Freeport's Grasberg Mine Produces the World's Second Largest Amount of Copper

The Grasberg copper mine was the second largest copper concentrate producer in the world in 2021. According to *The World Copper Factbook 2021*, the mine, owned by Freeport Indonesia, had a production capacity of 700,000 tons.

The Escondida mine in Chile remained the largest copper producer in 2021, with a production capacity of 1.51 million tons, more than double that of Grasberg.

Generally, Chile and Peru are the largest copper producers, with 6 out of the 10 mines on this list located in these two countries. In 2020, Chile produced 5.7 million tons of copper concentrate and Peru 2.2 million tons.

Copper mining generally requires high costs. This is why the majority of copper mines are owned by State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) and large mining companies such as Freeport-McMoran and BHP.

Below is a list of the 10 largest copper mines in the world based on annual production capacity:

1. Escondida Mine, Chile (1.51 million tons)
2. Grasberg Mine, Indonesia (700,000 tons)
3. Collahuasi Mine, Chile (610,000 tons)
4. Buenavista del Cobre Mine, Mexico (525,000 tons)
5. Morenci Mine, United States (520,000 tons)
6. Cerro Verde II Mine, Peru (500,000 tons)
7. Antamina Mine, Peru (450,000 tons)
8. Polar Division Mine, Russia (450,000 tons)
9. Las Bambas Mine, Peru (400,000 tons)
10. El Teniente Mine, Chile (399,000 tons)