The Chilean mining company Mantos Copper receives 250 million dollars.
Copper mining in Mantos Blancos - Chile
Private Chilean copper producer Mantos Copper has received 250 million dollars to finance the expansion of the sulphide concentrator at its Mantos Blancos facility, which will extend the life of the open pit mine to 2035 and reduce costs.
It includes a loan of 150 million dollars from Glencore subsidiary Altonorte. Another 50 million dollars will come from a recent closed copper license agreement with Anglo Pacific (LON, TSX: APY), the company said.
Mantos Copper also signed an 50 million dollar copper mining agreement under the Anglo Pacific agreement and a $ 25 million modification to increase the existing silver concentrate agreement with Osisko Gold Royalties.
The concentrator is to be expanded from a capacity of 4,3 million tons per year to 7,3 million tons per year before the natural oxides of ore are used up in the year 2023.
"The financing represents an important milestone in Mantos Copper's strategy to efficiently and sustainably expand and enlarge the mines while reducing operating costs," said the company's CEO, John MacKenzie, in a media statement.
Mantos Copper, part of a consortium led by UK investment firm Audley Capital Advisors and the Orion Mine Finance Group, acquired 2015's Mantos Blancos Mine from Anglo American.
Mantos Blancos is located 45 km from the port city of Antofagasta in northern Chile. (Image: Anglo American.)
It is expected that 2019 and 2020 will produce 45.400 tons and 42.300 tons of copper annually and 2021 an average of 52.400 tons annually for the first ten years after completion of the concentrator expansion in XNUMX.
Copper, which is used in energy, batteries and construction, is one of the most desirable raw materials, and it is expected that the mining company will arouse the interest of many parties, especially in Chile, where production has declined in recent years.
Chile is the world's largest copper producer, covering more than 30% of global demand. The metal accounts for up to 15% of the country's gross domestic product.
