Chile's Copper Output Grew 4.9% in 2024

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Written by Amir Richani for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Chile reverted from two years of lower copper production, while state miner Codelco's (Santiago) output remained flat.

Chile closed 2024 with a copper production of 5.5 million tons compared to 5.25 million registered in 2023. The higher volumes resulted from better performance from private companies, while Codelco's assets maintained a flat output year on year.

Copper mines Quebrada Blanca and BHP Group's (NYSE:BHP) (Melbourne, Australia) Escondida were among last year's key producers. Quebrada Blanca experienced the ramp-up of its operations to close the year with an output of 207,300 tons of copper, about 222.3% more than in the previous year. The mine reached these production levels after the completion of its new concentrator in 2023 and its continued ramp-up.

Meanwhile, BHP's Escondida mine was by far the largest producing asset with an output of 1.277 million tons in 2024, an increase of 16% compared to 2023. This was the outcome of higher concentrator feed grades and better recovery as mining progressed into areas of higher-grade ore. The guidance of this mine for this year has been set between 1.18 million and 1.3 million tons.

Other copper mines, such as Mantos Copper, Candelaria and Lomas Bayas, also scored higher year-on-year volumes with 19.6%, 8.5%, and 13.1%, respectively.

Meanwhile, Codelco had an output of 1.423 million tons across all its assets in 2024, on par with the previous year. These numbers were achieved despite a drop of 56.4% in the production of the Salvador division, which restarted production in October.

The weaker production from Salvador was offset by 10.4% increased volumes at the Andina mine, which had an output of 181,600 tons.

In a recent report by mining authority Comisión Chilena del Cobre (Cochilco), the agency projected Chilean copper production to increase to 5.76 million tons in 2025 and 5.97 million tons by the end of 2026.

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