The market capitalisation of Australian copper miners has jumped in the wake of the earthquake in Chile over the weekend, which disrupted supply.
Prices of the metal surged to the highest point in five weeks after the earthquake ceased supply from the world’s largest copper producer.
Australian miners Aditya Birla and Equinox Minerals saw share price lifts of 8.42% and 3.7% respectively, while OZ Minerals shot up 4.3%.
The earthquake forced the closure of Codelco and Anglo American’s mines in the region.
The mines halted operations due to interrupted power supplies, with Anglo unable to give a timeline for a projected restart of operations.
The price of the metal jumped close to 6% at the London Metal Exchange to finish the day at $7600 per metric ton.