ENAMI's Chilean Smelter Modernization Attracts International Interest

Written by Amir Richani for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--ENAMI (Santiago, Chile), Chile's state mining company, received interest from more than 15 enterprises to finance the Hernan Videla Lira smelter modernization in exchange for the supply of copper cathodes. The company projects an investment of US$1.7 billion for the plant's modernization.

The project drew interest from mining companies such as Rio Tinto (London, England) and Indo Asia Copper Limited (Ahmedabad, India); traders including Mercuria and Javelin Global; investment funds like Orion Resources; financial institutions like Macquarie and Sumitomo Mitsui Bank; and energy companies like Vitol (Geneva, Switzerland).

ENAMI aims to modernize the Hernan Videla Lira smelter in Paipote, Atacama, to process 850,000 tons of copper concentrate per year and refine 240,000 tons of copper cathodes. The upgrade also includes technology to capture over 99% of emissions. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can learn more by viewing the related project reports.

The company is finalizing the last stages of the project's environmental assessment. Meanwhile, it expects to receive the official offers from the companies involved by October, after which the Chilean company will select a few proposals to receive more information on.

"It has been very gratifying to see the market's interest in this megaproject we are carrying out, as it demonstrates an understanding of the importance of building a new smelter in the country. It is also a sign of investor confidence in the company; in other words, they believe in the project and in ENAMI," said Ivan Mlynarz, vice president of ENAMI.

Among those companies attracted to the project is Rio Tinto, which earlier this year closed a strategic deal with ENAMI for the joint development of the Altoandinos salt flats, representing investments of US$3 billion. In September, ENAMI secured the government's authorization, enabling the project to move forward.

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