Copper production falls at major Chile mines in January, regulator says

Output from Chile’s main copper mines fell in January, affected mainly by a weak performance by state mining giant Codelco, government figures released on Thursday show.

The state Chilean Copper Commission (Cochilco) said copper production by Codelco, the world’s largest producer of the red metal, fell 15% year-on-year in the month to 120,800 tonnes.

Output from Escondida – the largest copper deposit in the world which is controlled by BHP – fell 4.4% year-on-year to 81,000 tonnes in January.

Collahuasi – a venture involving Glencore and Anglo American – recorded a year-on-year decrease of 10% in its production in the month to 51,300 tonnes.

Chile’s nationwide total production fell 7% in January to 425,700 tonne, according to data from Cochilco.

(By Fabian Cambero; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)