CHART: Mining's covid-19 capital spending cuts top $6bn

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Mining operations in Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and parts of Canada are slowing ramping back up in May after countries, in compliance with government-mandated covid-19 containment measures, halted operations worldwide in March.

The fallout of the coronavirus outbreak has forced global miners to cut their 2020 capital expenditure by about $6.4 billion, (almost 19%) and copper production outlook by 8% or just under 400,000 tonnes for the year, according to data compiled by Reuters.

Demand for metals has also been hit as the coronavirus spread from China to other parts of the world and forced several nations to shut down much of their economies to contain the outbreak.

Three months into 2020, $282 billion in market value had been wiped from the mining sector as the covid-19 pandemic swept the world.