The Latin America mining market is anticipated to record a significant CAGR during 2018-2027 and is expected to attain substantial market size by 2027.
Chile will be the fastest growing country on the account of copper mining and the surging demand for various mining equipment coupled with enhanced investment in the mining sector.
Chile has 22% of the world’s copper reserves, 11% of the molybdenum reserves, 5% of the silver reserves, 7% of gold and 48% of the world’s lithium reserves.
Chile is the world’s largest producer of copper, with output of 5,384kt in 2022.
Lithium reserves combined with the demand coming from the electric vehicle industry, will make this resource the focus of international investors and developers.
SQM announced that it had earmarked US$ 3.4 B in new Capex by 2025, with the intention of boosting production capacity of lithium carbonate from 180,000 t/y to 210,000 t/y.
Chile´s mining project portfolio for the 2022-2031 period totals US$ 73 B in 53 initiatives.
Seven major Chilean copper projects are expected to start operations in 2023, involving total investment of just over US$ 11 B and production of nearly 700,000t/y.
Teck's Quebrada Blanca Phase II (QB2) is the project with the largest investment for 2023, estimated at US$ 6.1 B.
The Rajo Inca project, was postponed to start production in 2024, this project, part of the Salvador division of the state-owned copper company Codelco, with US$ 1.4 B investment that will go to install an annual production capacity of 70,000t of copper concentrate is 16 months behind schedule for reasons linked to the pandemic and the crisis in the global supply chain.
Chile has a mining investment and project pipeline for the 2022-2029 period of US$ 43 B in declared projects and US$ 31 B in evaluation.
Mining companies here spend over US$ 15 B annually, on machinery, auxiliary services and technology to keep their operations running.
Chile and Peru formed an alliance to develop a roadmap to promote green hydrogen usage in mining, as part of the drive towards a carbon neutral industry.
