Antofagasta signs $1.5bn investment deal for water transport system in Chile mine
London-listed Antofagasta on Wednesday signed a $1.5-billion investment deal to improve water supply at its Chile mining operations.
The deal, signed with a firm owned by Madrid-based Almar Water Solutions and Chile-based power transmission company Transelec, is to set up a water transportation system that will provide non-desalinated seawater for its Centinela mining operation.
Centinela's operations are set to receive $600-million in 2024 from the consortium.
In 2022, Chile's SMA environmental regulator filed two charges against the Centinela copper deposit due to its impact on a water source and local wildlife.
CONTEXT
Analysts have forecast a deficit of the red metal from this year as Panama ordered the closure of First Quantum's mine and producers like Anglo American and Vale Base Metals both cut their supply estimates for 2024 and 2025.
Copper demand is expected to grow steadily in the coming years, yet recent price jumps appear to be driven in part by speculative activity.
WHY IT'S IMPORTANT
Chile, where Antofagasta's operations are based, has suffered a 15-year drought, sucking water from reservoirs and sparking concern over the fresh water supply.
Additionally, miners and countries are looking to increase and reopen production of copper from mines amid a bullish outlook.
BY THE NUMBERS
The World Resources Institute said nearly 16% of the world's land-based critical mineral mines and districts are located in areas facing high or extremely high levels of water stress.
The project at Centinela in Chile includes the construction of two 144 km-long water pipelines that transports seawater to its ports and facilitates the expansion of the mine.
The expansion at Centinela would boost annual copper output from the Centinela mine by 140 000 tons, making it one of the world's top 15 such mines by output.
Comments
The
content
you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.
If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.
If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.
For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation