Chilean miner Antofagasta (LON: ANTO) plans to invest approximately $3.5 billion in 2025, marking one of the largest investments in the company’s history. This substantial investment aims to expand operations both in Chile and neighboring Peru.
Chief Executive Iván Arriagada informed Diario Financiero that the company is actively seeking copper projects in Peru with a minimum yield of 50,000 tonnes of copper per year for at least a decade. For 2024, Antofagasta anticipates investments totaling $2.7 billion, up from $2.13 billion in 2023.
Antofagasta, majority-owned by Chile’s affluent Luksic family, projects over $7.5 billion in local investments over the next five years. The company is currently advancing the $4.4 billion Nueva Centinela project, which is expected to add 144,000 tonnes of copper-equivalent annually to its production. This expansion, approved in December, also involves increasing the capacity of the existing molybdenum plant and developing the Esperanza Sur pit with new autonomous trucks.
Additionally, Antofagasta recently launched a $2 billion desalination plant for its flagship Los Pelambres mine, which will be the first in the region to use desalinated water amidst a prolonged 15-year drought.
The miner also anticipates receiving permits to commence work on the $1.2 billion extension of its Zaldívar copper mine, which would extend operations through 2051. Furthermore, Antofagasta plans to invest between $40 million and $50 million annually in maintenance across its assets in Peru, the United States, and Canada.
Aiming High
Antofagasta, Chile’s largest copper producer after state-owned Codelco, aims to rank among the world’s top ten copper producers, focusing on metals essential for electric vehicle batteries and construction. In 2023, the company made significant progress toward this goal, including acquiring a 19% stake in Peru’s Minera Buenaventura.
The company also has a presence in the US through its subsidiary, Twin Metals, which has been working to establish an underground copper-nickel mine and processing facility near Birch Lake and the South Kawishiwi River for over a decade. The project faced setbacks last year when the Biden administration canceled Twin Metals’ mineral leases and imposed a 20-year moratorium on the surrounding area.
Antofagasta is contesting the lease cancellations in court, with recent suggestions that a potential re-election of Donald Trump might improve the company’s chances. However, Arriagada expressed confidence that the outcome is not dependent on the administration. “Our project in the US is in the process of defending our mining property titles in court, and it does not rely on the current administration,” Arriagada stated.
He emphasized that Antofagasta is committed to working with any administration and believes in the project’s value for local copper and metal production in the US, addressing national security and climate change challenges. “We will continue to advocate for this project and exercise our rights in US courts,” Arriagada concluded.