Global copper production jumps more than 5% in 2016
By Julie Tilley | 8 June 2017
The Worldwide Mine Production Trends report series examines the 2016 mine production trends and rankings of top producing mines by the five most valuable mined commodities - gold, copper, iron ore, nickel and zinc. The following article is part of the report series.
Increasing copper production is being led by the largest mines, with the top 20 operations reporting an 8.3% rise last year.
Global mined production of copper grew an estimated 5.4% year on year to total almost 19.92 million tonnes of contained metal in 2016. This was led by increased production at the 20 largest mines, ranked by 2016 output, which saw production grow by 615,245 tonnes, or 8.3%, year on year. Production increased at 13 of these leading mines, taking the top 20's share of global production to 40.0%, up from a 39.1% share from these mines in 2015.
As the largest copper-producing country, Chile hosted eight of the top 20 mines in 2016, with a combined output of 3.6 Mt. This is, however, down from 2015, when nine of the top producing mines were in Chile. Codelco's Ministro Hales saw ore grades fall from 1.25% to 1.05%, which resulted in an estimated production decline of 31,305 tonnes and knocked the mine out of the top 20 ranking.
While Las Bambas moved up a whopping 178 places in the mine rankings to become 12th in our listing, Cerro Verde was the second-biggest mover, climbing from 16th to third place in 2016. This was driven by an expansion that doubled production to 502,580 tonnes from 246,973 tonnes in 2015, the second-largest increase after Las Bambas.
To read the full analysis of the top 20 copper mines by production in 2016, complete the form and download the report.
