2021-10-29 11:21:00
(Kitco News) – Codelco was the largest copper mining company in the world in Q2 2021 (based on attributable copper tonnes). Top 10 copper miners produced 2,255 thousand tonnes of copper in Q2 2021, 3% more than a year before.
Kitco ranked the top 10 largest copper mining companies worldwide based on their reported attributable copper production in Q2 2021.
Production at the Chilean mining giant Codelco, the world’s largest copper mining company, rose 7% year-on-year to 436 thousand tonnes (incl. Codelco’s stake in El Abra and Anglo American Sur) in Q2 2021. Higher production at Chuquicamata and El Teniente were the main drivers of this growth and more than offset the decline at Radomiro Tomic.
Freeport-McMoRan is second as the company’s attributable copper production amounted to 336 thousand tonnes in Q2 2021, which is 17% more than a year ago, primarily due to the ramp-up of underground production at the Grasberg minerals district in Indonesia, which continued to advance on schedule, as well as increased operating rates at Cerro Verde.
Glencore sits third. The company’s Q2 2021 own sourced copper production of 297 thousand tonnes was broadly in line with Q2 2020.
BHP Billiton is fourth with 253 thousand tonnes of copper (attributable) mined in Q2 2021, a 9% decline compared to Q2 2020. The company said that in 2021, its Chilean assets operated with a substantial reduction in their operational workforces as a result of the preventative measures it implemented to mitigate the impact of COVID-19. In Q2 2021, escalating COVID-19 infections in Chile led to increased pressures on Chile’s health system, which resulted in strict quarantine measures and border restrictions.
Southern Copper is fifth. In Q2 2021, the company’s mine copper production decreased 6% to 237 thousand tonnes. The company noted that this production decline was driven by a drop in ore grades due to stripping and maintenance works that were rescheduled to this year after having been postponed in 2020 due the COVID 19 pandemic.
First Quantum sits sixth. The company’s total copper production for the quarter was 200 thousand tonnes, 18% higher than in the same period in 2020, with the increase attributable to near record quarterly production at Cobre Panama, which delivered another strong quarterly result with a near record 82 thousand tonnes of copper produced, and achieved further quarterly milestones such as records in crushed tonnes, milled tonnes, mill availability and contained copper in concentrate shipped.
The complete list is on the chart.
Top 10 largest copper mining companies in Q2 2021.
