Work resumes at copper mines in Chile quake zone
By IANSMonday, March 1, 2010
Santiago, March 2 (IANS/EFE) Work has resumed at the two copper mines operated by state-owned Codelco in the region of central Chile devastated by last weekend’s earthquake, company sources said.
London-based Anglo American Plc reopened the two mines it has in the area of the magnitude-8.8 temblor, which left more than 720 people dead, as well as at another mine and a smelter outside the quake zone that had been forced to shut down.
El Teniente, which lies about 120 km southeast of Santiago, is Codelco’s largest mine and produces more than 400,000 tons of copper per year.
Codelco’s other mine in the affected zone, Andina, has annual output of around 150,000 tons.
Neither El Teniente nor Andina suffered any structural damage from the quake, the world’s leading copper producer said.
Anglo American decided to resume work at its Los Bronces, El Soldado and Mantoverde mines and the Chagres smelter despite the still-erratic nature of electric service in the area, spokesman Marcelo Esquivel said.
Together, the four facilities produce 341,000 tons of fine copper annually.
Most of Chile’s principal copper mines are in the country’s far north and were unaffected by last Saturday’s earthquake, which caused a 20 percent dip in national output of the red metal.
–IANS/EFE
