Copper mines in Chile suspend mining due to bad weather

Heavy rain, snow and wind in northern Chile have suspended operations at the world's largest copper mine, Escondid, of BHP Billiton's subsidiary Codelco.

At the same time, Chile's National Council of Copper claims that they have also ceased mining activities for Chuckquicamata, Radomiro, Tomic and Ministro Hales, however, copper processing is still ongoing.

Chile is the largest producer and exporter of copper in the world, and most of the reserves are located in the Atacama Desert. Rain in the Antofagosta region has been noted by the National Association for Emergency Situations as a factor in power outages and the closure of some roads in the region.