SANTIAGO, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Chile's Codelco,

the world's largest copper producer, on Tuesday posted a pre-tax

profit of $606.9 million in the nine months to September,

slightly below the $612.2 million reported in the same period

last year.

The state-owned miner said its own output totaled 937,000

metric tons, up 2.1% from the same period last year.

The production increase was achieved despite an accident on

July 31 at its flagship El Teniente mine - Codelco's most

profitable operation - which forced a temporary halt to mining

and smelting.

"This unfortunate accident impacted the production

results achieved at the end of the second quarter of this year,"

the company said in a statement.

CEO Ruben Alvarado said that Codelco expects to have

more conclusive information about the accident by the end of the

year.