Codelco has responded to an internal audit investigating irregularities in the reporting of annual production in the 2025 fiscal year, taking disciplinary action against the executives involved.
The audit concluded that there were irregularities in the production reporting, specifically in 20,000 metric tonnes of fine copper contained in oxides from the Chuquicamata Division and 6,875 metric tonnes of fine copper contained in calcium arsenite from the Ministro Hales Division, equating to around 2% of Codelco’s total production for the year.
The investigation stated that the materials reported required additional processing and did not meet the internal conditions to be considered finished products and should not have been counted as such.
Codelco notes that this “identified regulatory non-compliance, improper use of exceptions, deficiencies in mandatory approvals, as well as impacts on the calculation of corporate goals and incentives”.
As a result of the audit, a group of seven executives and one former executive from the head office and the Chuquicamata and Ministro Hales divisions received disciplinary action, including the dismissal of one executive and reprimands for the others.
Codelco says that its board of directors intends to file a complaint with the public prosecutor’s office so that it can investigate potential criminal activity.
Codelco is focused on copper mining and its by-products in Chile.
Write to Amy Rotman at Mining.com.au
Images: Codelco
