Project portfolio of Chile's big miners hits US$42bn

The portfolio of projects under evaluation by companies in Chile's mining council increased to US$42.341bn at end-June from US$36.060bn six months earlier.

The list of 15 projects include some major initiatives that are years away from execution, including Barrick Gold's US$8.5bn Pascua-Lama, the US$6bn Cerro Casale, a JV between Barrick and Goldcorp, and the US$5.4bn RT Sulfuros expansion of state copper giant Codelco's Radomiro Tomic.

The council, which groups the country's largest mining companies, also has a list of projects under construction requiring combined investment of US$13.943bn.

Projects under construction are being led by Codelco, including two major initiatives - the new mine level at El Teniente and the underground transformation of Chuquicamata - and several upgrades of its smelters in order to comply with new emissions standards.

In total, the world's largest copper producer has US$12.670bn in combined investment under construction across eight projects.

Antofagasta Minerals has two copper projects under construction: the US$636mn Encuentro Oxides and a US$125mn new molybdenum processing plant for its Centinela mine.

The list of projects under construction compares to the US$15.879bn at end-December, as the US$3.430bn, 2,500l/s desalination plant for BHP's Escondida copper mine began operating in the first half.