Chile wants to boost local copper smelting capacity to rely less on Asian plants

Chile, the top copper-mining nation, is moving forward with a strategy to grow local processing capacity in a bid to reduce its dependence on Asian smelters and make shipping cleaner.
The Mining Ministry delivered to Congress a plan to upgrade existing smelters and refineries and develop new plants in partnership with the private sector, it said Thursday.
Strengthening smelting capacity is a priority for the leftist government of President Gabriel Boric, which is also looking to capture more value in turning lithium into battery chemicals. More than half of Chile copper output is shipped out in semi-processed form, with the last smelter built back in 1990. More local smelting would reduce waste involved in exporting concentrates and improve traceability. New generation smelters are also much cleaner.
The proposal was formulated after talks with workers, companies and academia, and follows the decision of state-owned miner Codelco to close its Ventanas smelter for environmental reasons. It identifies the leading role of the state — which owns four of Chile’s six existing smelters — in developing new capacity through Codelco and Enami, another state-owned company.
In January, Codelco signed an accord with Europe’s top smelter Aurubis to look into potential areas of collaboration regarding smelting and circular economy projects in Chile. Enami is looking into a project to upgrade the Hernan Videla Lira smelter.
(By James Attwood)
More News
USA Rare Earth merges with Inflection Point, debuts on NASDAQ
The company spent several years privately working to tap the Round Top are earth deposit in west Texas, with ambitious plans to create a domestic supply chain.
March 14, 2025 | 02:04 pm
First Quantum’s Cobre Panama mine ready to suspend arbitration
Panama government will allow the export of 120,000 metric tons of copper concentrate that has been stuck in the shuttered mine for over two years and allow restart of the power plant used to run the mine.
March 14, 2025 | 12:31 pm
{{ commodity.name }}
{{ post.title }}
{{ post.excerpt }}
{{ post.date }}
Comments