Sunday, 14 Mar 2010

Reuters reported that Chile's mining and refinery sectors escaped damage on Thursday as a series of powerful aftershocks rocked the world's largest copper producer in the wake of one of the biggest earthquakes ever recorded.

Chile's Codelco and global miner Anglo American said all their mines were unharmed after seven tremors, one as strong as 6.9 magnitude rocked the southern central area near the epicenter of the massive February 27 earthquake that killed hundreds of people.

The latest aftershocks shook Rancagua, a city near Codelco's giant underground mine El Teniente. A Codelco spokeswoman said “We do not have any reports of damage.”

El Teniente and Andina, Codelco's second and third largest mines by production with combined annual output last year of 614,000 tonnes, were only briefly offline after the initial quake and were operating normally on Thursday.

Mr Marcelo Esquivel Anglo American's spokesman told Reuters “Everything is normal. No problems. There was no damage to the operations in the central region.”

The bulk of Chile's key copper industry is located in the north, far from the hardest hit areas.

(Sourced from Reuters)