Copper miner Antofagasta 'progressing in early stages' with US Twin Metals project: CEO

London — Chile-focused copper miner Antofagasta PLC has filed for an initial permit to develop the copper, nickel, cobalt and platinum group metals Twin Metals mine project in Minnesota, US, the company's chief executive officer Ivan Arriagada said during the Financial Times Commodities Global Summit this week.

The permit must be reviewed by the relevant agencies and go through public consultation, he said.

"Our project is progressing in its early stages... we have designed it in a manner that is environmentally friendly," Arriagada said during an interview at the virtual event. The due process of permitting for this greenfield project "will take a few years," he said.

The project is not located in a protected area, (the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness reserve is relatively near) and will be an underground mine where tailings can be stored underground, and using drystacking, the CEO said.

Historically there has been iron ore mining in this area, he said.

According to Antofagasta's website, the company has been carrying out studies at Twin Metals since 2006. In 2018 an update of the pre-feasibility study was completed on an 18,000 mt ore/day project at Twin Metals, which would produce an average of 42,000 mt/year of copper plus nickel and platinum group metals as by-products: the equivalent of some 65,000 mt/year of copper, it said.

"We can have this project permitted in a way...that will allow the environmentally-protected area remain that way ....and at the same time can get these metals out of the ground which are required for a greener economy," Arriagada said during the FT event.

Today around 200,000 mt/year of copper is used in electric mobility but by 2030 this could reach 1 million mt, he said. Copper demand for the renewable energy sector is also growing fast in a market which is quite tight already, he said.