Chilean copper miner Antofagasta has maintained its guidance at the lower end of its original target range for the year, having gained experience in working safely in the new era of Covid-19.

The company is operating close to forecast production levels, CEO Ivan Arriagada said on Wednesday, announcing half-year output of 371 700 t, which is in line with its expectations and 4% lower than in the same period last year.

Antofagasta has managed to expand its activity in areas that it initially restricted, such as mine development and maintenance, he said. “We believe we can continue to operate at current levels until the end of the year, assuming no further Covid-19-related restrictions are imposed.”

The miner is forecasting full-year production at the lower end of its original 725 000 t to 755 000 t range, at a net cash cost of $1.20/lb.

The company is operating with about two-thirds of its workforce at its operations with most of the balance working from home.

Growth projects at Los Pelambres, Centinela and Zaldívar have largely been suspended since March with some limited work continuing, mostly on the desalination plant at Los Pelambres. Antofagasta announced that it planned to restart the Los Pelambres expansion and Zaldívar chloride leach projects gradually during the third quarter, fully integrating new health protocols for Covid-19 into the revised project execution plans.

Major copper miners operating in Chile, the world's top copper producer, have largely maintained output even as measures to combat the coronavirus have devastated other parts of its economy.

Unions at Antofagasta’s Zaldívar mine recently claimed that workers risked their lives to maintain production at prepandemic levels "with a high cost to our health", claiming that there had been a number of confirmed coronavirus cases among the mine’s work force.

Antofagasta and unionised workers at Zaldívar have entered into mediation with the government to stave off a strike, after workers voted in favour of a walk-off, rejecting a new contract offer which they said had stripped them of current benefits.

The company reported on Wednesday that negotiations with the workers’ union at Zaldívar and the supervisers’ union at Centinela were in the first week of the government mediation phase, which would complete this week. If both the union and the company agree, mediation could be extended a further five working days .

The labour agreement with the largest workers’ union at Centinela was successfully agreed in June. Negotiations with the two other unions at Centinela will be completed during the rest of the year.