en.Wedoany.com Reported - Canadian mining company Capstone Copper Corp. (TSX: CS) announced on July 9, 2026, that it has completed the first blasting operation at its Santo Domingo copper-iron project in the Atacama Region (Región de Atacama), Chile. The blasting was aimed at obtaining ballast material to test the performance of materials to be used in future thick tailings dam construction. Although this blasting does not mark the official start of project construction, it signifies a critical phase in material evaluation.

The Santo Domingo project is a fully environmentally permitted open-pit copper-iron-gold-cobalt mine located in the Atacama Region, approximately 35 kilometers from Capstone's Mantoverde mine. The project has an estimated initial capital expenditure of $2.3 billion and is jointly owned by Capstone Copper (75% stake) and Orion Resource Partners (25% stake). The project design includes a copper-iron concentrator with a daily processing capacity of 72,000 tons, along with other supporting facilities. It is expected to produce approximately 106,000 tons of copper annually in the first seven years of operation, with a mine life exceeding 19 years.

Capstone Copper expects to make a final investment decision no later than the fourth quarter of 2026 to accelerate the development of this mining project. The project is a key component of Capstone's strategy to build a large-scale multi-metal mining district in Chile. This district strategy aims to integrate the Santo Domingo project with the Mantoverde mine (annual copper production of 89,000 to 102,000 tons), in which Capstone holds a 70% stake and Mitsubishi Materials holds 30%. Additionally, Capstone plans to include the advanced-stage exploration project Sierra Norte (100% owned) in the district, whose ore could be processed at the Santo Domingo facilities, further expanding the district's reserves and production. If this strategy is realized, the future Mantoverde-Santo Domingo district would include a desalination plant and a port.

As a significant mid-tier copper mine operator in the Americas, Capstone Copper is accelerating its mining integration in the Atacama region of Chile through the advancement of the Santo Domingo project. The successful completion of this first blasting provides critical data support for technical evaluations ahead of the project's final investment decision.