Chile’s Codelco, the world’s largest copper producer, on Friday posted a 29% drop in its pre-tax profit for the first three months of this year, landing at USD 849 million.
The state-owned miner said output totalled 295,000 metric tons, down 10% from the same period last year.
Codelco has been battling to boost its production, which has fallen for two straight years to reach a quarter-century low, despite delays, cost overruns and accidents. Codelco had provided an estimate for its production figures earlier this month, with Chairman Maximo Pacheco saying recovery was underway.
Mining Minister Aurora Williams said in an interview this month that April numbers are expected to be lower than expected after a worker died in an accident at the company’s Radomiro Tomic mine, shuttering production for a few days.
The company’s output of the red metal key to industrial use, especially for electrical wiring and electric vehicles, fell 8% last year compared to 2022 production.
Along with its focus on copper, President Gabriel Boric has tasked Codelco with spearheading the state’s role in mining lithium, a battery metal also key to the energy transition, via majority stakes in projects in two of Chile’s most lithium-rich salt flats.
