Antofagasta plc has received approval of the environmental impact study for its US$1 billion Los Pelambres operational adaptation project in Chile.

The project aims to double the capacity of its Los Vilos seawater desalination plant to 800lps, which will help the company accelerate its reduction in the usage of continental water, and build a new concentrate transportation route away from urban centres.

"This project clearly shows our commitment to developing increasingly sustainable mining. Although Los Pelambres has environmental permits to continue extracting water from the Choapa River until at least 2035, we hope that, thanks to the investments we are going to make with this project, from the end of 2026 we will be able to operate mainly with desalinated and recirculated water," said Antofagasta executive president Iván Arriagada.

The project was approved by the Coquimbo region Environmental Evaluation Commission and is due to commence construction in 2024. Antofagasta aims to continue operating Los Pelambres beyond 2035.

The desalination plant will also make operations at Los Pelambres less susceptible to periods of low rainfall, as happened in 2021 and 2022. Production last year fell by 15.3% to 275,000t due to restrictions on water availability. Molybdenum production was 7,200t and gold production 43,100oz.