March 29 2018, Santiago.- "We are contributing US$ 2,885 million to national development and managed to multiply our surplus six times over 2016 figures, which is not only a result of the rise in copper prices. One sixth of this surplus is solely attributable to the efficiency we've achieved in terms of cost reduction and enhanced production," stated Nelson Pizzaro, Chief Executive Officer of Codelco, during the announcement of Codelco's 2017 results.

Cost competitiveness is another of the company's good news. The direct cost (C1), which reached 135.9 cents per pound (c/lb), is 8% lower than average for the rest of the industry, an important achievement considering that, in 2013, C1 was 10% above average. Moreover, Codelco met its target, as both the direct cost C1 and the net cathode cost (218.0 c/lb) were below budget.

In 2017, Codelco achieved the second highest annual production in its history, at one million 734 thousand tons of fine copper. "This substantial figure shows that we have successfully overcome a crucial moment imposed by the price increase. We did not relax during this challenge but rather maintained an efficient rhythm and achieved a yearly production that competes with our historical record" explained Pizzaro.

Codelco productivity increased from 48.5 tons per person in 2016, to 51.2 tons per person in 2017. At each work center, the competitiveness of this indicator was one of the primary factors for defining compensation agreed with the workers in nine collective negotiations faced by the Company. These processes culminated with 0% readjustment in six of the negotiations, 1% in three negotiations and 0 days of strike.

Enhanced management and stronger copper prices were important variables in reaching the goals of the leading Chilean state owned company, which looks to the future with a strong portfolio of projects and contemplates an investment of US $ 4,300 million for 2018.
"Our structural projects are progressing according to plan but there is a long way to go to ensure our production levels for another 40 years" mentioned Pizzaro "for this, it is absolutely fundamental to maintain a capitalization policy. As part of this policy, the primary works underway are Chuquicamata Underground Mine (51.3% progress) El Teniente New Mine Level (44.6%) and the Andean Transfer Project (48.6%).

KEY FIGURES FOR 2017

• US$ 2.885 million in surplus, more than six times that from all of 2016.
• More than one million 734 thousand tons of fine copper of own production.
• Direct costs 8% lower than the average for the rest of the industry.
• 10% the total drop in the ore grade between 2013 and 2017.
• US$ 5,661 million: the EBITDA of 2017 with a margin of 38%.
• 51.2 tons per person was the productivity of Codelco in 2017.
• US$ 4,300 million is the planned investment for 2018.

Communications Department