Chile Codelco Resumes Mining At Storm-Affected Operations

19 July, SANTIAGO (Dow Jones)--State copper company Corporacion Nacional del Cobre de Chile (CODELCO.YY) restarted mining activities Monday at its Chuquicamata and Radomiro Tomic mines, while production was unaffected, following a violent storm, a source close to the company said.

Codelco, as the copper-mining company is known, temporarily halted outdoor mining activities Sunday because of strong winds at the Chuquicamata and Radomiro Tomic mines, although indoor production processes weren't affected.

"We slowly began restarting mining activities at the mine late [Sunday]. Production wasn't affected because we always have stockpiled material to process," the source said.

Winds in the vicinity of the mines were reported to have reached up to 140 kilometers per hour (87 miles per hour).

The Chuquicamata and Radomiro Tomic mines are part of the Norte Division, Codelco's largest.

Codelco, the world's largest copper-mining company, produced 1.7 million metric tons of copper last year.