Key Points
- Chile’s Codelco has chosen Glencore as most popular companion for an enormous new copper smelter within the Antofagasta area.
- The plant would course of 1.5 million tonnes of focus a yr, with Codelco supplying as much as 800,000 tonnes underneath a long-term deal.
- The undertaking indicators a transfer away from noisy ideological battles towards hard-nosed funding that retains extra worth and jobs in Chile.
Chile’s state copper firm Codelco has quietly taken an enormous strategic flip. By signing a memorandum of understanding with Glencore for a brand new smelter within the north, it’s betting that disciplined partnership with a world dealer will do extra for development than slogans about how you can “management” assets.
On paper the undertaking is straightforward. Glencore will design, finance, construct and function a smelter within the Antofagasta area, doubtless close to Antofagasta metropolis or Tocopilla.
The plant is deliberate to deal with round 1.5 million tonnes of copper focus a yr underneath fashionable environmental requirements. In trade, Codelco will negotiate a provide contract of as much as 800,000 tonnes yearly for at the least ten years, with an possibility to increase for an additional decade.
A pre-feasibility research is due by May 2026. If the numbers work, building would begin round 2030 and operations between 2032 and 2033. Industry estimates put the funding at roughly $1.5–2 billion.
Chile Aims to Capture More Copper Value at Home
The story behind the story is about the place copper worth is captured. Chile is the world’s high producer, but a lot of its output leaves as semi-processed focus that’s then refined in Asia, particularly China, which now dominates international smelting capability.
At house, getting older vegetation and political fights over air pollution led to closures, leaving the nation with solely a small share of world refining.
This deal, together with a deliberate modernization of one other state-linked smelter at Paipote, suggests a unique reply: fewer leaky, out of date services and extra severe, capital-heavy tasks near the mines.
For expats, buyers and buying and selling companions, it’s a sign that Chile nonetheless needs to be a predictable, rules-based hub for the metals that feed the power transition – and that it is able to work with non-public teams keen to place actual cash and know-how on the desk.
