Construction of Peru's Tía María Copper Mine Nears 50% Completion, On Track for Completion by End of 2027

en.Wedoany.com Reported - Peruvian Minister of Energy and Mines Guillermo Shinno stated that construction of the Tía María copper mine project in the Islay Province of the Arequipa Region has reached nearly 50% completion. Under the current construction schedule, the project will be completed by the end of 2027 and enter the production phase in early 2028. The project is being developed by Southern Copper Corporation, with an investment scale exceeding US$1.7 billion and a designed annual production of approximately 100,000 to 120,000 tonnes of refined copper.

Southern Copper's latest disclosed engineering data slightly predates the minister's statement. As of June 30, overall construction progress at Tía María stood at 42%, with cumulative committed investment of US$1.101 billion, of which US$693 million has been spent. Large-scale earthworks at the La Tapada deposit are approximately 71% complete, with cumulative material movement of 13.85 million tonnes. Most major equipment procurement orders have been placed, key equipment for the leaching system has been procured, and the remaining major equipment is still being advanced.

Power and main works are progressing in parallel. Mechanical and electrical installation is underway at the project's main substation, and construction of the 220 kV transmission line continues. Mass site grading in the dry and wet areas is nearing completion, and the primary, secondary, and tertiary crushing systems, as well as the solvent extraction and electrowinning facilities, have entered the civil works and steel structure installation stage. The project plans to adopt the SX-EW hydrometallurgical route, with a designed annual production of 120,000 tonnes of cathode copper.

On the funding side, in June of this year, Southern Copper issued US$1.25 billion in unsecured bonds maturing in 2036 through the New York market, with a coupon rate of 5.35%. The proceeds are primarily intended for the development of the Tía María project, capital expenditure for its Peruvian operations, and related working capital arrangements.

Employment generated by project construction is also expanding. As of the end of June, Tía María had created 5,817 jobs, of which 1,254 were filled by local personnel. Southern Copper expects to require approximately 6,000 employees at the peak of construction and gives priority to hiring locally from Islay Province.

Regarding the production start date, in the second quarter of this year, Southern Copper still maintained its company plan of "starting production in the second half of 2027" and expects initial annual production of 120,000 tonnes of refined copper; the Peruvian Minister of Energy and Mines this time stated the production start date as early 2028. The project's actual subsequent production start milestone will depend on the installation of remaining equipment, the transmission project, the construction of the SX-EW system, and overall construction progress.