The strike at the 1.27m tpy Escondida mine ended after 25 days at the turn of the month. At best, production of concentrate was running at around half capacity, but cathode production from the SX-EW plant was much lower and there was a complete closure of the mine for a while. Allowing for a ramp-up period of about one week, we estimate that about 55,000 tonnes of contained copper production is likely to have been lost during the strike. In addition, it must also be remembered that around 15,000 tonnes have been lost due to the rockslide at Chuquicamata in August, 10,000 tonnes per month is being lost from the ongoing closure of La Caridad (both mines are due to resume full operations in October), and Grasberg is losing around 7,000 tonnes per month this quarter due to production problems. Totalling this up, August was a particularly costly month for miners.
展开▼
