Chile’s year-end copper windfall signals mines are recovering

Chile’s copper export revenue jumped in December, despite lower prices for the metal, indicating that mines in the top-producing country extended a recovery from the lowest levels in two decades.

The sales were up 10% from November and 13% compared with the same month a year earlier, at $4.66-billion, according to data released Tuesday by Chile’s central bank. The increase comes despite average monthly prices continuing to decline — to $4.16 a pound in December from a peak of $4.73 in May.