Rio Tinto agreed to acquire PanAmerican Silver’s stake in Agua de la Falda S.A., a company with exploration tenements in Chile’s Atacama region, and to form a joint venture with Corporación Nacional del Cobre de Chile (Codelco) to explore and potentially develop Agua de la Falda’s assets.
Under the agreement, Rio Tinto will pay $45 million for PanAmerican Silver’s operational stake of 57.74% in Agua de la Falda and grant new smelter returns royalties. In addition, for $550,000, Rio Tinto will purchase all of the neighbouring concessions collectively known as the Meridian Property and additional smelter return royalties.
Codelco owns the remaining 42.26% of Agua de la Falda.
Rio Tinto Chief Executive Jakob Stausholm commented, “Copper is critical for the global energy transition, which is at the heart of Rio Tinto’s strategy, and Chile is one of the most important sources of world supply as demand for copper in renewables and electrification grows.”
“Partnerships are essential to find better ways to provide materials the world needs, and we are pleased we can bring our global exploration capability to a joint venture that will be able to access Codelco’s strong local presence and industry expertise,” Stausholm said.
According to him, Rio Tinto is thrilled to explore in Chile in partnership with Codelco, although the exploration project is still in its early stages.
Codelco Chairman Maximo Pacheco said, “Codelco welcomes Rio Tinto in Agua de la Falda. This is a remarkable opportunity to put two leading mining companies to work together, leveraging the combined experiences, strengths, and capabilities of each organisation. By joining forces, we can enhance our exploration and development efforts for a highly promising asset.”
“Public-private partnerships have proven to be successful for Codelco and Chile for many years, and we are convinced that this is a compelling alternative to move a project forward and to complement the significant exploration and project portfolio being developed exclusively by Codelco,” Pacheco added.
The joint venture builds on Rio Tinto and Codelco’s underground mining collaboration agreement signed on 12 October 2022 to encourage innovations and technology to enhance safety, productivity, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) outcomes.
Agua de la Falda was previously explored for precious metals, with little recent exploration for copper. Rio Tinto Exploration’s recent analysis suggests that it has potential for new copper discoveries, which will now be the joint venture’s focus.
