Capstone Plans to Invest Over US$3 Billion to Expand Chilean Copper Operations

en.Wedoany.com Reported - Canada's Capstone Copper has proposed a mining development plan to invest more than US$3 billion in Chile over the next four years, with funds mainly directed to the Santo Domingo copper-iron-gold project in the Atacama Region, the Mantoverde copper mine expansion, and sustaining capital expenditure for existing operations. The company aims to roughly double its Chilean copper output by 2031.

The largest project in the investment plan is Santo Domingo, with initial capital cost currently estimated at approximately US$2.3 billion. The project has obtained its main permits, has a designed mine life of about 19 years, and is expected to produce an average of about 106,000 tonnes of copper per year over the first seven years, along with magnetite concentrate. Capstone is still advancing detailed engineering, infrastructure optimization, and debt financing, and a final investment decision is expected in the first quarter of 2027; therefore, the US$2.3 billion should not be regarded as fully approved construction investment.

At Mantoverde, the company plans to continue advancing two near-term production increase projects. The Mantoverde Optimized project will increase the sulphide concentrator's processing capacity from 32,000 tonnes per day to 45,000 tonnes per day, with a capital cost of approximately US$176 million; the pyrite enhancement project was formally approved for development in September 2026, with a capital cost of approximately US$45 million and planned completion in early 2028. The latter, by adding a new pyrite recovery circuit, is expected to reduce sulphuric acid consumption by about 20% and increase cathode copper output by an average of about 3,500 tonnes per year.

Capstone also plans approximately US$165 million for mine development in 2026, approximately US$150 million for sustaining capital expenditure, and approximately US$70 million for exploration. Santo Domingo and Mantoverde are about 35 kilometers apart, and the company plans to form an integrated mining district through shared power, transportation, port, and processing facilities; the long-term target for this district is more than 250,000 tonnes of copper per year.