Antofagasta approves $1.3bn Los Pelambres expansion

Chilean miner Antofagasta has approved a $1.3bn expansion of its Los Pelambres copper mine in Chile, chief executive Ivan Arriagada said on Thursday.

The expansion will produce additional ore equal to an extra 60,000 tonnes a year of refined copper over the first 15 years of the expansion project, lifting the mine's output for the first time in over a decade, Arriagada added.

Treatment capacity will rise to 190,000 tonnes per day of ore from 175,000 tonnes.