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Codelco said on Tuesday that it is investigating new evidence regarding overstated copper production reports for 2024 and 2025. The investigation could further intensify industry concerns about the reliability of the company’s production data, especially as it strives to boost output.
The company noted that the reported data showed production at the Ministro Hales and Salvador mining areas was artificially inflated during those two years, possibly because both mining areas claimed the same batch of production. This finding was disclosed during an audit of 2024 and 2025 production ordered this year by new Chairman Bernardo Fontaine. The company had previously been under close scrutiny due to debt problems and long-term production challenges.
Currently, Codelco is investigating how the newly discovered inconsistencies occurred and whether they will have financial implications. The company said in a statement: “Based on the information currently available, the inconsistency appears to lie in the same batch of material being recorded as production by multiple departments.” The company has hired consulting firm EY for an external audit and has submitted the new findings to the public prosecutor’s office.
As one of the world’s largest copper producers, Codelco aims to produce 1.7 million tons of copper annually by 2030, but company leadership has said production in the coming years may remain near current levels. Last year, Codelco’s own mines produced 1.33 million tons. The company is working to recover from production lows in 2022 and 2023, when output fell to its lowest level in two decades.
In March of this year, Reuters reported that leading copper industry analysts and former Codelco executives questioned the surge in production reported by the company at the end of last year, figures that helped the company meet its annual production target.
Meanwhile, Codelco has restructured the management team responsible for overseeing its joint venture with Anglo American at the Los Bronces copper mine, dissolving the dedicated vice president position for the project. According to a document seen by Reuters on Tuesday, Claudia Monreal Lopez was appointed to lead the new team, taking office on October 27, with the task of ensuring coordination among all areas of Codelco’s participation in the project. The state-owned company dissolved the project’s integration vice president position in early September.
Codelco’s Andina mine and Anglo American’s Los Bronces mine are both located in the Andes Mountains northeast of Santiago. The two companies reached a final agreement at the end of June to jointly operate these deposits, aiming to increase copper production by an average of about 120,000 tons per year between 2030 and 2051. The partners said the joint venture will generate at least $5 billion in additional pre-tax value for both companies. According to documents obtained by Reuters, the two companies plan to submit two separate environmental permit applications in December to advance the project.
