Chilean mining in figures: prices, production, trade, lithium, employment, water, energy and investment. Every chart comes from a table of the statistical yearbook of Cochilco, and every figure leads to its source.
Data: Anuario Cochilco 2025, Cochilco.
Monthly averages published by Cochilco in its bulletin of September 2026.See the full series
Copper · LME
Cochilco657 ¢/lb
Average of September 2026
0.91%in the month45.52%in 12 months
Gold · COMEX
Cochilco4,856 US$/oz
Average of March 2026
3.09%in the month62.62%in 12 months
Silver · COMEX
Cochilco77.88 US$/oz
Average of March 2026
4.67%in the month132.14%in 12 months
Molybdenum · oxide
Cochilco33.51 US$/lb
Average of August 2026
4.98%in the month36.21%in 12 months
451.09¢/lbin 2025
Yearly average of refined copper on the London Metal Exchange. Up 8.7% on 2024: the highest of the series, which starts in 2000 at 82.29 ¢/lb.
Source: Cochilco, Anuario Cochilco 2025, table 8.21.See table 8.21
22.9%in 2025
Chile mined 5,388 of the world’s 23,538 thousand tonnes of copper and ranks no. 1. In 2000 its share was 34.7%.
The largest in 2025 · kMT copper content
Source: Cochilco, Anuario Cochilco 2025, table 8.1.See table 8.1
5,388.2ktin 2025
Fine copper from mines. Down 2.1% on 2024; the peak of the series was 5,832 kt in 2018. Refined output was 1,671 kt, against 2,668 kt in 2000.
Source: Cochilco, Anuario Cochilco 2025, table 2.1.See table 2.1
0.69% Cuin 2025
Average grade of the ore fed to concentrators. In 2000 it was 1.38%: twice the rock is moved today for the same copper. The average of all processes is 0.58%.
Source: Cochilco, Anuario Cochilco 2025, table 2.4.See table 2.4
273.9indexin 2025
Total cost per pound of copper of the ten large private miners and Codelco, in real terms (2005 = 100). Up 8.5% on 2024. Codelco stands at 305.1 and the private miners at 258.3.
Source: Cochilco, Anuario Cochilco 2025, table 2.5.See table 2.5
61.2%in 2025
Of every 100 dollars Chile exported, 61.2 came from mining: 50.3 from copper and 2 from lithium. In 2002 it was 41.2.
Source: Cochilco, Anuario Cochilco 2025, table 4.1.See table 4.1
67,431US$ Min 2025
Mining exports of the year, FOB value. Up 10.1% on 2024. Copper is 81% of the total.
The largest in 2025 · US$ million FOB
Source: Cochilco, Anuario Cochilco 2025, table 4.2.See table 4.2
311.3kt LCEin 2025
Thousand tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent. Up 12.9% on 2024. SQM produced 236.8 and Albemarle 74.5; in 2020 the total was 123.9.
Source: Cochilco, Anuario Cochilco 2025, table 3.4.See table 3.4
2,180US$ Min 2025
FOB value of lithium exports. Down 13.6% on 2024; the peak was US$ 8,843 M in 2022. 225,748 tonnes of lithium carbonate were shipped.
Source: Cochilco, Anuario Cochilco 2025, table 4.27, table 4.28.See table 4.27See table 4.28
19.4%in 2025
Chile produced 56,000 of the world’s 288,380 tonnes of contained lithium and ranks no. 3.
The largest in 2025 · Metric tons of lithium content
Source: Cochilco, Anuario Cochilco 2025, table 8.8.See table 8.8
304,269peoplein 2025
People employed in mining, yearly average. Up 6.4% on 2024. 44,969 are women: 14.8%, against 7.5% in 2013.
Source: Cochilco, Anuario Cochilco 2025, table 1.5.See table 1.5
Antofagasta68,070peoplein 2025
People employed in mining by region. The first one holds 22% of the mining jobs of the 16 regions.
The largest in 2025 · Yearly average number of workers
Source: Cochilco, Anuario Cochilco 2025, table 1.6.See table 1.6
8,112l/sin 2025
Seawater drawn by copper mining: already 37% of all the water it uses. In 2015 it was 2,281 l/s. Continental water went from 12,674 to 13,937 l/s.
Source: Cochilco, Anuario Cochilco 2025, table 6.1.See table 6.1
210,619TJin 2025
Energy used by copper mining. Up 2.7% on 2024. 105,647 TJ are fuels and 104,972 TJ electricity; in 2005 the total was 101,299 TJ.
Source: Cochilco, Anuario Cochilco 2025, table 6.5.See table 6.5
15,524US$ Min 2025
Investment of large-scale copper and gold mining, in dollars of each year. Up 6.8% on 2024. Private miners invested 10,406 and state-owned ones 5,118.
Source: Cochilco, Anuario Cochilco 2025, table 5.1.See table 5.1
7,351US$ Min 2025
Taxes of the ten large private miners plus the contributions of Codelco and Enami. Up 41.7% on 2024. It is 9.6% of fiscal revenues; the peak was US$ 14,078 M in 2007.
Source: Cochilco, Anuario Cochilco 2025, table 5.2.See table 5.2