Enamelled Wire Industry Sees 67.95% Operating Rate in August 2026, Down MoM but Up YoY

Chile's central bank reported on September 1 that the July Imacec economic activity index fell 1.5% year-on-year on an unadjusted basis. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the index fell 2.1% year-on-year and 1.7% month-on-month, marking the steepest monthly decline since 2022. The bank attributed the drop mainly to mining, which fell a significant 9.3%, primarily due to weather conditions, followed by lower ore grades and equipment maintenance that disrupted normal production operations. Many of the affected mines are copper-molybdenum associated deposits. Since molybdenum concentrate is recovered as a byproduct of the flotation process used to treat copper sulfide ore, the disruption to processing plants also curtailed molybdenum output.

Anax Metals has launched a heap-leach feasibility study at its Whim Creek copper-zinc project in Western Australia, assessing a second processing route alongside its planned concentrator. Recent CSIRO column tests achieved 77–80% copper extraction and more than 90% zinc extraction from lower-grade ores. The study, targeted for completion in Q1 2027, will evaluate the potential production and marketing of copper cathode from the existing permitted heap-leach and SX-EW infrastructure.