Copper Production in Mines

In the U nited States, Arizona is the largest producer of copper, followed by U tab. New Mexico, Nevada and Montana. Many of the deposits in North America are, however, of a high-cost type with low copper contents. Because of this, more interest has been devoted to deposits in South America, China and Indonesia, countries that have shown the greatest increases in copper mine production in recent years. Annual production in the United States has decreased by 25% since 1996 owing to high production costs, falling copper prices and a weak demand, but the country is still second among the producer countries. 

The most important countries in the world for copper production in mines are hst-ed in Table 7.3. 

Country Copper production 1000 tonnes Percentage of total production Country Copper production 1000 tonnes Percentage of total production 

Chile is the country with the greatest production, which is also increasing. In 1996, production was 3116 thousand tonnes and in 2000 it was 4600 thousand tonnes, an increase of 48%. The Chuquicamata mine was the biggest single copper mine in the world until 1997, when this role was taken over by an Indonesian mine. 

In Europe, Poland, Portugal and Sweden are the most important producers. 

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Country Copper production in mines. 1000 tonnes Change %... 

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