Antofagasta Resumes Production at Los Pelambres Copper Mine After Rain and Power Outage

Zambia will hold presidential and parliamentary elections on August 13. The market widely expects that incumbent President Hichilema Hakainde will win reelection. For investors, the core concern is whether his second term can transform the economic stabilization after the sovereign debt default into robust, mining-led, job-creating growth.

Chile's Antofagasta Minerals said on Thursday that its core asset, the Los Pelambres copper mine, is currently safe, after Chile's environmental regulator launched an investigation into a drainage incident triggered by extreme weather.

Southern Copper expects its copper production to exceed 1 million mt by 2029 as its flagship Tia Maria project passes the halfway mark in construction. This outlook reinforces the miner’s confidence in a tightening copper market, despite a decline in its output in Peru.The company raised its 2026 production guidance to 917,000 mt, about 1% above the original target, and indicated that output should remain broadly stable next year before rising to around 970,000 mt in 2028 as the Tia Maria project comes online and ramps up. Annual production is expected to reach 1.06 million mt in 2029. Management also predicts a slight global copper market deficit this year, noting that exchange inventories cover only about 15 days of global demand.