Chile Escondida 9Mo Copper Output Drops 21% To 788,126 Tons
29 Oktober 2009 - 10:34PM
Dow Jones News
Escondida, the world's largest copper mine, located in northern
Chile, produced 788,126 metric tons of copper in the first nine
months of 2009, down 21% from 997,001 tons in the same period last
year, the mining company said Thursday.
The drop was a result of lower production of concentrate due to
falling ore grades at the mine, hard ore that cut down on copper
recovery and production problems associated with one of the SAG
(semi-autogenous grinding) mills at its Laguna Seca concentrator
plant, Escondida said in a statement.
During the nine-month period, Escondida produced 540,740 tons of
copper contained in concentrates and 247,386 tons of copper
cathodes. Concentrate production fell 33.5% on the year, while that
of cathodes, large sheets of 99.99% pure copper, jumped 34%.
The higher cathode output was due to improved recovery and an
increase in the level of activity and ore accumulation at the
processed stockpiles.
In the first three quarters of the year, Escondida posted a net
profit of $1.73 billion, down 56.8% on the year, on sales of $4.12
billion, which were 46.4% lower than in January-September period in
2008.
In the first nine months of this year, the average price per
pound of copper on the London Metals Exchange was $2.11, down from
$3.61/lb recorded for the same period in 2008.
Escondida is controlled and operated by diversified global miner
BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP, BHP.AU), which has a 57.5% stake.
Anglo-Australian mining company Rio Tinto PLC (RTP, RIO.LN) holds
30% of Escondida, with an additional 10% held by a Japanese
consortium led by Mitsubishi Corp. (MSBHY, 8058.TO), and the
remaining 2.5% by International Finance Corp., the private-sector
unit of the World Bank.
-By Carolina Pica, Dow Jones Newswires; 56-2-820-4244;
carolina.pica@dowjones.com