Canadian mining companies with operations in Chile reported Monday no damage to their operations from Friday's earthquake, but some said disrupted transportation links could make it difficult to get supplies.

The price of copper was sharply higher following Friday's severe earthquake, which had a magnitude of 8.8 and killed at least 700 people.

Most of the damage caused by Friday's earthquake was reported in the southern part of Chile. (Ivan Alvarado/Reuters)

In New York, copper for May delivery closed up 6.45 cents US, or two per cent, to $3.33 a pound after rising as high as $3.48 a pound earlier in the session.

Vancouver's Teck Resources, as well as Barrick Gold and Kinross Gold, which are both based in Toronto, are among the largest Canadian firms with mines in Chile. Those mines are concentrated in the north of the country and were largely unscathed by the earthquake, which struck in the south.

Russell Alley, the head of Quadra Mining's Sierra Gorda copper exploration in the Atacama Desert, told CBC News from his office in northern Chile that the project was unaffected by the earthquake, except for a 12-hour power failure on Friday.

TSX mining sub-index, 1-month chart.

Quadra is still able to use the port of Antofagasta, 140 kilometres away, but traffic on roads from the south has been "pretty much halted." Depending on how long those roads remain closed, there could be some future shortages of fuel and foodstuffs.

"This is a desert up here, so most foodstuffs are grown in the south," said Alley. "The roads down there have been severely damaged so we may see some shortages later on in some of those items."

No Quadra staff had relatives killed or injured in the earthquake but some have had their homes in the south destroyed, he said.

Chile is the world's largest copper producing country and also has several gold mines.

With files from The Canadian Press