Antofagasta Minerals plans exploration studies in Peru

Perumin statement

This is an automated translation of the original press release issued in Spanish

Antofagasta Minerals, one of the most important mining companies in Chile, announced the start of studies in Peru to identify copper mining projects.

The executive president of the company, Ivan Arriagada , during his participation in PERUMIN 35, revealed that, as part of its active program of early-stage exploration projects, its specialized teams seek to establish areas of interest for the development of mining projects in Peruvian territory.

“We are doing exploration to establish targets that may be of interest to develop projects, studies that are in the early stage, an exploration project takes between 10 to 15 years. Our strategy is America”, he pointed out.

The executive was cautious about the regions that have sparked the company's interest. He only explained that the amounts earmarked for now are lower. "Everything will depend on what we identify," he said.

Alliance for copper

Arriagada in his dissertation remarked that "copper is necessary for a change of era", which is nothing more than the so-called energy transition (use of renewable energy) that the sector and the world in general require.

Today, world copper production ranges between 23 and 24 million tons, however, by 2030, it is estimated that world demand will require between 4 and 6 million tons more. "We are not clear about how we are going to meet that demand and achieve the energy transition," he said.

In this context, Peru and Chile, according to the executive, must establish an alliance to respond to this and new challenges. The path is to create the conditions to encourage more investments in copper projects.

Antofagasta Minerals has begun the path to renew the energy matrix. By 2022, the company has managed to switch to 100% the use of renewable energy. By 2025, its operations will use entirely seawater, while by 2050, the projection is to neutralize carbon in all its activities.

"We are an ally, we want to do responsible mining, we want to contribute to the great challenge of climate change and continue developing the sector to contribute to the social agenda, Chile and Peru have common aspects such as health deficit and mining can help solve it" , he added.