Antofagasta to Reach Output Target After Earthquake (Update1)

April 6 (Bloomberg) -- Antofagasta Plc expects to meet copper output targets for this year even after an earthquake in Chile delayed the $3.3 billion expansion of its Los Pelambres mine, said the head of the company's mining division.

Antofagasta, which will mine about a 10th of Chile's copper this year, plans to produce 534,000 metric tons in 2010, up 21 percent from last year, mining unit Chief Executive Officer Marcelo Awad said today in an interview. Output will rise to 700,000 metric tons by 2011, the company said in a presentation.

The Los Pelambres expansion was delayed by six weeks after an 8.8-magnitude earthquake hit Chile on Feb. 27, damaging power-transmission lines, Awad said. The company also had to replace some workers who returned to their homes after the temblor, he said.

"There is room in our capacity that will allow us to overcome these delays to the startup," Awad said in Santiago.

London-based Antofagasta is on target to boost copper output to a record as it expands Los Pelambres, its biggest mine, and adds a fourth mine in Chile's Atacama Desert. Mining companies are boosting production after prices of the metal more than doubled last year.

Antofagasta is on track to start its Esperanza copper mine in the fourth quarter of this year, Awad said.

Copper for May delivery fell 1.45 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $3.6170 a pound at 1:32 p.m. on the Comex in New York.