.
The output of Collahuasi, a joint venture between Glencore and Anglo American, was 51,300 tons, down 10% year-on-year.
National copper production in Chile was 425,700 tonnes in January, down 7% from a year earlier, Cochilco data showed.
According to data released by Chile’s National Bureau of Statistics on Monday, the country’s copper production in January was 429,900 tons, down 3.5% year-on-year and 7.5% month-on-month.
However, Chile’s copper production is generally lower in January, and the remaining months increase depending on the mining grade. Some mines this year will move forward with civil engineering and maintenance work delayed by the outbreak. For example, the Chuquicamata copper mine will enter maintenance in the second half of this year, and refined copper production may be affected somewhat.
Chilean copper production fell 1.9% in 2021.