Jul 30, 2012 (Dow Jones) SANTIAGO, Chile--Copper output in Chile, the world's largest copper producer, rose 5.6% year-on-year in June to 452,690 metric tons, the government statistics agency said Monday.

The National Statistics Institute, or INE, attributed the gain to increased production at mines that came on line in 2011 and to unnamed mines processing larger quantities of copper-containing ore.

For the half of the year, Chile produced 2,644,272 tons of copper, an increase of 2.5% when compared with the first six months of 2011.

Last year, Chile produced 5.25 million tons of the industrial metal, which represented a decrease of 3.2% from what it mined in 2010.

As well as mining roughly a third of the world's copper, Chile also is one of the leading producers of molybdenum, iodine, lithium, gold and silver. The mining industry represents about 15% of the country's gross domestic product, according to the central bank.

Molybdenum output in June retreated 30% year-to-year to 2,471 tons, due to lower ore grades, the INE reported.

Molybdenum, which is used to harden steel, and precious metals such as silver and gold are often found as byproducts at Chilean copper mines.

In January-June, molybdenum output fell 20% year-on-year to 15,473 tons. Last year, production of the metal rose 10.7% to 40,994 tons.

Gold production decreased 1.5% on the year while silver production fell 21%, the INE reported without providing output figures.