Broken BHP pipeline won't delay shipments

BHP Billiton, the world’s largest mining company, said a rupture in a pipeline that carries copper from the Escondida mine in Chile to a port won’t delay shipments of the metal. BHP uses more than one pipeline to transport concentrate, a slush containing about 35% copper, from Escondida, the world’s largest copper mine, BHP spokesman Mauro Valdes said today in a telephone interview. Melbourne-based BHP is investigating the cause and will probably finish cleaning up the spilled concentrate today, he said. The pipeline ruptured yesterday near the company’s Coloso port in northern Chile, he said. Production at Escondida fell 10% to 997,000 metric tons in the first nine months of the year. BHP owns 57.5% of the mine, while Rio Tinto Group owns 30% and a group led by Mitsubishi owns 10%. International Finance Corp. owns the remainder. ---Bloomberg