CODELCO Aims Notable Output Boost by the End of Decade

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Chile’s state-owned copper major, Codelco, plans to boost its annual production by at least 17% by the end of the current decade. The outlook was expressed by Maximo Pacheco, Chairman, Codelco, who was speaking on the sidelines of the World Copper Conference in Santiago.

According to Pacheco, the company had to face several issues including declining ore grades and other operational challenges during recent years. The company is pushing hard to tackle these challenges amid a surge in global copper demand. The strong pipeline of structural projects will help the company counter the drop in ore grades and sustain production levels. It must be noted that the company’s production had dipped to 1.45 million tonnes in 2022. Codelco expects further drop in output in 2023 as well.

The company expects to reach a production level of 1.7 million tonnes before the end of the decade.

Codelco sees the recent approval of the expansion of Anglo American Plc’s Los Bronces Integrado mine by Chilean authorities as a positive step, likely to deliver significant synergies. It must be noted that Codelco is a minority shareholder in the project. In addition the updated expansion plan for the underground El Teniente copper mine is expected to be ready by end-2023.