The Joint Mining Plan between Codelco’s Andina Division and Anglo American’s Los Bronces operation received free competition authorizations on March 25, marking a key step toward the project’s implementation as required by their September 2025 agreement.
The authorizations were granted by several regulatory bodies, including the State Administration for Market Regulation of China, as well as competition authorities in Brazil, South Korea, and Chile. These institutions reviewed the agreement to ensure compliance with their respective competition laws.
The plan involves joint exploitation and processing of resources from the neighboring Andina and Los Bronces operations. Through operational coordination aimed at optimizing existing capabilities, the initiative is expected to increase copper production in the district by an average of 120,000 additional tons annually between 2030 and 2051. This would result in about 2.7 million extra tons of copper during that period without significant new investment.
Codelco’s Chairman of the Board, Máximo Pacheco, said: “This progress confirms the value of collaboration between leading companies to better develop Chile’s major mining districts. At Codelco, we are pursuing a growth strategy based on partnerships that allows us to share risks, accelerate project development, and capture greater benefits. The agreement with Anglo American will unlock greater potential in the Andina-Los Bronces district and generate value for decades to come. The decisions we make today in mining have long-term effects, and this project demonstrates how cooperation can translate into increased production, greater efficiency, and more value for our country.”
According to both companies’ projections outlined in their announcement, at least US$5 billion in additional pre-tax value is expected from synergies created through integrated mine planning within one of the world’s most important copper districts.
As part of moving forward with this agreement, both companies are working on environmental permitting stages and setting up an entity responsible for coordinating operations under the Joint Mining Plan. This entity will focus on optimizing mine planning and processing capacity at both sites.
The development is described as one of Chile’s most significant recent mining collaborations. It aims to maximize output from two adjacent operations through integrated management while reinforcing Chilean copper’s strategic global role.
