Reuters reported that Collahuasi has appointed as its new chief executive Codelco's vice president for central south operations Mr Jorge Gomez Diaz in a push to turn around the troubled Chilean operation.

Last year Collahuasi was dragged to its lowest copper output since 2007 and has been hit this year by a combination of work stoppages heavy rains and fatal accidents, prompting Anglo, Xstrata and Japanese partner Mitsui to step in, appointing interim co chief executives and a recovery plan.

"During this period, Collahuasi has undergone a thorough restructuring as part of a process agreed by the company's shareholders and the board is confident that under Mr Jorge Gomez, the progress achieved during this intervention will continue so that the operation achieves its full potential."

Mr Gomez a mining engineer will take up his new post on December 19th 2012. He has more than 20 years of experience including 5 year stint as vice president of operations at Antofagasta Minerals.

According to figures from Chile's Cochilco copper commission, from January to August output at Collahuasi tumbled 37.9% from the same period of last year.

The potential expansion of Collahuasi which accounted for just over a fifth of Xstrata's copper production last year is one of the world's largest copper growth projects yet to get the final green light from their owners and could more than double annual output from the mine.

Source - Reuters

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