Chile, the world’s largest copper producer, is pursuing a strategy to increase local processing capacity in order to minimize its reliance on Asian smelters and make shipping cleaner.
According to the Mining Ministry, a proposal to renovate existing smelters and refineries and establish new plants in collaboration with the private sector was given to Congress on Thursday.
Strengthening smelting capacity is a priority for President Gabriel Boric’s communist government, which is also trying to capture more value in the conversion of lithium into battery chemistry. With the final smelter erected in 1990, more than half of Chile’s copper output is exported in semi-processed form.
The idea was developed following discussions with employees, businesses, and academia, and it comes in the wake of state-owned miner Codelco’s decision to close its Ventanas smelter for environmental reasons. It highlights the government’s leadership role in generating new capacity through Codelco and Enami, two state-owned companies.
In January, Codelco struck an agreement with Europe’s leading smelter, Aurubis, to investigate possible areas of partnership in Chile for smelting and circular economy initiatives. Enami is thinking about upgrading the Hernan Videla Lira smelter.
