Chile's power grid and major copper mines slowly came back online on Wednesday morning after a major outage hit the world's top producer of the metal, with power firms working to restore the system to full operation,

Most residents had power restored by midnight but the situation remained unstable. President Gabriel Boric blamed power companies for not acting faster.

Chile's state miner Codelco (COBRE.UL), the world's largest copper producer, said on Wednesday it was evaluating the impacts of a nationwide powercut on its production, and that recovery would be its main focus.

A large power outage struck most of Chile on Tuesday, resulting in a curfew until Wednesday morning for the areas hit by the blackout.

Electricity providers across Chile scrambled to restore service Tuesday after a sweeping blackout plunged 90% of the country into darkness, stranding commuters, knocking cell service offline and paralyzing businesses and daily life.

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 worst blackout in well over a decade struck on Tuesday afternoon, leaving millions without power. President Gabriel Boric blamed private companies that manage the grid for the system's failure.

Chile on Tuesday declared a state of emergency and curfew across much of the country, including the capital Santiago, following a massive, rare blackout that left millions without power.

Chileans returned to a sense of normalcy on Wednesday after a state of emergency was lifted and authorities said power was restored to most homes following the country's worst blackout in well over a decade.