Chilean copper miner Collahuasi has reduced its workforce by 40pc to protect its employees from a new wave of COVID-19 infections.
The miner indicated in a statement on Apr 4 that it would implement this measure temporarily across all its facilities, but did not disclose the impact of this move on overall production and had not replied to Davis Index’s queries on the output impact at the time of publication.
However, the company’s 2020 data for March and April could give some indication of how production may be impacted due to the workforce reduction. In March 2020, production tallied at 50,400mt, before rising to 54,100mt in the next month.
The Government of Chile has decided to close its borders for one month starting Monday, following a rising number of COVID-19 cases. The country has more than 1.02 million cases, according to official figures on Apr 4.
Chile’s copper production is expected to increase by 3.6pc to 6mn mt this year, while copper output will reach 6.1mn mt in 2022, according to the Chilean Copper Commission.