The head of the London-listed, Chile-based copper miner said the impact of innovation and technology could help attract more young people to the industry.

"We're very keen to engage with younger generations to show them how attractive and exciting the mining industry can be," he said.

"That is a challenge we're yet to completely address but are very conscious of it and the need to make progress."

Arriagada, 54, made the comments in his interview for the "Mining Journal Global Leadership Report: Preparing for transformation" being published later this month.

He also spelt out what he believes is critical in terms of what the industry should be doing to prepare for transformation.

Antofagasta expects to produce 705,000-740,000 tonnes of copper, 190,000-210,000 ounces of gold and 11,500-12,500t of molybdenum this year from its Chile operations.

This is based on an interview with Antofagasta CEO Iván Arriagada as part of the ‘Mining Journal Global Leadership Report: Preparing for transformation', which will be published in late June. The report features around 20 in-depth interviews with the industry's leading mining executives and the results of our industry-wide survey focused on transformational influences (technology, stakeholder engagement etc) and the readiness of mining leaders to meet these challenges.