Anglo American representative called for Chile to speed up the issuance of mining permits to narrow the projected future copper supply gap.
"When one sees this [future] demand or this structural gap that will occur in the copper market, we need much more agility to bring copper to the market," Reuters quoted Anglo American Chile CEO Patricio Hidalgo as saying at a mining conference.
Anglo American owns major copper mines in Chile, including the Los Bronces project with an annual output of around 172 000 tonnes. Hidalgo said demand for copper in 2040 was expected to be as large as 80 Los Bronces mines due to the needs of the energy transition, emerging economies and digitalisation.
Chilean President Gabriel Boric has already pledged to cut the permitting timeline by a third. However, this reform is still under debate in the country’s Congress. Numerous mining companies in Chile, which supplies about a quarter of the world's copper, have urged a swift passage of the initiative.
Theodor Lisovoy, Managing Editor, Rough&Polished
