Lundin Mining Corp. has declared the Filo del Sol copper discovery one of the largest in recent history, containing an estimated 13 million tons of the basic metal that is crucial for the energy transition.
The company operates the Filo del Sol and another copper project, Josemaria, both of which are located between Argentina and Chile, in a joint venture with mining heavyweight BHP. BHP bought Filo Corp. last year for a price of $3 billion, together with Lundin.
According to Lundin, “Filo del Sol has been one of the most significant greenfield discoveries in the last 30 years and an amazing journey for all those that have been involved.” The company added that the deposit also contains some 32 million ounces of gold and 659 million ounces of silver.
The resource estimate “has highlighted the potential for one of the highest grade undeveloped open-pit copper projects in the world, and one of the largest gold and silver resources globally,” Lundin Mining’s chief executive, Jack Lundin, said.
According to data from MinEx Consulting and BHP, cited by Visual Capitalist, Filo del Sol is among the largest copper discoveries since 1900. Such discoveries have become rarer in recent decades, with companies preferring to invest in the expansion of existing operations rather than greenfield projects.
Global copper demand is seen rising by an impressive 66% between 2020 and 2040, driven by the energy transition to electricity, according to calculations by the International Monetary Fund. These see demand rising from 25.9 million tons in 2023 to 39.1 million tons in 2040.
Goldman Sachs has called copper the new oil because of its fundamental importance for industries such as wind and solar power generation, and especially electric vehicles. Yet miners have shown considerable reluctance in boosting their investments in additional copper production due to a perception of general uncertainty about the progress of the energy transition, despite the utter dedication of many governments to it, mainly in Europe.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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