Anglo American urges faster permits in Chile to close copper supply gap

By Fabian Cambero and Daina Beth Solomon

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Chile needs to speed up its permitting processes to help copper mining expand ahead of a large supply gap expected in the coming years, Anglo American Chile CEO Patricio Hidalgo said on Tuesday.

Chilean President Gabriel Boric has pledged to cut the permitting timeline by a third, yet a reform that would streamline the process is still under debate in Congress.

Numerous mining companies in Chile, which supplies about a quarter of the world's copper, have urged a swift passage of the initiative.

Anglo American, one of the world's biggest miners that was a takeover target of bigger rival BHP last year, in Chile operates Los Bronces and owns 44% of Collahuasi, two major copper mines.

Hidalgo said demand for copper in 2040 was expected to be as large as 80 Los Bronces mines due to the needs of the energy transition, emerging economies and digitalization. Los Bronces produced 172,000 metric tons of copper in 2024.

"When one sees this demand or this structural gap that will occur in the copper market, we need much more agility to bring copper to the market," he said.

He also noted the potential for partnerships to help maximize production, such as Anglo American's recent agreement to share infrastructure at Los Bronces with the neighboring Andina mine owned by state-run copper miner Codelco.

The deal, which aims to increase production by 120,000 metric tons a year, was referenced by Freeport-McMoRan CEO Kathleen Quirk at the CRU copper conference in Santiago on Tuesday.

"We need to do more of those types of deals where we're sharing essentially," she told the conference.

Hidalgo said he saw potential for further infrastructure sharing deals in Chile.

"When you look at the Andean corridor ... you see all the potential synergies. This is a call to challenge certain paradigms in the sector."

(Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon and Fabian Cambero; Editing by Jamie Freed)