Antofagasta PLC's (LSE:ANTO) Centinela copper mine is gaining prominence as a potential second core asset alongside Los Pelambres, according to analysts at Citi, who visited the operation recently.
A second concentrator project is now more than 50% complete and remains on schedule and within budget, they noted.
Centinela is also benefiting from the adoption of technologies such as high-pressure grinding rolls (HGPR), which enhance the operation’s flexibility by handling harder ore types.
In addition, the mine’s Esperanza Sur pit is now using a fully autonomous truck fleet, further underscoring its operational modernisation.
“Centinela… is emerging as the second low-cost pillar with arguably even more growth and expansion optionality, with significantly more by-product credits than [Los Pelambres],” Citi said.
FTSE 100-listed Antofagasta holds 6,000 square kilometres of tenements in the Sierra Gorda copper district, which the Citi analysts noted is a remote setting that affords design flexibility and operational independence.
Only half of Centinela’s over 5 billion tonne resource base is included in the current mine plan, suggesting scope for expansion beyond the 150,000 tonnes per day target.