Australian mining companies with projects in Chile appear to have largely withstood the earthquake that crippled large parts of the country but may still be affected by blackouts and transport problems.
Fears of the earthquake's effect on global copper supplies sent the metal's price flying.
Mining giant BHP Billiton Ltd, which has a 57.5 per cent stake in the Escondida copper project, the world's largest copper mine, said its operations in Chile did not appear to have been significantly affected by the earthquake.
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The quake, among the strongest yet measured, registered 8.8 on the Richter scale and struck on Saturday killing at least 700 people.
"All of our personnel are accounted for safe and well," a company spokeswoman said.
The spokeswoman was unable to say whether electrical blackouts in Chile or problems with roads, railways and ports would effect production at Escondida.
Rio Tinto Ltd, which has a 30 per cent stake in Escondida, said early indications were that its staff in Chile were unaffected by the earthquake.
Executive chairman of geothermal power company Hot Rock Ltd, Mark Elliott, said the company's Chilean workers all seemed safe.
"We have an exploration office in Los Condes in the central business district in Santiago, and everything is fine there," Mr Elliott said.
"We have been in contact with our people and everyone is safe and well," he said.
Admiralty Resources said its wholly owned subsidiary in Chile, Vallenar Iron Company, had some offices affected by the earthquake, with the damage yet to be assessed.
It said Vallenar staff and families were uninjured and plant and mining equipment at the old Japonesa mine had not been damaged.
Resource sector services company Sedgman Ltd said it had invoked a force majeure notice for its $50 million contract to design and construct a new coal handling plant at the Bocamina power plant in Chile.
A force majeure notice allows companies to miss obligations because extraordinary circumstances beyond their control.
A director of the Queensland-based Ludowici Ltd, Julian Ludowici, said his company, which makes mine processing equipment in Chile, had sustained some damage to an office in Santiago.
"No one has been hurt that I am aware of," Mr Ludowici told AAP.
"We don't believe it is going to impact on our operations," he said.
IG Markets analyst Ben Potter said while major mining operations in Chile appeared to have withstood the earthquake, the repercussions could still cause problems.
"From what we have seen, the big mines appear to have been relatively unscathed but at the same time that doesn't matter if all the roads and drains and ports are wrecked," Mr Potter said.
The world's largest copper company, Chile's Corporacion Nacional del Cobre (Codelco) shut down two of its operations due to power cuts, later re-opening one mine.
