Antofagasta to extend Zaldívar mine to 2051, plans to spend $900M

Antofagasta has committed $900 million to extend the life of its Zaldívar copper mine in northern Chile to 2051, replacing freshwater use with treated wastewater as it pushes the operation toward a more sustainable future. The mine, which Antofagasta operates and co-owns with Barrick, announced the investment at the Exponor mining and energy conference.

The project includes constructing a new water conveyance and pumping system that will bring treated wastewater from the sanitation company Econssa to the mine beginning in 2028. This change will allow Zaldívar to eliminate the use of continental water in its operations.

The investment will support construction work starting in the second half of this year and is expected to create as many as 5,000 jobs at peak activity. The extension secures another 25 years of production at a mine that has operated for more than three decades in Chile’s Antofagasta region.

“Today we not only celebrate Zaldívar’s 31-year history, but we also celebrate its future, the next 25 years, to continue developing mining responsibly and with ever-decreasing impacts on its environment,” Antofagasta Minerals president Iván Arriagada said.