What milestones did Codelco achieve in 2023 and early 2024?

In May 2023, the Ventanas smelter furnaces were shut down, a historic event for the Corporation, carried out with full social peace and in dialogue with our workers. Also in May, we began construction of the plant that will provide desalinated water to the Chuquicamata, Radomiro Tomic, and Ministro Hales. In November, we signed a joint venture with the mining giant Rio Tinto to explore and develop a copper project in the Atacama Region; and in December we achieved The Copper Mark certification for our mines, smelters, and refineries, which confirms that we are applying the highest sustainability standards.

Regarding the progress of the structural projects, as of March 31 of this year, the first phase of the Level 1 infrastructure of Chuquicamata Underground reached 56.2% progress; in the portfolio of projects at El Teniente, Andes Norte advanced to 81.8%, Diamante to 39.1%, and Andesita reached 42.5%; while Rajo Inca showed a total progress of 76.1% and Traspaso Andina completed its construction on April 2, with the delivery of secondary crushing to the operation.

On the other hand, I cannot fail to mention our incursion into the lithium business with an agreement with SQM for the development of lithium in the Salar de Atacama starting in 2025; this is added to the work we carried out in the Salar de Maricunga, where we completed exploration work on our properties and the purchase of Lithium Power International (LPI), which was completed in March of this year- allowing us to make a significant lithium project viable in that salar.

How will collaboration improve Codelco's future and ensure growth?

Our portfolio of organic growth through structural projects is complemented by opportunities derived from strategic collaborations with third parties. Through these alliances we have obtained invaluable information and consolidated our presence in top-tier assets, forging partnerships with leading companies in the industry.

Among them, our commitment with El Abra and Anglo-American Sur stands out, with the latter being the owner of Los Bronces. Additionally, our recent agreement with Rio Tinto for the exploration and development of Nuevo Cobre in the Atacama region exemplifies our proactive stance towards growth. We anticipate that future growth will also be driven by existing and emerging collaborations.

How is Codelco deploying technology to improve efficiency and reduce operational costs?

We have many examples of technology already integrated into automation, robotics, and advanced analytics: we have more than 300 pieces of equipment managed from various Integrated Operations Centers located kilometers away. For example, 280 rock breakers, LHDs, hoppers, and semi-autonomous or teleoperated trains for the underground mines of Chuquicamata, Andina, and El Teniente; in addition to 20 trucks and two fully autonomous drills for the open-pit mines of Gabriela Mistral and Radomiro Tomic.

For the long term, our focus is on disruptive innovation. For example, we are working on chlorinated leaching of sulfides, which will allow us to use the installed capacity for the treatment of oxides. We are also working with the Japanese company Komatsu on a cutting-edge tunneling machine that will remove workers from risky operations, does not require the use of explosives, and allows for resource development in a sustainable manner. We are involved in the joint development with Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha and Enaex of an industrial pilot for a green corridor to transport copper concentrates from Chile, using a new technology of ships powered by green ammonia, among other projects.

While in 1990 we allocated US$ 8 million to innovation and technology, in the last 10 years, that budget grew by 750%, and today our average annual expenditure is US$60 million.

What are Codelco's strategies to achieve increased in copper production through 2030?

Our perspective is that 2024’s annual production will be slightly above 2023. We have reinforced our plans for intensive monitoring of operations and critical efforts to meet our production targets. Among them are increased operational continuity at the Andina concentrator, ensuring better performance at the Chuquicamata underground mine, the commissioning of the Rajo Inca project, and improved open-pit mine management at Ministro Hales. We are working so that, starting in 2024, production begins its long-term growth trajectory, progressively increasing until reaching the level of 1.7 million t/y by 2030.