Chile Copper Industry: Top Mining Companies by Output

The Chile copper industry produced about 5.3 million tonnes of mined copper in 2025, or 23% of the world total, according to the USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026. State-owned Codelco and BHP’s Escondida mine lead it, and each produces roughly 1.3 million tonnes a year. Antofagasta plc follows with about 654,000 tonnes.

The bigger story now is decline. Chile’s copper commission, Cochilco, expects national output to fall 8.4% to 4.94 million tonnes in 2026, its third-quarter market report shows. This page ranks the companies by reported output, explains who owns what, and sets out the royalty rules, water limits and project changes that matter to mine owners, consultants and investors.

Top copper mining companies in Chile ranked by output

How we chose: we ranked operators with Chilean copper mines by the latest full-year figure each company has published. The periods and ownership bases differ, and the table says which applies. Output is contained copper, the metal in the product rather than the weight of the ore. No private dataset sits behind this list, and it is not a verdict on which company is better.

Chart

Reported copper output of Chilean operators

Thousand tonnes; latest full year published, periods differ

Collahuasi is placed by scale rather than a full-year figure: Glencore’s 81,400 tonnes for a 44% share in the 2026 half-year report equals about 185,000 tonnes for the whole mine in six months. Anglo American also runs Los Bronces and El Soldado in Chile, and it guides its Chilean copper, including its Collahuasi share, at 390,000 to 420,000 tonnes for 2026.

For a wider ranking outside Chile, see our guide to the largest copper producing countries and our list of the largest copper companies worldwide.

Copper production in Chile compared with other countries

Chile mined more copper than any other country in 2025, on USGS estimates. DR Congo came second with 3.2 million tonnes and Peru third with 2.7 million tonnes. Chile’s lead has narrowed: its estimated tonnage fell from 5.51 million tonnes in 2024 to 5.3 million in 2025, while DR Congo rose from 2.99 million to 3.2 million.

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Mined copper by country in 2025

Million tonnes, USGS estimates, five largest

Chile also holds the largest copper reserves in the USGS table, at 180 million tonnes out of a world total of 980 million, or about 18%. A reserve is the part of a deposit that can be mined at a profit under current conditions, so the figure changes with prices and costs.

Mining and refining are separate rankings. Chile refined about 1.7 million tonnes in 2025, against about 14 million tonnes in China, so much of the country’s output leaves as concentrate, a powder of crushed ore that still needs smelting. For other deposit regions, read where copper is found, or compare the copper mines in DR Congo.

Codelco: the state-owned leader

Best known for: the largest copper output in Chile and full state ownership. Strength: a resource base of 143 million tonnes of contained copper in its December 2025 summary. Pressure: net financial debt of about US$25 billion at the end of 2025, and safety and reporting problems.

Codelco’s numbers need care. It first reported 2025 total output of 1.44 million tonnes. In July 2026 it published a revised full-year report with 1.412 million tonnes in total, including its stakes in El Abra, Anglo American Sur and Quebrada Blanca, and 1.307 million tonnes from its own mines. Use the revised figures when you compare it with other companies. The old claim that Codelco is the world’s largest copper producer also needs checking: BHP reported 1.95 million tonnes across its global portfolio for the year to June 2026.

The fatal accident at El Teniente on 31 July 2025 still affects output. Cochilco says El Teniente’s production was 17.1% lower in the first nine months of 2026, with Ministro Hales down 32.4%. Codelco’s own output fell 11% to 564,000 tonnes in the first half of 2026, yet higher prices lifted EBITDA, which is earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, by 68% to US$4.648 billion.

BHP and Escondida: the largest mine on this list

Best known for: Escondida in the Atacama Desert, in which BHP holds 57.5%. Strength: scale, at 1.261 million tonnes on a 100% basis in the year to June 2026. Pressure: falling ore grade, meaning less copper in each tonne of rock.

BHP guides Escondida down to 1.0 to 1.1 million tonnes for the year to June 2027 because of that grade decline. Spence, its other operating mine in the country, fell 21% to 213,000 tonnes in the year to June 2026, with 210,000 to 230,000 tonnes guided next. BHP has also applied to restart its Cerro Colorado mine and has set out development paths for Escondida and Spence.

▶ Farmonaut explainer on copper mining, starting with the Atacama Desert and Escondida. · 6:03

Antofagasta plc: the listed pure-play copper producer

Best known for: four Chilean copper mines and a London Stock Exchange listing. Strength: a low net cash cost of US$1.19 per pound in 2025, after by-product credits, and a 60% EBITDA margin in its 2025 annual report. Pressure: lower grades at Centinela.

Before by-products such as gold and molybdenum, its cash cost was US$2.38 per pound, so by-product revenue halved the net figure. Los Pelambres supplied 45% of 2025 copper output, Centinela 37%, Antucoya 12% and Zaldívar 6%. For January to September 2026, Argus reports output of 436,900 tonnes, down 8.3% on the year, with a third-quarter recovery led by Los Pelambres.

Collahuasi, Anglo American and Teck: a merger to watch

Collahuasi is a joint venture in northern Chile. Glencore and Anglo American each hold 44%. Glencore has pointed to lower grades and water limits at the mine in its 2026 outlook.

Quebrada Blanca sits at about 4,400 metres. Teck holds 60%, two Sumitomo companies hold 30% and Codelco holds a 10% non-funding interest. It produced 190,000 tonnes in 2025, and Carmen de Andacollo added 50,500 tonnes.

Anglo Teck: Anglo American and Teck agreed in 2025 to merge. As of 20 October 2026, MLex reported that Anglo still expected completion by March 2027, with China’s competition approval outstanding. The two companies estimated a US$1.4 billion average annual EBITDA gain from linking the neighbouring Collahuasi and Quebrada Blanca mines between 2030 and 2049, on a 100% basis and with partner support still to be worked out. Treat it as a company estimate. Anglo American’s wider restructuring also touches its diamond arm, covered in our note on the De Beers and Anglo American takeover.

Lundin Mining produced 145,471 tonnes at Candelaria and 132,881 tonnes at Caserones in 2025. It later cut guidance because of lower underground mining rates at Candelaria.

Why Chilean copper output is falling

National output reached 3.63 million tonnes in January to September 2026, down 8.5% on a year earlier. Cochilco says Escondida, Codelco and Spence explain 77.3% of the drop, and it names lower ore grades, maintenance, stoppages and ore variability as causes. Its forecast for 2027 is 5.08 million tonnes, well below the 5.55 million it expected in August.

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Cochilco cut its Chile forecasts in one quarter

Million tonnes of national output

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Where the 2026 fall came from

Thousand tonnes, January to September; 2025 base worked out from Cochilco’s change figures

That matters beyond Chile. Cochilco expects world mine output of 23.3 million tonnes in 2026 and only a small refined surplus of 144,000 tonnes, about 0.5% of demand. It has raised its average copper price forecast to US$6.18 per pound for 2026 and US$5.95 for 2027. For reference, Trading Economics quoted copper at US$6.37 per pound on 5 November 2026. Forecasts change often, so read them as one agency’s view. The global reference for physical copper is the London Metal Exchange copper contract, so check the exchange’s own page for a settlement price.

Chile’s mining royalty and what it costs

Chile’s Law 21.591 took effect on 1 January 2024. It sets two main charges for large copper sellers:

• Ad valorem component: 1% of annual copper sales for operators selling more than the equivalent of 50,000 tonnes of fine copper. Ad valorem means charged on value, not profit.
• Margin component: a charge on adjusted mining operating income for operators above 50,000 tonnes with more than half their sales from copper. The rate depends on the operating margin. It is 8% at a margin of 20 or less, rises to as much as 12% at a margin of 45 and 26% at a margin of 60, and stays at 26% above that. Operators above 50,000 tonnes with half or less of their sales from copper follow a different scale, from 5% up to 34.5% by margin slice.
• Smaller operators: the law exempts sales up to the equivalent of 12,000 tonnes from the sliding rate, and between 12,000 and 50,000 tonnes the rate climbs in slices to 4.4%.
• Cap: a maximum potential tax burden of 46.5% of adjusted mining operating income, with the income tax included. The cap is 45.5% for operators with sales up to the equivalent of 80,000 tonnes.

The calculator below gives a rough first estimate. It is not a tax computation, and the definitions in the law change the taxable base, so ask a Chilean tax adviser before you rely on any number.

Water, power and operating limits

Northern Chile is very dry, and water now shapes mine plans. Cochilco’s water study shows copper mines extracted 7.76 cubic metres of seawater per second in 2024, up 14.7% on 2023. Continental water, from rivers and aquifers, made up 19.1% of total water used, down from 27.9% in 2014. Seawater made up 9.9%.

Seawater has to be treated and pumped to the mines, some of them high in the Andes. Antofagasta is doubling the Los Pelambres desalination plant to 800 litres per second. Equipment is shifting too, with more interest in electric mine trucks and battery equipment to reduce diesel use.

▶ Farmonaut claymation on the main environmental impacts of mining. · 2:31

How much does copper mining add to Chile’s economy

Company payments give a direct measure. Codelco alone reported US$6.7 billion of adjusted EBITDA for 2025 and paid US$933 million to the Treasury in the first half of 2026, 15% more than a year earlier. Private operators add income tax and the royalty. Anglo American realised an average 478 US cents per pound on Chilean copper in 2025, up from 416 cents in 2024, which shows how quickly price changes can feed through to sales.

Copper share prices follow this mix of metal price, output and costs. Shares do not shield a holder from mine risks: an accident, strike or grade fall at one mine can move a company’s value directly. Codelco has no listed shares because the state owns it. BHP, Antofagasta, Glencore, Anglo American, Teck and Lundin Mining all list abroad.

▶ Farmonaut explainer on how mining feeds exports, jobs and public revenue. · 5:03

What to check before you work with or buy into a Chilean copper project

1. Confirm the title. Check the concession and any royalty or option agreements with Chile’s mining authorities and a local lawyer.
2. Compare the same basis. Separate 100% output from attributable share, and calendar years from financial years. The table above shows how far these can differ.
3. Look at grade trends. Lower grade explains much of the 2026 drop at the largest mines, so ask for grade history as well as resource size.
4. Price the water. Find the source, the permit and the cost of moving it to site.
5. Model the royalty. Your sales tonnage decides which rules apply, as shown above.
6. Screen the ground. Satellite imagery can help rank alteration and structure across a concession before drilling. It gives exploration targets only, and it does not replace drilling or a resource estimate.

If you are looking at smaller assets, our guides to buying a copper mine and copper exploration companies set out the next questions to ask.

Frequently asked questions

How big is the Chile copper industry?

Chile mined an estimated 5.3 million tonnes in 2025, about 23% of world mine production, and holds about 180 million tonnes of reserves, according to the USGS.

What is the biggest copper mining company in Chile?

Codelco is the largest by output from its own mines, at 1.307 million tonnes in 2025. BHP’s Escondida is close behind at 1.261 million tonnes in the year to June 2026, and BHP adds Spence.

Which mining companies operate in Chile?

The main copper operators are Codelco, BHP, Antofagasta plc, Anglo American, Glencore through Collahuasi and Lomas Bayas, Teck and Lundin Mining.

What is the largest copper mine in Chile?

Among the mines covered here, Escondida reports the largest output, at 1.261 million tonnes in the year to June 2026.

Does Chile produce the most copper in the world?

Yes, for mined copper in 2025, on USGS estimates. China leads refined copper by a wide margin.

Why is copper production in Chile falling?

Cochilco names lower ore grades, maintenance, stoppages and ore variability. Escondida, Codelco and Spence account for 77.3% of the fall in the first nine months of 2026.

Is Codelco owned by the Chilean government?

Yes. Codelco is a state-owned company, so it has no shares for private investors to buy.

How much is the mining royalty in Chile?

Large copper sellers pay 1% of copper sales plus a margin-based charge, with a 46.5% cap on the total potential burden under Law 21.591.

Where are most copper mines in Chile?

Many are in the northern Antofagasta and Tarapacá regions. Los Pelambres is in Coquimbo, in the centre of the country, and El Teniente and Andina lie further south.

Who owns Escondida?

BHP holds 57.5% and operates the mine. Other investors hold the remainder.

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