Collahuasi Says Repairs to Cut Output by 30,000 Tons
2007-01-04 09:06 (New York)
By Heather Walsh
Jan. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Dona Ines de Collahuasi, Chile's
fourth-largest copper mine, said equipment repairs will reduce
its production of the metal by about 30,000 metric tons.
Output will fall as Collahuasi this month begins replacing
part of a motor used to run a mill that grinds rocks at the
mine, the mine's management said today in a statement sent by e-
mail in Santiago. The lost production is equivalent to 7 percent
of the mine's 2005 output of 427,000 tons.
Copper prices have plunged this year on speculation that
supplies will rise as demand weakens in the U.S., the second-
largest user of the metal. Last year, disruptions at copper
mines in Chile, Mexico and Indonesia due to labor unrest and
accidents helped fuel a 41 percent jump in prices.
Copper futures for March delivery fell 7.40 cents, or 2.8
percent, to $2.5750 a pound at 9:05 a.m. New York time on the
Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices
dropped 7.7 percent yesterday.
Collahuasi will begin replacing the equipment on Jan. 15,
cutting processing capacity for about 65 days, according to the
statement. Collahuasi Chief Executive Thomas Keller said in
November that lost output due to repairs could total 30,000
tons.
Falconbridge Ltd., which was purchased last year by Xstrata
Plc, and Anglo American Plc each hold a 44 percent stake in
Collahuasi.
--Editor: Brice. |
