*

Power goes out across country

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Copper mine operations affected

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Minister blames transmission line failure

(Includes reports of power returning in parts of the country in

paragraph 8)

By Fabian Cambero and Alexander Villegas

SANTIAGO, Feb 25 (Reuters) - A massive power outage

across Chile plunged the country's capital Santiago into

darkness on Tuesday and knocked out electricity to major copper

mines in the country's north, buffeting global metal markets.

Hours after the outage began and as darkness fell, Chile's

government announced a state of emergency and established a

curfew from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. (0100 to 0900 GMT) from the

northern region of Arica to the southern region of Los Lagos.

The widespread blackout was caused by a transmission line

failure in the country's north, Interior Minister Carolina Toha

said, ruling out a cyber attack as a cause.

Chile's largest power cut in years saw streetlights in the

capital go dark, while sirens from emergency vehicles blared

across the city, according to Reuters witnesses. The Santiago

metro, which transports millions of passengers, was closed and

passengers were evacuated from stalled trains.

"There's nothing. There's no cash. No money. Nothing," said

Jose Luis Orlandini, who was eating in downtown Santiago when

the outage hit.

The interior ministry said it was deploying the armed forces

across the country to help maintain order.

The head of Chile's National Electricity Coordinator (CEN),

Ernesto Huber, said there was still no time frame to restore

electricity across the country, but areas in the north and south

had started to regain power.

On Tuesday night, parts of Santiago, including the civic

center where the Moneda presidential palace is located, regained

power, as did parts of the coastal cities of Valparaiso and Vina

del Mar, according to Reuters witnesses and media reports.

"We've activated several power stations, mainly

hydroelectric stations," Huber said, adding CEN was still

investigating the cause of the outage.

Huber said companies were working to restore power "as soon

as possible" and the agency would provide a more detailed update

at 9:30 p.m.

The outage hit areas from the mining-intensive north to the

central and southern regions home to most of the Andean

country's population, and operations at key copper mines were

affected. Chile is the world's top copper producer.

Escondida, the world's largest copper mine, was without

electricity, a source close to the matter told Reuters, while

state-owned copper miner Codelco said all its mines had been

affected.

Chuquicamata, Andina, Salvador and El Teniente mines were

without power and its other mines were using backup power

generation to operate on a partial basis, Codelco said.

Antofagasta ( ANFGF ) and Anglo American both said

that their mines were operating with generators.

The power outage affected the country from the northern

Arica and Parinacota region to the southern Los Lagos region,

according to Chile's national disaster prevention and response

service SENAPRED. No emergency situations have been reported.

Chile's DGAC Civil Aviation Authority said that Santiago's

Arturo Merino International Airport was operating normally but

LATAM Airlines said some flights could be affected by

the outage.

Toha said that power should start coming back online in the

"coming hours."

"We hope that what we've been told will happen, that in the

next few hours we'll have electrical service back," Toha said.

"And if that's not the case, we'll have to take different

measures."