Antofagasta celebrates 25 years of mining at Los Pelambres

[Ben Graham]

Antofagasta plc (LSE: ANTO) recently celebrated the 25^th anniversary of its flagship copper mine, Los Pelambres, situated in Chile’s Coquimbo region, about 240 km north of Santiago.

As one of the largest copper mines in the world, Los Pelambres has produced more than 8.5 million tonnes of the industrial metal to date. Last year, its output came to 320,000 tonnes, ranking just outside the top 10 producers globally.

In 2024, Antofagasta completed its Phase 1 expansion project, which comprised the construction of a desalination plant and water pipeline from the coast to the El Mauro tailings storage facility, and an expansion to the concentrator plant by installing additional mills and flotation cells.

Following the Phase 1 expansion, the company initiated two new projects: a new concentrate pipeline that will follow a less populated route, and an expanded desalination plant to help reach its goal of having 90% of water use coming from seawater or recirculated sources.

According to the London-listed copper miner, both projects are now advancing on budget and on schedule, supported by over 3,000 contractors deployed across the sites.

In addition, the company is trialing a trolley-assist system, powered entirely by renewable energy, that is expected to help reduce the mine’s diesel consumption by haul trucks, providing savings both in terms of costs and Scope 1 emissions. The trial, including feasibility studies, is expected to take place over the next 2-3 years.

Antofagasta also views community engagement as an integral part of its operations at Los Pelambres. For this, it created the Somos Choapa program, aimed at supporting various initiatives in host communities in the Choapa Valley. To date, it has implemented over 150 projects in its first 10-year cycle, which ended in 2024.

Antofagasta, majority-owned by Chile’s Luksic family, believes that these major projects at Los Pelambres will help to deliver another 25 years of production and value creation. To that end, the company has submitted an environmental impact assessment for its development options project, which could extend the mine’s life to 2051.

A video celebrating the milestones achieved in developing the Los Pelambres mine can be seen here.