Differentiate fixed costs and variable costs. 1  Total cost is the sum of fixed and variable costs.  Variable costs change according to the quantity of a good or service being produced. The amount of materials and labor that is needed for to make a good increases in direct proportion to the number of goods produced.
Xtrata is a top five producer of copper, thermal coal, coking coal, ferrochrome, zinc and nickel and has operations in 19 countries. The company's copper production in 2010 was over 900 thousand metric tons and it has copper facilities located in Australia, Chile, Peru, Argentina, and Canada.
Kennecott Utah Copper (KUC) operates the Bingham Canyon mine, Copperton concentrator and Garfield smelter and refinery complex, near Salt Lake City, US.KUC is a polymetallic mine, producing copper, gold, molybdenum and silver.As the second largest copper producer in the US, KUC supplies more than 13 per cent of the nation's annual refined copper requirements and it employs approximately 1,800 people.s the second largest copper producer in the US, KUC supplies more than 13 per cent of the nation's annual refined copper requirements and it employs approximately 1,800 people.