John MacKenzie, CEO, Capstone Copper
Can you provide an overview of the operations of Capstone Copper in Chile?
Capstone Copper owns two producing mines and one fully permitted project in Chile. On a consolidated basis, we produce approximately 180,000 t/y of copper, with growth at our Mantoverde mine in Chile that will result in an increase in copper production to approximately 260,000 t/y at significantly lower costs by mid-2024. Our next leg of growth is at our fully permitted Santo Domingo project only 35 km away from Mantoverde, and it is expected to increase our consolidated copper production to around 380,000 t/y with lower costs.
What is the status of the Mantoverde Development Project?
Construction at MVDP remains on-time and on-budget (US$825 million estimated total project Capex), with nearly 3 million t of sulphide ore stockpiled (grading approximately 0.60% copper and 0.11 g/t gold) to date, ahead of our ramp-up commencing late in 2023.
Capstone is also evaluating a district cobalt plant for Mantoverde that may unlock cobalt production from the region while producing a by-product of sulphuric acid, which can then be used internally in the leaching of our oxide copper ore to lower operating costs. The company is evaluating various opportunities with the potential to become one of the largest and lowest cost battery grade cobalt producers in the world.
How does Capstone Copper support development and employment in local communities?
We are a proud employer of over 1,600 people in Chile and we recognize that we have an even greater impact on a much larger population through our operations. Our community efforts are focused on technical/mining training, educational programs and scholarships, social investments in local communities, and developing projects with local businesses.
What is Capstone Copper’s strategy and goals for the near future?
2023 is a pivotal year for Capstone, as we expect to complete MVDP construction in Q4, setting the stage for a doubling of consolidated cash flow and positioning us well for future growth.
Gonzalo Araujo Alonso, CEO, SCM Minera Lumina Copper Chile
Can you provide an update on SCM Minera Lumina Copper Chile’s (MLCC) operations in 2023? Lundin Mining acquired 51% of MLCC. After the closure of the agreement, which is now under the review of the Chilean anti-trust authority, we will be controlled by Lundin. The integration should take approximately three months, and then we will be working on synergies between Caserones and Candelaria mines and optimizing our processes incorporating the experience of Lundin Mining.
What is your perspective on the regulatory landscape? The mining industry is operating under higher standards in Chile and globally. The ICMM, for example, is promoting a series of policies and compliance criteria. The most well-known one is the GISTM for tailings. We intend to achieve that standard this year.
Environmental regulations are here to stay, and that is as it should be. There are higher standards in terms of transparency. For example, all the information we collect about water quality is available on our website.
What is your strategy for the coming year? Our priority is always safety, and we will continue focusing on maintaining our good record of preventing any serious injuries. Second, we aim to achieve our production targets. We were low in the first three months, but we have plans to catch up and expect that by December, we will be aligned with our expectations of 150,000 t/y of copper. We are above targets in molybdenum production, which was excellent news because prices were very high for molybdenum in Q1 2023. In terms of development, we will complete our stabilization process and achieve design capacity.
The other significant activity will be the integration process, which will bring many opportunities to optimize synergies and exchange best practices. One of the considerable advantages of this transaction is that we can integrate and learn from other mines that Lundin has, and from our site, we can provide our own know-how to them.