Canada's Lundin Mining said a severe winter storm in Chile has temporarily halted operations at its Caserones copper mine, but the firm still expects to meet full-year production targets.
Heavy snowfall cut power and access to Caserones on 18 July, forcing a suspension, while rainfall affected mining at the Candelaria mine.
But milling continues at Candelaria using stocks and Caserones will restart once power and site access are restored, according to Lundin.
The disruption is more likely to defer output than remove meaningful supply from the market if access and power are restored within days,
Lundin said, adding that it already factors weather-related interruptions into annual guidance at Caserones and thus has maintained its guidance for the year.
Caserones has become increasingly important to the firm, accounting for almost half of its first-quarter copper output after production there increased because of higher grades.
The mine produced 132,881t of copper last year and the firm expects it to produce 130,000-140,000t this year. Lundin said in March that Caserones would add 6,500-7,000t of attributable copper production this year.
