According to Webstock Inc., citing foreign media on February 26, Chilean authorities stated that the country's major copper mines were resuming operations on Wednesday following a massive power outage. Power companies are working to fully restore the power system.
The outage, caused by a power transmission line failure in northern Chile, occurred around 3 p.m. on Tuesday, plunging much of the country into darkness and cutting power to major mines, impacting the global metals market.
Chile's National Electricity Coordinator (CEN) reported early Wednesday that power had been restored to over 90% of residential users, though media reports indicated that power supply in some cities remained intermittent.
"The National Electricity Coordinator continues to work towards 100% restoration."
Anglo American stated that its Los Bronces and El Soldado mines in central Chile were resuming operations on Wednesday morning, while the Chagres smelter remained without power but was using generators to maintain critical processes.
In its final report released Tuesday evening, Codelco, the world's largest copper producer and state-owned mining giant, stated that most of its divisions were still without power.
The company noted that partial power restoration at El Teniente allowed ventilation in underground mines to resume, while at Salvador's small mines, mining services had been restored, and the beneficiation plant and smelter were being restarted.
Other mining companies have yet to provide updates on their operational status. The curfew in the affected regions ended at 6 a.m. local time (9 a.m. GMT).
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