Chilean miner Codelco says copper output, profit jumped in 2017

Chile's state copper company Codelco said on Thursday it produced 1.73-million tonnes of copper in 2017, its second highest output ever, despite persistently low ore grades at its aging mines. The world's top copper miner posted a 2017 pre-tax profit of $2.88-billion, a six-fold increase over its earnings in 2016, even as production costs jumped 7.8% to $1.359/lb of copper.