The Escondida copper mine in northern Chile, the world's largest, produced 605,319 mt of copper in the first six months of 2014, down 2% from 615,519 mt produced in the same period last year, the BHP Billiton-controlled company said Friday.
Production of copper concentrates fell 3% to 448,038 mt, while production of copper cathode was little changed at 157,281 mt.
The company posted sales of $4.154 billion for the six-month period, down 4% from a year ago, largely due to the drop in the price of copper this year. Physical sales fell 4% on lower concentrate production.
Meanwhile, profits fell to $1.313 billion, down 14% from a year earlier.
Escondida is owned by BHP Billiton (57.5%), Rio Tinto (30%) and two Japanese consortia (12.5%).
