Codelco (CO) Removes Trio Over El Teniente Audit Findings

Codelco (CO) announced the immediate replacement of three senior executives overseeing El Teniente following an internal audit that found serious breaches of duty and inconsistencies in reports to regulator Sernageomin following a rock explosion in 2023 tied to the same mine. Mauricio Barraza, Claudio Sougarret, and Rodrigo Andrades will be replaced by Lindor Quiroga, Gustavo Reyes, and Claudio Canut, respectively. The board approved a radical reorganization to increase executive involvement in day-to-day mine operations, mandate unalterable digital signatures on technical reports, and hand over information to Chile's public prosecutor's office while opening further internal audits. Output at El Teniente is expected to remain depressed to about 301,000 metric tons per year for the next five years, according to interim head Sougarret.