Chile · MINING

The state miner’s first joint venture under chairman Bernardo Fontaine hands Pucobre 60 percent of a US$870 million cathode project targeting production in 2030.

Chile’s state copper producer Codelco and Sociedad Punta del Cobre (Pucobre) on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, formalized a joint company to develop the Tovaku copper project in the Antofagasta Region, a US$870 million open-pit venture that both firms aim to bring into production by 2030. Under the Codelco Pucobre alliance, Pucobre will hold 60 percent of the new company and Codelco the remaining 40 percent, according to a Codelco statement and a regulatory filing Pucobre sent to Chile’s Financial Market Commission (CMF).

Codelco’s Chuquicamata open pit in the Antofagasta Region, where Tovaku would add new copper supply.

The deal and the project

The new company, named Minera Puntilla SA according to Pucobre’s essential-fact filing to the CMF, will develop Tovaku, a copper oxide and sulfate deposit located 70 kilometers east of the port city of Tocopilla, in the communes of Tocopilla and María Elena. The project contemplates an investment of approximately US$870 million, equivalent to roughly CLP 794 billion at an exchange rate of CLP 912.82 per US dollar. Under the Codelco Pucobre alliance, the asset is designed as an open-pit mine feeding a solvent extraction and electrowinning (SX-EW) plant that would produce an average of 46,000 tonnes of high-purity copper cathodes a year, according to Codelco.

Tovaku holds reserves of 633 million tonnes and has a planned mine life of 21 years, preceded by a construction phase estimated at 28 months and followed by closure and post-closure phases. Codelco said the deposit’s shallow mineralization, low acid consumption in processing and planned use of untreated seawater would make for an efficient operation that eases pressure on continental water resources. Project filings also contemplate a transmission line of about 27 kilometers to connect the site to the national grid, plus a 193 MW photovoltaic solar park with battery storage, features that reflect the industry’s growing emphasis on water efficiency and renewable power.

What the Codelco Pucobre alliance means for Codelco’s strategy

The venture is the first public-private partnership Codelco has sealed since Bernardo Fontaine became chairman of the board, and it embodies the partnership model he has promoted. Under the structure, Codelco contributes the mining concessions while Pucobre contributes the studies completed to date and takes responsibility for financing the development and construction phases. That allows Codelco to participate without making capital contributions, since the resources committed by Pucobre will be recovered through future distributions, the state company said.

“Partnerships are a pillar of Codelco’s growth strategy. They allow us to accelerate value creation from our mining resources, incorporate the capabilities and expertise of good partners, and achieve efficient structures to add new production,” Fontaine said at the signing ceremony at Codelco’s Santiago offices. The logic is financial as much as operational: Fontaine said in an August 16 television interview that Codelco’s investment pipeline totals about US$34 billion and cannot be financed from its own resources, while taking on additional debt is not the preferred route. He acknowledged that current production trends make the company’s 2026 target of 1.34 million tonnes difficult to reach, and said Codelco is reviewing whether to sell some stakes it holds in private companies, with that analysis expected by November.

Permits, financing and the road to 2030

Execution of the project remains conditional. Pucobre told the CMF that construction depends on obtaining a favorable environmental qualification resolution for the environmental impact study submitted for assessment on July 23, 2025, on the corresponding sectoral permits, and on securing bank and specialized project financing. Pucobre estimates a further US$20 million, mainly for early works, will be needed to begin execution of the project.

Codelco chief executive Jorge Gómez framed the next phase cautiously. “Tovaku reflects a project with a clear path and a focus on value creation. The challenge now is to move forward responsibly to transform this resource into new copper production, in a safe, competitive and sustainable manner,” he said. Notably, the company created by the Codelco Pucobre alliance will not market its output: Pucobre’s filing states Minera Puntilla will not constitute a new economic agent because production will be delivered to the two shareholders in proportion to their stakes rather than sold to third parties.

A partnership seventeen years in the making

The Codelco Pucobre alliance dates back to a 2009 exploration agreement covering the Puntillas-Galenosa property that became Tovaku. Since then Pucobre has carried out drilling, engineering, prefeasibility and feasibility work with an investment of approximately US$35 million, the company said. Pucobre general manager Sebastián Ríos said the milestone “reflects the technical work carried out over the last few years to transform a geological opportunity into a viable project,” noting the venture now has advanced studies and a completed feasibility study.

For Pucobre, controlled by the Hurtado Vicuña, Fernández León and Izquierdo families, Tovaku would mark a step up in scale for Chilean medium-sized mining. “Tovaku demonstrates the potential and capacity of Chilean medium-sized mining companies to develop demanding projects,” said Pucobre vice president Cristián Arnolds, adding that the board is convinced the alliance with Codelco will create value for both companies and for Chile.

Market backdrop and what comes next

The deal lands with copper prices at record levels, a favorable cycle The Rio Times covered this week, though doubts persist about Chile’s ability to convert high prices into new output. It also comes as fresh data showed Chile’s economy stagnated in the second quarter, sharpening the policy focus on unlocking stalled investment. Against that backdrop, the Codelco Pucobre alliance offers a test case for whether shared-risk structures can move projects through permitting and into construction faster than Codelco could alone.

The immediate roadmap centers on detailed engineering, environmental and sectoral permits and early works, including site preparation, tenders for major equipment and the engineering needed to enable construction. If the environmental review and financing fall into place on schedule, the partners say Tovaku could be producing cathodes by 2030, adding a modest but symbolically important new source of supply to Chile’s copper industry.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

• www.codelco.com
• www.emol.com
• www.mining.com
• www.nuevamineria.com
• www.redimin.cl

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