Altiplano president and CEO Alastair McIntyre said the facility was completed within the company's financial expectations while it did encounter several timeline challenges amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The El Penon processing facility is about 15 kilometres from Altiplano's Farellon copper-gold mine near La Serena.

"Processing of stockpiled material currently stored at the El Penon site has begun as a part of the commissioning of the plant, with the first concentrate expected to be produced for shipment in July," the company said.

Altiplano plans to split ship production from Farellon to the facility and ENAMI for the next few months to maximize copper sales while the plant ramps up to full capacity.

The facility has a capacity to process 5,000t/month of Farellon ore.

The operation of the new plant should enable Altiplano to cut trucking costs by 75% and processing costs by 45% while recovering additional payable metals, it said.

Altiplano's share price was C$0.23 (US$0.18) on June 23. The company has a market capitalization of C$26.11 million.