All is not well at Corporación Nacional del Cobre de Chile (Codelco), the state-owned copper mining company that is one of the driving forces of the Chilean economy. In the first quarter, pre-tax profits fell 38% to US$539m, on the back of an 11% fall in international copper prices relative to the year-earlier period. There are concerns over how the corporation will fund the heavy investments it needs to offset falling copper ore grades and depleted mines. And on 6 June the chief executive officer (CEO), Thomas Keller, stepped down after policy disagreements with the board of directors.End of preview - This article contains approximately 1058 words.
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