Antofagasta mines first to re-earn ‘Copper Mark’ certification

Chilean miner Antofagasta (LON: ANTO) reached on Thursday a global milestone, as two of its copper mines in the home country became the world’s first operations to receive the Copper Mark recertification.

The company’s Centinela and Zaldívar copper mines received the sought after certification under updated criteria. The Copper Mark, an industry-wide official recognition of sustainable and responsible copper production, aligns with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The revised criteria includes 33 stringent standards, covering environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues.

Independent reviewers conducted site visits and interviews with employees, contractors, management, and local communities in September to verify the mines’ compliance with the updated requirements.

Antofagasta’s vice president of sustainability, Alejandra Vial, emphasized the significance of the milestone:

“This recertification demonstrates that we produce copper, a metal critical for the energy transition, in line with the highest sustainability standards,” she said. “In turn, it helps us fulfil our purpose of developing mining for a better future.”

Future investments

The achievement reinforces Antofagasta’s broader ESG strategy, the company said, with all four of its mining operations currently holding the Copper Mark. Recertification of Los Pelambres and Antucoya under the new criteria is scheduled for 2025.

Antofagasta also recently inaugurated a $2 billion desalination plant at Los Pelambres, its flagship operation, ensuring sustainable water use in a region impacted by prolonged drought.

The Santiago-based miner, majority-owned by Chile’s Luksic family, one of the country’s wealthiest, projects local investments of over $7.5 billion in the next five years.

These expenditures include $4.4 billion for the Nueva Centinela project, which will expand copper and molybdenum production while introducing autonomous trucks. A $1.2 billion extension of the Zaldívar mine is also in progress, aiming to extend operations through 2051.

Antofagasta has also said it would allocate between $40 million and $50 million a year in maintenance work at its assets in Peru, the United States and Canada.