Anglo hiking Chile investments to reverse declining copper output

Anglo American saw copper production in Chile fall 10% in 2023 to 507,200t, with that figure forecast to dip again this year to 430,000-460,000t.

The London-based company will raise its investments in Chile this year by 4% to US$1.27bn to reverse the downward trend in output.

The decline in production is largely due to the low grades and hardness of the ore mined from its Los Bronces deposit, located 65km from capital Santiago, which caused a 20% drop in production at the site to 215,500t, the company said in its annual report.

At El Soldado in Valparaíso region, output slipped 2% to 39,500t. It projects similar production this year before it descends to 30,000-35,000t/y until the end of the mine life in 2028, should permits not be obtained for the operational continuity of the mine, the firm said.

Anglo has 50.1% shares of Los Bronces and El Soldado, while a venture between state-owned Codelco and Mitsui owns 29.5% and Mitsubishi has the remaining 20.4%. The figures are on a 100% basis.

Along with advancing work for the new operation phases at Los Bronces Integrado, Anglo will focus on developing the desalination plant for the Collahuasi mine in the Tarapacá region of northern Chile, where it has a 44% interest.

Collahuasi was the only one of the three Anglo units in Chile that saw production rise in 2023, despite extreme drought affecting the north of the country.

Anglo's attributable production from Collahuasi was 252,200t, compared with 251,100t in 2022, while total production was 573,181t. Glencore also has a 44% stake in Collahuasi and JCR, a Japanese consortium led by Mitsui, owns the remaining 12%.

The small increase in Collahuasi's output was attributed to better ore grades and the start-up of a fifth ball mill.

Anglo will allocate US$678mn to this mining district in 2024 to ensure the start-up of the desalination plant in 2026 and advance studies that seek to add 25,000t/y of copper to its attributable production between 2025 and 2028.

It also has plans to install a fourth processing line and expand the mine to add another 150,000t/y to output. Permits for that could be issued in 2027, the company said.

At Los Bronces, Anglo American will continue to conduct works related to adapting the open pit, commissioning of which could be completed in 2027, while advancing with a prefeasibility study for the underground expansion that should be presented in 2025.

Due to the drop in production at Los Bronces, the Anglo board decided to put the oldest of the processing plants, which accounts for around 40% of production, on care and maintenance from mid-2024.

That decision is intended to reduce costs and cut down on supply of water that is currently brought in by truck, although the mining company has a project to incorporate desalinated water into its operations.

Chile's total copper production dipped 1.4% to 5.25Mt last year, the lowest on record since 2003, with much of the downward pressure coming from lower output by Anglo and Codelco.