Chile's Copper Outage Reveals Shaky Industry Foundations
Chile's Caserones mine, operated by Lundin Mining, has been without grid power since July 18 after two transmission towers were damaged in a storm. The outage has sparked concerns about copper supply, but prices have already rebounded after an initial surge.
The mine produces around 132,881 tonnes of copper annually, and the estimated total interruption runs to between 23 and 30 days, which puts scheduled output exposure at approximately 8,400 to 10,900 tonnes. However, some of this lost production may be recovered later through higher throughput or rescheduled maintenance.
Despite the outage, Chile's overall copper production remains robust, with an estimated 5.3 million tonnes produced in 2025, accounting for around 23% of global mine output.
The real concern lies not in the current outage but in the broader context of rising demand and tightening supply. The International Energy Agency notes that new mines take an average of 17 years to go from discovery to production, while average global ore grades have fallen 40% since 1991, setting off a cost chain.