Codelco is investigating indications that copper production may have been counted twice in 2024 and 2025, raising fresh questions about the Chilean state-owned mining company’s production figures.
The potential irregularities concern material that may have been recorded as production by more than one division, potentially artificially inflating the output reported by the Ministro Hales and Salvador mines, Codelco said on Tuesday.
The company has referred its findings to prosecutors and hired Ernst & Young to determine the scale, financial impact and responsibility for any duplication.
“Zero tolerance for irregularities,” Economy and Mining Minister Daniel Mas said in a video released by the government. “Putting our house in order is vital to ensuring Chile’s mining future and the well-being of all Chileans.”
The investigation adds to scrutiny of Codelco’s production figures at a critical time for both the company and the copper market. The state-owned mining company has struggled to restore production after hitting lows not seen in more than two decades, leading it to relinquish its title as the world’s largest producer to BHP Group, even as global supply shortages and rising demand have pushed metal prices higher.
Under former chairman Máximo Pacheco, Codelco focused heavily on restoring production volumes and set a target of reaching 1.7 million tonnes by 2030. The new chairman, Bernardo Fontaine, has effectively abandoned that target, shifting the emphasis toward productivity, profitability and generating greater value from existing operations.
These latest findings are separate from the irregularities discovered earlier this year in Codelco’s production figures for 2025. An audit found that around 27,000 metric tonnes—approximately 2% of the reported production from its own mines—had been improperly counted as finished production, even though the material required further processing.
Codelco dismissed an executive, imposed disciplinary measures on other employees and ordered production-linked incentives to be recalculated.
KPMG is continuing an independent review of production across all of Codelco’s divisions in 2024 and 2025, while EY will focus on the possible double counting recently identified between Salvador and Ministro Hales. Codelco has said the review will determine any impact on reported production and inventories, as well as possible effects on incentive payments.
Unlike the previous case, in which existing copper was counted as finished production too early, double counting would raise questions about how Codelco reconciles production, inventories and transfers between divisions, said Juan Carlos Guajardo, founder of Chilean consultancy Plusmining.
“Making errors of this nature two years in a row cannot be explained as a simple lapse at a company of Codelco’s size,” said Juan Ignacio Guzmán, director of mining consultancy GEM. “It is a wake-up call to be more meticulous and always work with the truth, even when it hurts.”
Source: Bloomberg