Antofagasta plc

Antofagasta plc is a British multinational. It is one of the most important conglomerates of Chile with equity participation in Antofagasta Minerals, the railroad from Antofagasta to Bolivia, Twin Metals in Minnesota and other exploration joint ventures in different parts from the world.

Antofagasta plc
TypePublic limited company
LSE: ANTO
FTSE 100 Component
ISINGB0000456144 
IndustryMining
Founded1888 (1888)
HeadquartersLondon, England, UK
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
ProductsCopper
RevenueUS$4,964.5 million (2019)[1]
US$1,400.2 million (2019)[1]
US$843.1 million (2019)[1]
DivisionsAntofagasta Mining
Antofagasta Transport
Websitewww.antofagasta.co.uk

Antofagasta is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

History

The Group began life as Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia, a business that was incorporated and listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1888 with the objective of operating a railway between Antofagasta, a port on the Pacific Coast of Northern Chile, and La Paz, the capital City of Bolivia.[2]

In 1980, a majority the shares was acquired by the Grupo Luksic and the two businesses were subsequently integrated under the name Antofagasta Holdings.[2]

During the 1980s, Antofagasta Holdings diversified into other areas such as mining in Michilla, in which it invested in 1983, and mining in the Pelambres, in which it invested in 1986, in addition to telecommunications.[2]

In 1996, Antofagasta Holdings transferred its banking activities and its industrial interests to Quiñenco S.A., another diversified Chilean company also controlled by the Luksic family.[3] This transfer allowed Antofagasta Holdings to concentrate on the development of the Pelambres and the Tesoro mines and establish itself as a low cost copper producer.[2] The shortened name, Antofagasta, was adopted in 1999.[2]

The Los Pelambres mine was first recognized by Willian Burford Braden in 1920. One of the largest copper deposits in the world, production in 2016 was forecasted at 355–365,000 tonnes of copper, 45–55,000 ounces of gold and 8.0–9.0 tonnes of molybdenum.[4]

In 2009, Antofagasta PLC signed an agreement with the Australian company Carbon Energy to develop an underground coal gasification project in Mulpún, in Southern Chile.[5] The project was put on hold in 2013.[6]

In 2015 Antofagasta took control of Twin Metals, a US company involved in a copper and nickel mining project in Northern Minnesota. Under President Barack Obama, the US administration declined to renew the leases for the lands on which the mining project was planned. However, the Luksic Group and Antofagasta PLC managed to have this position reversed under the succeeding administration of President Donald Trump. The mining project commenced a long permitting process, involving significant environmental issues, being located near wilderness area with many lakes and rivers. The project's reversal of fortunes angered environmentalists and focused attention on an unusual connection between a Chilean billionaire and President Trump's family.[7]

In February 2016 Antofagasta signed an agreement with junior explorer Evrim Resources to earn an interest in the Ball Creek property located in British Columbia. Antofagasta can earn a 70% interest in the project by spending US$31 million over a thirteen-year period.[8] The company sold its Michilla mine, which is in Chile for $52m in 2016.[9]

Operations

Antofagasta is one of the major international copper producers with its activities concentrated mainly in Chile where it now operates four copper mines: Los Pelambres, Centinela (previously the Esperanza and Tesoro mines), Antucoya and Zaldivar (50% owned, 50% owned by the Canadian mining company Barrick Gold).[10]

Ownership

The company is still 65% owned by the Chilean Luksic family.[11]

References
  1. "Preliminary Results 2019" (PDF). Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  2. "History". Antofagasta. Archived from the original on 7 August 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  3. "The Lusic fellowship for Croatia". Hks.harvard.edu. Archived from the original on 27 April 2009. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  4. Charles Caldwell Hawley (2014). A Kennecott Story. The University of Utah Press. p. 109,111.
  5. "Carbon Energy signs first international development Agreement with Chile's Antofagasta Minerals" (Press release). OilVoice. 4 December 2009. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
  6. Hernán Scandizzo (31 December 2016). "Carbón 2.0, otro capítulo de la saga no convencional" [Coal 2.0, another chapter of the non-conventional energy saga] (in Spanish). Rebelion.org. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  7. "A Plan to Mine the Minnesota Wilderness Hit a Dead End. Then Trump Became President". New York Times. 25 June 2019. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  8. "Antofagasta Signs Agreement with Evrim Resources for Ball Creek Project". juniorminingnetwork.com. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
  9. "Antofagasta sells Chilean mine for $52m". FT. 28 November 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  10. "Antofagasta creates one of Chile's largest private copper miners". Mining. 18 June 2014. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  11. Terry Macalister and Charlotte Moore (14 September 2005). "Antofagasta rides the copper frenzy though price falls are on the horizon". Guardian. UK. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
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