FACT SHEET - APRIL 2012
LOS BRONCES
LEADING COPPER CONSUMERS
Our Los Bronces copper expansion in Chile is
one of our major strategic growth projects. First
production from the expansion project was achieved
on schedule in Q4 2011.
THE OPERATION
••Los Bronces is an opencut copper
and molybdenum mine in the
Metropolitan Region of Chile.
OUR COMMODITY
••Copper’s principal use is in the wire
and cable markets, accounting for
60% of total demand.
••The $2.8 billion Los Bronces
expansion project was approved in
November 2007 and achieved first
production on schedule in Q4 2011.
••Global refined copper consumption in
2011 was 19.9 million tonnes.
••Production at Los Bronces in 2011
was 221,800 tonnes, with the
operation benefitting from 19,000
tonnes achieved from the start-up of
the expansion project.
••The average market price on the LME
for copper in 2011 was 400 c/lb,
compared to 342 c/lb in 2010.
••China is the world’s leading consumer
of refined copper, accounting for an
estimated 7,780 Kt in 2011.
••The ramp-up period of the project is
expected to take 12 months before
full production is reached.
••During ramp-up throughput will
increase from 61,000 tonnes to
148,000 tonnes of ore per day.
••The expansion will increase the
mine’s output by an average of
200,000 tonnes of copper per
annum over the first 10 years.
••At peak production levels, Los
Bronces is expected to be the fifth
largest producing copper mine in
the world.
••The life of mine at Los Bronces is
more than 30 years, with significant
exploration upside, making it a truly
world class operation.
Los Bronces,
Chile
(2011 estimated refined copper consumption)
2011 estimated World total: 19,931kt
Kt
Source: Brook Hunt – a Wood Mackenzie company
OUR BUSINESS
••Including contractors, our Copper
business, based in Chile, employs
more than 14,000 people.
••Anglo American in Chile has
interests in six copper operations.
••We wholly own the Mantos Blancos
and Mantoverde mines, and have a
75.5% interest in Anglo American Sur,
which includes the Los Bronces
and El Soldado mines and the
Chargres smelter.
••We also have a 44% interest in the
Collahuasi mine.
••Our copper mines also produce
associated by-products, such as
molybdenum and silver.
••Our total attributable copper
production for 2011 was 599,000
tonnes, 4% lower than in 2010.
••In 2011, Copper generated an
operating profit of $2,461 million
CHILE
••Anglo American has had a presence
in Chile since 1980.
••Chile is the largest copper producing
country in the world, producing 5.4
million tonnes in 2010.
••In 2011, Anglo American in Chile
generated revenue of $5,170 million.
••In 2011, Anglo American paid
$942 million in taxes to the
government in Chile.
OUR COMMUNITIES
••Since its inception in 2006, our
Emerge community development
programme has supported 26,251
jobs. Assisting small- and mediumsized enterprises to grow their
businesses, Emerge works with
Fondo Esperanza, an institution that
grants micro-credit and business
education to small businesses.
••In 2010, we committed $10 million
to the reconstruction of six schools
after the devastating earthquake and
tsunami in Chile.
••In 2011, we partnered with the
Ministry of Housing and City
Planning and the organisation Un
Techo para Chile, committing $3
million in an effort to help more than
4,500 families in 63 shanty towns in
the Metropolitan Region of Santiago.
••At our Mantoverde operation,
we’re builing a $96 million
desalination plant that will have
a water production rate of 120
litres per second, meeting 100%
of Mantoverde’s current and future
water needs.
Los Bronces Processing Plant,
Chile
ANGLO AMERICAN IN CHILE
Av. Pedro de Valdivia 291
Providencia
Santiago
Chile
Tel: +56 2 230 6000
www.angloamerican.com