Chile copper output drops in August

August copper production in Chile dropped 8.4% year-on-year to 441,700t and was down 3.14% sequentially, state copper commission Cochilco said.

Production for the first eight months of the year was up 0.7% to 3.82Mt.

BHP Billiton's Escondida, the world's largest copper mine, saw production rise 9.5% in the first eight months to 852,600t, while output at Lundin Mining's Candelaria was up 25.5% to 105,800t.

Collahuasi - the JV between Anglo American and Glencore - reported a 13.1% output drop to 274,600t in the eight-month period, and production at Antofagasta Minerals' Los Pelambres fell 10.5% in January-August to 241,200t.

Anglo's Anglo American Sur assets reported a 10.4% decline to 278,400t, while output at the Zaldívar mine, now jointly controlled by Antofagasta and Barrick Gold, was up 1.1% to 66,800t.

State copper giant Codelco posted a 0.9% growth to 1.22Mt in the January-August period. Its Gabriela Mistral mine saw the biggest percent increase over the period, up 10.6% to 81,600t; followed by El Teniente with a 6.4% rise to 317,200t. The Chuquicamata-Radomiro Tomic-Ministro Hales complex posted flat output at 537,800t.

Chilean molybdenum production grew 3.0% year-on-year to 4,291t in August, Cochilco said in a separate report. Production for the first eight months of the year was up 2.8% to 32,717t.

Codelco's molybdenum output dropped 11.5% to 18,129t in the first eight months, mainly because of a 17.2% decline at its Chuquicamata-Radomiro Tomic complex to 8,904t.

Los Pelambres produced 6,486t, up 36.4% from January-August 2014.

Collahuasi's molybdenum output fell 23.8% to 3,206t, while the Anglo American Sur assets saw a 27.4% decline to 1,618t.

Chilean gold production was down 6.9% year-on-year to 3,346kg in August, while silver output dropped 1.6% to 125,591kg.

Gold production for January-August was down 6.6% to 26,584kg, and silver output fell 4.3% to 997,291kg, the state agency said.