CU - COPPER
BHP, Lundin Mining bet $400M on Argentina copper hub
BHP (ASX, NYSE: BHP) and Lundin Mining’s (TSX: LUN) joint venture in Argentina is investing more than $400 million near the Chilean border, aiming to develop a multibillion-dollar copper project that could become the country’s next major production hub.
The venture, Vicuña Corp, was created in January after the partners acquired Filo Corp. It controls both the Filo del Sol deposit in straddling the border Argentina-Chile and the Josemaría deposit in Argentina’s San Juan province.
Since the acquisition, Vicuña has carried out tests and pre-construction work at Josemaría, with plans to seek approvals and begin production in 2030. The company also extended the mine’s useful life from 19 to 25 years after confirming higher-than-expected resources and set ore processing capacity at 175,000 tonnes per day.
The budget already places Vicuña among Argentina’s largest foreign investors this year, even as final development costs are still being calculated, Vicuña’s senior country manager for Argentina and Chile told Bloomberg News.
The company is also preparing an application for tax, customs, and currency exchange benefits under Argentina’s large investment incentives program, known as RIGI.
“RIGI is critical,” Morea said. “It levels the playing field and allows for the project to be competitive in tax terms when compared to other jurisdictions in Latin America and across the world.”
CEO appointed
Vicuña expects to submit a technical report to its board by March, outlining timelines, production forecasts, and processing methods.
To guide the next phase, the company appointed this week mining veteran Ron Hochstein as chief executive officer. Hochstein, who brings more than three decades of industry experience, most recently serving as Chair and CEO of Lundin Gold, will take the helm on November 7.
Argentina has not produced copper since 2018, but a growing pipeline of projects could elevate the country into the world’s top 10 producers.
Anglo, Codelco seal pact to unlock $5B in Chilean copper
Anglo American (LON: AAL) and Chile’s state-owned copper miner Codelco have sealed a landmark deal to jointly operate their neighbouring mines in central Chile, unlocking at least $5 billion in value.
The agreement combines Anglo’s Los Bronces and Codelco’s Andina mines, creating a new mining district outside Santiago. The partnership is expected to generate an additional 2.7 million tonnes of copper over 21 years, once permits are secured. They are anticipated by 2030.
Andina, one of Codelco’s smaller operations, produced 181,600 tonnes of copper last year. Los Bronces, a key operation for Anglo American, yielded 172,400 tonnes.
Codelco already holds a 20% stake in Anglo American Sur, which operates Los Bronces, El Soldado, and the Chagres smelter.
The combination effectively creates a new mining district in Chile: Andina – Los Bronces. A jointly owned new company will run the merged assets, with each partner retaining ownership of its respective mines.
“Together, we are demonstrating what is possible when two leading copper mining companies work together with a shared purpose and commitment to excellence,” Anglo American CEO Duncan Wanblad said in the statement.
Codelco Chairman Máximo Pacheco said the arrangement will maximize the potential of the district without major new investment.
The deal also embeds sustainability principles and flexibility to align with each company’s environmental commitments.
Chile’s National Mining Association (Sonami) welcomed the news. It said that clustering projects into mining districts could help streamline the permitting process.
Growth through partnerships
Codelco has a long record of private partnerships. It holds 49% of El Abra with Freeport-McMoRan and 42.3% of the Agua de la Falda project with Rio Tinto.
Last year, it acquired 10% of Teck’s (TSX: TECK.A, TECK.B)(NYSE: TECK) Quebrada Blanca copper mine, expected to boost its annual output by up to 30,000 tonnes. That agreement remains intact despite the planned $53 billion merger between Anglo and Teck, announced in early September.
Separately, Anglo continues to advance the Los Bronces Integrated Project, approved in 2023 after initial rejection and criticism over its potential impact on glaciers and water supply. Production ramp-up is expected to begin in 2027.
Orion Minerals signs deal with Glencore unit for up to $250M funding
Australia’s Orion Minerals said on Wednesday it has signed a non-binding term sheet with a unit of global miner Glencore for $200 million–$250 million funding for its Prieska copper-zinc project in South Africa.
The diversified metal developer said that the deal includes an offtake agreement with Glencore to sell 100% of zinc and copper concentrates, among others, from the mine for a period ranging between five and 10 years.
Orion will receive the funding in two tranches for the construction and commencement of early works at the mine, with the first drawdown targeted in November.
The company said the first tranche of the funding will enable Orion to move swiftly into first production and first cash flow from the project.
Conditions for the provision of funding include a completion of satisfactory due diligence, which Glencore has already commenced, Orion added.
“In parallel with the due diligence process with Glencore, we will continue discussions with our current funding partners,” the company’s chief executive Tony Lennox said.
(By Nikita Maria Jino; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Alan Barona)
Chile’s ENAMI attracts interest from miners, traders for smelter financing
Chile’s state-run mining body ENAMI has received interest from 15 entities, including major miners and traders, to finance a $1.7 billion smelter modernization project, it said in a statement on Monday.
ENAMI said interested entities include mining companies (Rio Tinto), commodities traders (Mercuria, Hartree Partners, Vitol, Javelin Global Commodities), investment funds (Orion Resource Partners) and banks (Sumitomo Mitsui Bank Limited, Macquarie Bank, Societe Generale).
Japanese conglomerate Mitsui, Indian copper producer Indo Asia Copper and China Nonferrous Metal Industry’s Foreign Engineering and Construction also expressed interest, ENAMI said.
“It has been very gratifying to see the market’s interest in this mega-project … it’s a sign of investor confidence in the company,” said ENAMI’s head, Ivan Mlynarz, in a statement.
ENAMI in August kicked off a process to seek investors for a smelter modernization in exchange for copper cathode supply. The Hernan Videla Lira smelter in the Atacama region is undergoing renovations that will give it the capacity to process 850,000 metric tons of copper concentrate a year and produce 240,000 tons of copper cathodes.
Initial offers are due by the end of October, after which ENAMI will proceed to a binding offer stage, the company said.
(By Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)
BHP flags organic copper growth, US allure, silent on big buyouts
The world’s biggest mining company, BHP, touted its solid copper potential and flagged the investment appeal of the United States on Monday, but was silent on the prospect of major buyouts, as top executives briefed shareholders.
CEO Mike Henry and chief financial officer Vandita Pant answered select questions in the first major opportunity to talk to investors since last week’s blockbuster tie-up of one-time target Anglo American and Teck Resources.
Their answers focused on growth potential from BHP’s Argentinian copper assets, the United States’ investment allure, and production delays at BHP’s Jansen potash project in Canada.
It was unclear if all questions submitted by shareholders were asked. BHP did not immediately reply to a request for comment on how it chose the questions to answer.
“The copper growth story for BHP is one of the big stories,” Henry said. “We have made so much progress…We now have four big copper growth basins on top of the 28% copper growth that we have seen in recent years.”
Those basins include the Vicuna 50-50 joint venture with Lundin Mining in Argentina, the US Resolution tie-up with Rio Tinto, Escondida in Chile and BHP’s South Australian copper operations.
Henry sidestepped a question whether the miner was interested in buying Toronto-listed NGEX Minerals, which is also active in Argentina’s Vicuna district. NGEX did not respond to a request for comment outside office hours.
The question of big ticket mergers and acquisitions was not tackled. The $53-billion Ango-Teck tie-up announced last week is widely expected to spur more M&A action, in a breakthrough after years of failed consolidation efforts in the mining sector.
The deal came just over a year after BHP scrapped a $49-billion bid for Anglo that would in a single acquisition have beefed up the Australian miner’s holding in copper, seen as essential to the energy transition.
Investors and bankers told Reuters last week that they did not expect BHP to gatecrash the current deal, since it is focusing on expanding its own copper assets during a time of leadership renewal.
Henry also said the United States, with half the power costs of Australia, was focused on drawing in mining investment, as Australia reviews productivity.
He also conceded that BHP’s anticipated internal rate of return from its Jansen investment would come under pressure after it raised capital expenditure estimates in July and pushed back first production.
(By Melanie Burton; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
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