SANTIAGO - Planned energy-saving measures to lower electricity voltages and save reservoir waters should not affect copper mines in top producer Chile, Mining and Energy Minister Laurence Golborne said on Monday.
Golborne added the government had no plans to step up fuel imports to run thermal plants and fend off an energy squeeze.
The country plans gradually to reduce voltages between 5 and 10 percent as one of several measures to save energy as a long-lasting drought hits hydroelectric generation.
"（Mines） should not have a problem … they should be able to absorb a scale-back in electricity voltages," Golborne told reporters.
South-central mines, which produce about a quarter of the country's copper, usually have contingency generators to keep the voltage steady in operations and have dedicated power lines directly from the central power grid.
The central grid, or SIC in its Spanish initials, which supplies more than 90 percent of the population, could be hit by the energy squeeze because of its reliance on hydro power.
The far northern grid, which powers most of the top mines in the copper-rich north, uses energy generated by gas and coal-fired thermal plants.
Worries over energy woes hurting copper output in Chile helped push international prices for the red metal to another record high last week as the market expects scarce supply this year.
（Source from: Reuters）
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