Antofagasta Minerals Bets Over US$7 Billion on Copper Without Continental Water

Chile · Mining

The real story here isn’t just copper at record prices — it’s how one of Chile’s biggest miners is betting billions on water infrastructure to stay relevant for another quarter-century. For anyone living in or watching Latin America’s mining economies, this is the template for survival in a drier, costlier world.

If you’ve been following copper prices lately, you’ll know they’ve been hitting records. But the bigger news for anyone invested in or living near Latin America’s mining heartland is what Antofagasta Minerals is doing with that momentum. The Luksic group’s copper arm — the mining business of London-listed Antofagasta plc — is committing more than US$7 billion across its three flagship mines to keep producing copper without continental fresh water. That’s not a small tweak. It’s a structural bet that the future of Chilean copper is seawater, treated wastewater, and pipelines, not rivers and aquifers.

Why Antofagasta Minerals is spending big on water

The logic is simple: copper doesn’t get mined without water, and Chile’s north is one of the driest places on Earth. Antofagasta Minerals is building a US$4.4 billion second concentrator at Centinela, with capacity of 95,000 tonnes per day. That alone adds more than 170,000 tonnes of copper-equivalent output. But the concentrator only works if water is available, so the company is pairing that expansion with a near-US$2 billion adaptation at Los Pelambres that doubles desalination capacity to 800 litres per second.

Once that system is operational, Los Pelambres expects to run mainly on desalinated and recirculated seawater; it retains permits to draw Choapa river water through at least 2035. The plan also includes a new 125 km concentrate pipeline between the Chacay plant and the Punta Chungo port, routed away from populated areas. This isn’t about being green for the sake of it — it’s about securing the resource that keeps the mine running.

Zaldívar’s wastewater solution

The third piece of the puzzle is Zaldívar, where Antofagasta Minerals is spending about US$900 million on the water component of a life-extension project due in the second half of 2028. That mine will stop consuming continental water and instead use treated wastewater supplied by Econssa from the Antofagasta area, delivered via a 163 km pumping system with a capacity of around 200 litres per second. It’s a longer pipeline, a different water source, and a clear sign that the company is willing to pay for infrastructure that others might consider too complex or too costly.

Together, these three projects form a coherent strategy: sustain output beyond 2050 without relying on the continent’s shrinking freshwater supplies. For a region where water rights are increasingly contested — between cities, agriculture, and mining — this is a way to de-risk operations before the conflict gets worse. It’s also a message to investors that Antofagasta Minerals is thinking in decades, not quarters.

What this means for anyone in Latin America

If you live in or invest in Latin America, this matters beyond the copper price. Mining is a cornerstone of Chile’s economy, and how it adapts to water scarcity will shape everything from local employment to export revenues. The shift to desalinated seawater and treated wastewater is expensive, but it’s also a moat: smaller miners may not afford it, while larger players like Antofagasta Minerals can consolidate their position. For expats and nomads in Chile’s coastal cities, the visible side is new pipelines and plants; the less visible side is a mining sector that can keep paying taxes, wages, and dividends even as the climate dries out.

There’s also a governance angle. Juan Claro is resigning from the board of Antofagasta plc effective 31 August 2026, after serving as a non-executive director since 2005 — about 21 years. The company says he will not receive any severance payment, only pay accrued through that date. He’ll also step down from the Sustainability and Stakeholder Management Committee. It’s a clean exit, and it happens as the company is making its biggest water-related commitments in years. Whether that’s coincidence or part of a broader refresh, it’s worth watching.

The bottom line on Antofagasta Minerals’ water bet

Copper prices at records make big investments easier to justify, but the logic here isn’t just cyclical. Antofagasta Minerals is positioning itself for a world where freshwater is scarcer, regulations are tighter, and communities are more vocal. The more than US$7 billion package is a hedge against all three. It’s also a reminder that the mining industry’s biggest challenges aren’t always underground — sometimes they’re about what flows above ground.

For investors, the key number isn’t just the copper-equivalent output or the desalination capacity. It’s the date: beyond 2050. That’s the horizon Antofagasta Minerals is planning for, and it’s the horizon that will determine whether Chile remains a copper powerhouse or slowly fades as water runs out. The company is betting billions that it can stay ahead of that curve. So far, the pieces are in place.

More: Chile news in English, every day from The Rio Times.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources: Antofagasta plc and Antofagasta Minerals disclosures; Diario Financiero; La Tercera; Mining.com; BNamericas.

Read More from The Rio Times

• Chile’s Kast Unveils Emergency Jobs Plan Promising Over 100,000 Jobs
• Chile Opposition Asks Watchdog to Rule on Kast’s US-Led Security Pact
• Chile’s Election Bots Probe Widens Around Jailed Argentine Consultant