Antofagasta Procures Full Funding for Los Pelambres Copper Mine Expansion

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The Chilean miner Antofagasta Plc. Announced that it has secured full funding for the proposed expansion project at its flagship Los Pelambres copper mine, located nearly 200 kilometres north of Santiago.

The positive progress of the initial phase of the expansion project led to securing of $1.3 billion funding from a consortium of lenders. The financing will be in two tranches. The first tranche, amounting to $425 million with a 10-year term, is from Japan Bank for International Cooperation. The second tranche of the remaining $875 million with 7-year term is from a consortium of international banks including Mizuho Bank, Export Development Canada, Scotiabank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) and Bank of China. The second tranche has received a Green Evaluation from S&P Global Ratings, sources said.

The first phase of the planned incremental expansion at Los Pelambres mine is already underway and is expected to significantly raise the annual copper production from the mine by 40,000 tonnes in the first full year of operation.

Ivan Arriagada, CEO, Antafagasta noted that the company has been successful in financing the $1.3 billion expansion of Los Pelambres on favourable terms with the support of a strong group of lenders. This demonstrates the significant financing capacity of the Group, he added. Further, the expansion is expected to enhance the already strong returns of the project, Arriagada added.