* Codelco, Anglo American mines operational after tremors
* Copper prices boosted slightly by aftershock news
* Oil refineries shut from quake suffer no new problems (Updates with details on fuel inventories, copper prices,paragraphs 9, 10, 13-17)
By Mica Rosenberg and Alonso Soto
SANTIAGO/TALCAHUANO, March 11 (Reuters) - Chile"s miningand refinery sectors escaped damage on Thursday as a series ofpowerful aftershocks rocked the world"s largest copper producerin the wake of one of the biggest earthquakes ever recorded.
Chile"s Codelco and global miner Anglo American (AAL.L)said all their mines were unharmed after seven tremors -- oneas strong as 6.9-magnitude -- rocked the southern-central areanear the epicenter of the massive Feb. 27 earthquake thatkilled hundreds of people.
The latest aftershocks shook Rancagua, a city nearCodelco"s giant underground mine El Teniente, just as newconservative president Sebastian Pinera was being inaugurated,
"We do not have any reports of damage," a Codelcospokeswoman said.
Dozens of aftershocks have so far caused no new fatalitiesor serious destruction in the days following the 8.8-magnitudequake which knocked down roads, bridges and thousands ofhouses.
The bulk of Chile"s key copper industry is located in thenorth, far from the hardest hit areas.
El Teniente and Andina, Codelco"s second- and third-largestmines by production with combined annual output last year of614,000 tonnes, were only briefly offline after the initialquake, and were operating normally on Thursday.
"Everything is normal. No problems. There was no damage tothe operations in the central region," Marcelo Esquivel, AngloAmerican"s spokesman in Chile"s capital Santiago told Reuters.
News of the aftershocks helped lift copper prices onThursday, but fears that China may tighten monetary policylimited gains.
U.S. copper futures" most active contract, May HGK0,settled up 0.90 cent, or 0.3 percent, at $3.3770 per lb on theNew York Mercantile Exchange"s COMEX division. On the LondonMetal Exchange, copper CMCU3 also ended up 0.3 percent, or$24, at $7,464 a tonne.
OIL REFINERIES
Two of Chile"s top oil refineries damaged by the originalquake remain shut. The Bio Bio refinery and the smallerAconcagua refinery suffered no additional damage from theaftershocks, although workers were evacuated for safetyreasons, union leaders at both plants said.
The Bio Bio refinery could be offline for two to threemonths, the head of the union there has said.
Chile"s new Mining Minister Laurence Golborne toldreporters on Thursday evening that Aconcagua would come back online this week and that he planned to visit the refineries withthe head of state-oil company ENAP to survey the damage.
Golborne also said Chile had arranged two diesel shipmentsthat would arrive in "coming days" but did not clarify whetherthose were in addition to fuel cargoes announced earlier.
Chile has increased fuel shipments to cover shortages fromthe refinery closures.
"We have enough inventories to cover demand for this fuelin the next week. We will not have any problems for at leastuntil the end of April," Golborne said.
The navy sent all boats out to open sea, including tankers,after a tsunami alert as a preventive measure but by the lateafternoon the ships were returning to port after the alert waslifted. (Additional reporting by Alvaro Tapia; Editing by DavidGregorio)
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