According to MINING.COM citing Reuters: An internal document obtained by Reuters last Friday showed that Chilean state-owned copper giant Codelco produced 125,500 mt of copper in November, up 18% YoY but still below the target for the month.
According to the document titled "Preliminary Corporate Results" dated December, the miner's production was 3% below expectations. The only divisions that met their targets were the larger El Teniente and the relatively small Radomiro Tomic.
Codelco did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
As the world's largest copper producer, the copper giant has been striving to accelerate production to meet its 2024 target. Over the past two years, the company's copper production reached its lowest level in 25 years.
Following its November performance, Codelco still needs to produce over 161,000 mt of copper in December to reach the low end of its target, which was set earlier this year at 1.325 million mt to 1.352 million mt.
Senior company officials previously told Reuters that Codelco expects year-end production to reach 1.331 million mt, up 0.5% YoY.
The document showed that delays in the Rajo Inca project at the Salvador mine affected the company's November production. It also indicated lower recovery rates and processing volumes at the Andina, Chuquicamata, and Gabriela Mistral mines, as well as lower ore grades at the Ministro Hales mine.
The document also revealed that November smelting and cathode production fell short of Codelco's targets.
