20 February 2025
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Anglo American and Codelco to unlock
significant value from joint mine plan for Los Bronces and Andina
copper mines
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Anglo American plc ("Anglo
American") announces the signing of a memorandum of understanding
("MoU") between its 50.1% owned subsidiary Anglo American Sur SA
("AAS") and the Chilean state-owned mining company Codelco for a
framework to implement a joint mine plan for the two companies'
respective, adjacent copper mines of Los Bronces and Andina in
Chile. The joint mine plan will increase copper production with
minimal additional capital required, helping to unlock the full
value of this world-class mining district and generating an
expected NPV uplift of at least $5 billion pre-tax over the period
of the agreement, to be shared equally.
A new operating company, jointly
owned and controlled by AAS and Codelco, will coordinate the
execution of the joint mine plan and optimise the use of the
processing capacity of the two operations. The resulting copper
production and value generated, as well as any costs and
liabilities from the joint mine plan, will be shared equally
between AAS and Codelco. AAS and Codelco will retain full ownership
rights of their respective assets, such as mining concessions,
plants, and ancillary assets and will continue to exploit their
respective concessions separately.
Duncan Wanblad, Chief Executive of Anglo
American, said: "Copper is at the forefront of
our growth ambitions and we already have a clear pathway to more
than 1 million tonnes of annual copper production by the early
2030s, a 30% increase. Building on that growth pipeline, Los
Bronces and Andina present obvious and significant adjacency
benefits and together represent approximately 2% of global copper
Resources and Reserves, with approximately 60 million tonnes of
contained copper1. By putting in place a joint
mine plan and optimising the use of our respective processing
plants, we believe we can unlock an additional 2.7 million tonnes
of copper production over a 21-year period from 2030 alongside
other operational synergies made possible by coordinating our
activities across the site. Anglo American and Codelco will both
retain flexibility to develop separate standalone projects,
including development of underground resources during the period of
the joint mine plan in an appropriately coordinated
manner.
"Our technical teams have been
working together for many years to identify the optimal
configuration to unlock the full value of this extraordinary mining
district. We are delighted that our work with Codelco has created
the foundations for an agreement that can create very significant
additional value for Anglo American and Codelco, for our JV
partners in AA Sur and other stakeholders, and for
Chile."
Máximo Pacheco, Chairman of Codelco, commented:
"Codelco and Anglo American have been good
neighbours for decades. This relationship has developed through
more than 10 cooperation agreements between the two companies over
half a century. Today, we have a unique opportunity to rethink the
development of this mining district and take a strategic and
beneficial step: moving forward with an alliance that will allow us
to increase copper production by an average of nearly 120 thousand
tonnes of fine copper per year, without any material additional
investments. Considering total production, this district would
become one of the three most important in Chile and the fourth
worldwide. In this way, we will contribute a critical mineral for
the transition to a decarbonized economy and generate additional
value of at least $5 billion pre-tax, increasing our contribution
in the short and medium term while strengthening Chile's position
as a leading global copper supplier.
"This project represents an
unprecedented public-private collaboration model globally, with a
corporate governance structure equally composed of Codelco and
Anglo American. Each company will conduct its mining operations
independently but in a coordinated manner, safeguarding the current
socio-environmental commitments of both and placing the protection
of high Andean ecosystems and their biodiversity at the
centre."
The companies have also established
sustainability principles to guide the implementation of the joint
mine plan, which safeguard both social programmes and existing
environmental commitments.
Under the terms of the MoU, Anglo
American and Codelco are working towards concluding due diligence
and entering into definitive agreements in H2 2025. The agreements
will be subject to a number of conditions including securing
environmental permits for the joint mine plan and regulatory
approvals. In the interim, both Los Bronces and Andina will
continue to operate as they currently do, based on the 2019
cooperation agreement between the two mines.
1The approximately 60Mt of copper contained in the Resources
and Reserves of Los Bronces and Andina relates only to that which
is subject to the MoU and therefore excludes the endowments
relating to the Los Bronces Underground project and Andina's
underground options. Source: Anglo American
Ore Reserves and Mineral Resources Report; and S&P Global. For
additional information on Ore Reserves and Mineral Resources, refer
to the companies' websites.
For further information, please
contact:
Notes:
Anglo American is a leading global
mining company focused on the responsible production of copper,
premium iron ore and crop nutrients - future-enabling products that
are essential for decarbonising the global economy, improving
living standards, and food security. Our portfolio of world-class
operations and outstanding resource endowments offers
value-accretive growth potential across all three businesses,
positioning us to deliver into structurally attractive major demand
growth trends.
Our integrated approach to
sustainability and innovation drives our decision-making across the
value chain, from how we discover new resources to how we mine,
process, move and market our products to our customers - safely,
efficiently and responsibly. Our Sustainable Mining Plan commits us
to a series of stretching goals over different time horizons to
ensure we contribute to a healthy environment, create thriving
communities and build trust as a corporate leader. We work together
with our business partners and diverse stakeholders to unlock
enduring value from precious natural resources for our
shareholders, for the benefit of the communities and countries in
which we operate, and for society as a whole. Anglo American is
re-imagining mining to improve people's lives.
Anglo American is currently
implementing a number of major structural changes to unlock the
inherent value in its portfolio and thereby accelerate delivery of
its strategic priorities of Operational excellence, Portfolio
simplification, and Growth. This portfolio transformation will
focus Anglo American on its world-class resource asset base in
copper, premium iron ore and crop nutrients, once the sale of our
steelmaking coal and nickel businesses, the demerger of our PGMs
business (Anglo American Platinum), and the separation of our
iconic diamond business (De Beers) have been completed.
www.angloamerican.com
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