SANTIAGO, Sep 13, 2011 (Dow Jones) -- Copper production at state giant Corporacion Nacional del Cobre de Chile's wholly owned mines grew to 818,000 metric tons in the first half of 2011, from 799,000 tons in the same period of 2010, Codelco Chief Financial Officer Thomas Keller said Tuesday.

Codelco's total January-June production, which includes output from the El Abra mine in which it holds a 49% stake, rose to 844,000 tons from 836,000 tons in the first six months of 2010. El Abra is operated by 51% shareholder Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX).

With copper averaging $4.26 a pound in the first half of the year, Codelco's pretax profit surged to $3.91 billion, from $2.31 billion million in the same period a year ago, when copper averaged $3.23 a pound.

If Codelco earnings were reported using the same tax requirements as private companies, it would have posted a net profit of $2.87 billion compared with $1.84 billion in the first half of 2010.