World top copper producer Codelco saw profits plunge 74% to $318-million in the first half of 2019, the company said on Friday, as the Chilean State miner confronted falling prices globally and labor strife at its flagship Chuquicamata mine in northern Chile.
Outgoing CEO Nelson Pizarro told reporters Codelco had "faced an incredibly challenging second quarter", in a presentation at the company’s headquarters in Santiago, but said the company was still on track to hit 1.7-million tonnes of total production in 2019.