(Updates with molybdenum output, Arellano quote)

By Manuel Farias

SANTIAGO, April 30 (Reuters) - Chile's Codelco, the world's top copper miner, said Thursday it produced 371,000 tonnes of the metal in the first quarter of 2009, up 6.9 percent from the same period last year thanks to output from the Gaby mine.

Including output from the El Abra mine, in which Codelco has a stake, output was 390,000 tonnes for the period compared to 367,000 a year earlier, Chief Executive Jose Pablo Arellano said presenting Codelco's first-quarter results.

"The Gaby mine, which was not in operation during the first quarter of last year, contributed to this increase by adding 38,000 tonnes during the first quarter," Arellano said.

The Gaby mine in will produce around 150,000 tonnes of copper this year, with capacity rising to around 175,000 tonnes over the next couple of years. It will help offset falling output at older Codelco mines hit by falling ore grades.

Arellano said Codelco produced 5,000 tonnes of molybdenum, a copper by-product used to strengthen specialty steels, during the first quarter, down from 7,000 tonnes in the first quarter of 2008.

State-owned Codelco reported output of 1.466 million tonnes of copper in 2008, not including El Abra, down 7.4 percent from 2007 levels. Output was affected primarily by falling ore grades, labor disruptions and a harsh winter that interrupted some production activities.

During the January-March period, Codelco's profit before tax and extraordinary items -- which are passed on to the state -- nose-dived to $97 million compared to $2.023 billion during the same period last year after copper prices plunged amid global financial crisis.