Production at Codelco's El Teniente mine to remain at lower level next 5 years, executive says

SelfRugger · 2026-02-14T08:41:32+00:00

Codelco's El Teniente mine is projected to have reduced copper production for the next five years due to a recent deadly accident and ongoing challenges, with an estimated output of 301,000 metric tons this year.

SelfRugger

2026-02-14 08:41:32

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Production at Codelco’s El Teniente mine to remain at lower level next 5 years, executive says

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Codelco, the world’s largest copper producer, is seen at its headquarters in Santiago, Chile, March 29, 2018. REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado/File Photo · Reuters

By Kylie Madry

Tue, February 10, 2026 at 11:59 PM GMT+9 1 min read

By Kylie Madry

SANTIAGO, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Output at Codelco’s El Teniente mine, the site of a deadly accident ‌last year that has hit production, will be ‌depressed for about the next five years, mine head Claudio Sougarret told Reuters on Tuesday.

The mine expects to produce 301,000 ⁠metric tons of ‌the red metal this year, Sougarret said.

“We hope to be ‍able to push that up a bit,” he said, though he cautioned that it would “likely be around there, and will be ‌there for the next five years.”

Codelco, the world’s largest copper miner, had previously said that production would be hit for the next three years.

Last year, a ⁠collapse at the site killed several workers and a section of the mine has remained shuttered since.

“We hope that, based ‍on the ⁠studies we’ve done, we’re able to recover the minerals on the north ⁠side (of the mine),” Sougarret said.

(Reporting by Kylie Madry; ‌Additional reporting by Fabian Cambero; Editing ‌by Brendan O’Boyle)

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