Peru’s Congress removes energy and mines minister amid sector protests
Romulo Mucho was removed from his post on Tuesday amid protests from small-scale miners in the Andean nation.
Los Pelambres remains Antofagasta’s flagship mine, producing over 55% of the total group output.
Chile-focused copper miner Antofagasta (LON: ANTO) has promoted mining division head Diego Hernández as its new chief executive officer (CEO) and announced the group’s executive chairman is set to take step back from operations.
Jean-Paul Luksic, who was appointed in 2004, will now take a non-executive role effective Sep. 1st. His family owns 65% of Antofagasta, which began life as a London-incorporated South American railway operator in the 1880s.
Hernández’ promotion to the top helm comes as Antofagasta embarks on a $3 billion expansion of mining operations expected to increase its copper output from 700,000 tonnes this year to almost 900,000 tonnes in 2018. A mine at Antucoya, the first part of the expansion, is scheduled to start production next year.
The Luksic family, one of Chile’s richest, owns exploration and mining ventures in Europe, Turkey, Australia, Africa and across the Americas and annual revenues of $4.5 billion.
