Eldorado's Skouries mine in Greece ships first copper-gold concentrate

Sindicato N°2 de Supervisores y Staff, which represents more than 1,000 supervisors and employees at BHP’s Escondida copper mine in Chile, has urged members to reject the company’s final wage proposal and support strike action. Union president Alexis Barrera said the leadership unanimously rejected the offer, arguing that it failed to meet workers’ demands and required employees to perform multiple tasks. The proposal will be presented to union members this week, with voting scheduled for September 28–30. If members vote in favour of a strike, Escondida’s operations could face further labour-relations risks. The union’s current contract expires on September 30, 2026. It remains unclear whether a strike will take place or how long it could last, with the vote and further negotiations to be closely watched.

Vedanta's Konkola Copper Mines has resumed operations at its Nchanga copper smelter in Chingola, Zambia, after more than three months of maintenance and rehabilitation, the company said on 21 September. Built at a cost of US$350 million and commissioned in 2010, Nchanga is one of Zambia's largest copper processors with annual capacity of 311,000 tonnes. The shutdown was initially scheduled for 60 days but extended to 106 days after detailed inspections found additional critical work; the refurbishment cost about US$40 million, the first major overhaul in eight years. The plant cast its first copper anode after restart. KCM produced 80,215 tonnes of copper in 2025, and Vedanta targets annual output of 300,000 tonnes by 2030. The restart supports Zambia's goal of lifting national copper production to 3 million tonnes by 2031 from 890,346 tonnes in 2025.

Mongolia’s National Statistics Office reported molybdenum concentrate output, on a contained-metal basis, of 382.0 tonnes in August 2026, down 10.0% MoM but up 8.7% YoY. Jan–Aug output totaled 3,672.5 tonnes, up 9.2% YoY. August production was 42.4 tonnes below July but 30.5 tonnes above a year earlier. Mongolia’s cumulative supply therefore remained ahead of 2025 despite softer short-term output. The table provides no company-level breakdown, so the cause of the monthly decline cannot be confirmed.