Copper price rising after Chile quake

SANTIAGO–Major copper mines slowly resumed operations on Sunday after central Chile suffered an earthquake that limited power supplies, which analysts fear could curtail exports by the No. 1 producer.

Ricardo Alvarez, manager at Chile's fourth-largest mine, El Teniente, said the recovery pace of output would depend on the electricity supply, which was partial.

Alvarez said the mine could slow extraction if power lags.

Copper prices surged in early trading Monday on supply worries caused by the 8.8 quake in Chile, jumping 5.6 per cent on the London Metal Exchange.

The tremor killed hundreds, with death tolls climbing, most of them south of the northern mine zone that forced Codelco to shut El Teniente and its Andina copper mine.

Production resumed at Anglo-American Los Bronces copper mine, union leader Eduardo Rocco said.

An Anglo American spokesman said there were no initial reports of major damage at the two mines, which together produce some 280,000 tonnes a year.

Chile's biggest mines produce a third of the world's copper.

Analysts feared supply disruptions from mid-sized deposits nearer Santiago would stoke prices.

Anglo American and Codelco halted output at four mines in total

Source:thestar.com/

Coastal Chile prone to temblors, say experts at Golden center

Coastal Chile has been rocked by severe earthquakes numerous times in the past, with 13 events of magnitude 7.0 or greater since 1973, according to the National Earthquake Information Center in Golden.

The strongest quake ever recorded in the world — 9.5 in 1960 — occurred about 140 miles south of Saturday's 8.8-magnitude temblor. In 1922, an 8.5-magnitude quake struck about 540 miles to the north.

"This is one of the most seismically active regions in the world," said Dale Grant, a geophysicist with the national center. "This is very normal. It's the way the Earth releases stresses over time."

Saturday's quake occurred at the boundary between the Nazca and South American tectonic plates, which are converging at a rate of about 3 inches per year.

The Nazca plate is moving down and below the South American plate, Grant said.

The 8.8-magnitude temblor originated from about 22 miles below the surface and could be felt throughout South America.

More than 70 aftershocks, most in the 5.0-magnitude range but a few as strong as 7.0, were recorded by Saturday afternoon. Grant said "good-sized" shaking will continue for weeks.

"Basically, after an earthquake like this ruptures over such great distances, the Earth tries to reset itself," Grant said. "With a shallow quake, it keeps bouncing back and forth."

Strong earthquakes have been reported worldwide in the past few months. Haiti's quake measured 7.0 on Jan. 12; a 7.0 quake hit Japan's Ryukyu Islands on Friday; and a 4.4 quake struck central Oklahoma on Saturday.

But Grant said nothing unusual is going on.

"This is the way the Earth behaves, and it is behaving badly right now," he said.

Ann Schrader: 303-954-1967 or aschrader@denverpost.com



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Chile's strongest earthquakes
May 22, 1960: A magnitude- 9.5 earthquake in southern Chile and ensuing tsunami killed at least 1,716 people. It is the strongest quake ever recorded in the world.

Aug. 13, 1868: A magnitude- 9.0 quake in Arica, Peru (now Chile) generated catastrophic tsunamis; more than 25,000 people were killed in South America.

July 8, 1730: A magnitude-8.7 quake in Valparaiso, Chile, killed at least 3,000 people.

Sources: U.S. Geological Survey; Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology; WHO's International Disaster Database

Source:denverpost.com/

Charities send teams to quake-hit Chile

LONDON — British charities were preparing Saturday to send specialists to Chile after an earthquake which left more than 200 people dead, as Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Britain stood ready to help.

Oxfam said it would dispatch a five-strong team from Colombia of water engineers, logistics specialists and its humanitarian coordinator for Latin America in response to the massive 8.8-magnitude quake.

The charity has teams operating in Haiti, which is struggling to get back on its feet after an earthquake which devastated the capital Port-au-Prince on January 12.

Jeremy Loveless, Oxfam's Deputy Humanitarian Director, said: "Chile is a developed country with a very capable government and while it is unlikely that this disaster will be as severe as what we saw last month in Haiti, we want to be in place to help as soon as possible."

Save the Children said it was assessing the situation and ShelterBox, which sends emergency tents into disaster zones, said it would send staff to Chile.

Brown said: "Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Chile.

"The people of Chile are in agony today but Britain stands ready to help. We will do whatever we can."

Foreign Secretary David Miliband said he was "shocked and saddened" by the news of the second major earthquake to hit the Americas in as many months following the Haiti quake.

"I send my deepest sympathy to all those affected," he said in a statement, and echoed Brown's pledge of support for the Chilean people.

Miliband said he had no information yet of any British casualties, but he added that the efforts of British embassy staff in Santiago to trace British nationals was being hampered by "significant communications difficulties".

Source:AFP

Chile's Codelco halts two mines due quake

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Chile's Codelco, the world's top copper producer, suspended operations at its El Teniente and Andina mines after a powerful quake hit Chile on Saturday, a company spokesman said.

The mines sustained power outages after the quake, but there was no serious damage and the spokesman said Codelco expected the mines to be up and running in the "coming hours."

However, Mining Minister Santiago Gonzalez told reporters it could take up to two days for production to be resumed at the two mines.

El Teniente and Andina are Codelco's second- and third-largest mines by production, with combined annual output last year of 614,000 tons. The rest of the state miners' operations were not affected by the quake, the spokesman said.

Gonzalez added that the Bio Bio oil refinery, run by state energy company ENAP, had been more seriously affected.

Bio Bio is the biggest of ENAP's three oil refineries and has a refining capacity of 116,000 barrels per day.

(Reporting by Alonso Soto and Fabian Cambero; Writing by Helen Popper; Editing by Vicki Allen)

Source:reuters.com/