Bernardo Fontaine Takes the Codelco Board Chair Under Production Audit
CHILE · MINING
Saturday, May 30, 2026 — 03:00 BRT — By Matias Sebastian Lopez
Key Facts
—The appointment. Bernardo Fontaine Talavera, an economist designated by President José Antonio Kast, took office as Codelco board chair on May 27 at the company’s Santiago headquarters.
—The replacement. Fontaine replaces Máximo Pacheco, whose mandate ended after seven years at the head of the state copper miner.
—The audit. The change arrives during an internal audit examining whether December 2025 production figures were inflated by around 20,000 tonnes.
—The production. Codelco closed 2025 with 1.334 million tonnes of refined copper, with a stated target of recovering its 1.7 million tonne peak.
—Latin American impact. Codelco produces around 8 percent of the world’s copper supply and the Fontaine appointment will shape global pricing through 2026.
Bernardo Fontaine took office as chair of the Codelco board on Wednesday at the company’s Santiago headquarters, becoming the public face of the world’s largest copper producer at a moment of production stagnation and pending audit results. The Fontaine appointment by President José Antonio Kast moved through under the corporate-governance framework defined by Law 20.392, which structures political nominations to the company. Fontaine met chief executive Rubén Alvarado on his first day.
The Fontaine appointment and Codelco’s chain of command
The handover took place at Codelco’s Casa Matriz in Santiago, the operational heart of the state copper miner. Fontaine, an economist and ingeniero comercial from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, takes the chair under Law 20.392, which assigns the presidential prerogative to nominate the chair and a portion of the board.
Two new directors arrive with him. Luz Granier Bulnes, an ingeniera comercial of the Universidad de Chile and a former subsecretary of social services, takes one seat, replacing Josefina Montenegro Araneda. Alejandro Canut de Bon takes the other, replacing Alejandra Wood Huidobro.
Chief executive Rubén Alvarado remains in his position. Under the Codelco governance framework, the chief executive runs day-to-day operations while the chair leads board strategy. Fontaine met Alvarado on the first day at Santiago headquarters.
Who Bernardo Fontaine is
Fontaine has more than three decades of experience in the Chilean private sector. He has served as a director, executive, and adviser at more than 20 companies across industrial, financial, real-estate, insurance, retail, logistics, and public-service segments.
He was an independent member of the Convención Constitucional that drafted Chile’s rejected 2022 constitutional proposal, sitting outside the main party blocs. During the 2025 to 2026 election cycle he served as an economic adviser to the Kast campaign, which the new administration’s communications have framed as an asset for the Codelco transition.
He told reporters at the announcement that Codelco was running with what he described as a heavy backpack. The phrase was framed as a reference to the legacy challenges around production, capital expenditure on structural projects, and the company’s debt position.
Why the Fontaine appointment matters for Codelco production
Codelco produced 1,334,400 tonnes of refined copper in 2025, a stabilisation after several years of declining output. The peak production year was 2017 at around 1.7 million tonnes, and recovering that level is the company’s stated medium-term target.
The structural projects portfolio is the main driver of the production target. Chuquicamata’s underground transition, the Andina expansion, the El Teniente New Mine Level project, and the Salvador Rajo Inca development are the four largest investments, with combined capital expenditure running in the tens of billions of dollars across the decade.
Mining minister Daniel Mas, who holds the joint Mining and Economy portfolio, said at the announcement that the new board would conduct a financial review of projects whose original budgets had been multiplied. The wording signalled that the early agenda would be more focused on cost discipline than on accelerated output.
The production audit shadowing the Fontaine appointment
An internal Codelco audit examined the December 2025 production figures and identified inconsistencies that suggested some 20,000 tonnes had been added to the official record. The audit is preliminary and the figure has not been confirmed, but the case has been the most-discussed governance issue at the company in months.
Mas said the new board would assume the chair with a special mandate to investigate the production-figures matter, and that the government would consider an external audit if needed. Hacienda minister Jorge Quiroz separately framed the Pacheco-era performance as needing accountability.
Pacheco’s office has not commented publicly on the audit findings as of Saturday. The outgoing chair led the company for around seven years through both centre-left and centre-right administrations, and his tenure produced both the production stabilisation and the project budget overruns that the new board has been instructed to review.
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What the Fontaine appointment means for global copper
Codelco produces around 8 percent of the world’s copper supply, and Chile as a whole produces about a quarter. Changes at the head of the state miner have global price implications, and traders have watched the appointment as a signal of the operational direction for the next several years.
Mining minister Mas also said that for Chile to consolidate as a true mining power, Codelco would need to establish alliances and recognise the relevance of working with the private sector. The framing was the strongest statement to date that the new administration may pursue mixed-ownership ventures in some Codelco assets, though no specific deal has been named.
Copper prices traded near the year’s range at the end of May, with LME three-month copper supported by tight inventories and uncertainty around Chinese demand. The Fontaine board will inherit those market conditions as well as the legacy issues internal to the company.
Who is Bernardo Fontaine?
An economist and ingeniero comercial of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, with more than three decades of experience as a director, executive, and adviser at more than 20 Chilean companies. He was a 2022 Convención Constitucional member and an adviser to the Kast campaign in 2025 and 2026.
Why did the Codelco chair change?
The new Kast government exercised the presidential prerogative to appoint the chair under Law 20.392. Outgoing chair Máximo Pacheco had led the company for around seven years across multiple administrations.
What is the production-figures audit?
An internal review that flagged a roughly 20,000-tonne discrepancy in December 2025 production. The new board will examine the case and may commission an external audit. The findings remain preliminary.
How important is Codelco to the world copper market?
Codelco produces around 8 percent of world copper supply and is the largest single producer. Chile as a whole produces around a quarter of global supply, making Codelco governance changes price-relevant globally.
Will Codelco be partially privatised?
No specific deal has been announced. The mining minister has said that Chile’s mining future requires alliances with the private sector, which is the strongest official signal yet of openness to mixed-ownership ventures in some assets.
For the regional macro view, see our coverage of Banxico’s Mexico 2026 growth cut and Moody’s downgrade. For more on the wider Latin American investment landscape, read our piece on CAEME’s $8bn Argentine pharma pledge.
The Rio Times — Saturday, May 30, 2026 — 03:00 BRT — By Matias Sebastian Lopez
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