Soaring demand for copper will help drive mergers, BHP CEO says
Demand for copper, a key element in the energy transition, is set to rise by 70% to 100% by 2050, Mike Henry said
SANTIAGO, April 23 (Reuters) – Chilean industrial conglomerate Empresas Copec SA said on Monday it had reached an agreement with Peru’s Minsur S.A. to buy a 40 percent stake in a holding company that owns a Peruvian copper mine project for $168.5 million.
Minsur will retain 60 percent ownership in Cumbres Andinas S.A., the company that controls the Mina Justa project, Santiago-based Copec said in a filing with Chile’s financial regulator.
Mina Justa, which is expected to require investment of around $1.6 billion, is due to begin construction in the second half of 2018, with production starting in 2020 or 2021, Copec said. It should produce about 100,000 tonnes of copper per year for 18 years, it added.
Copec also operates forestry, energy and other mining firms.
(Reporting by Dave Sherwood and Antonio De la Jara, writing by Dave Sherwood, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)
