Mining giant Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO; LSE: RIO) and Chilean state copper miner Codelco created on Wednesday the Nuevo Cobre (New Copper) joint venture to explore and potentially develop the company’s assets in the country’s northern Atacama region.
The deal, inked in Tokyo by Rio Tinto chief executive Jakob Stausholm and Codelco chairman Máximo Pacheco, brings together the companies’ complementary experience and capabilities, they said.
Rio Tinto also announced it had completed the purchase of Pan American Silver‘s (TSX: PAAS; NYSE: PAAS) stake in the Agua de la Falda (ADLF) property, which holds the historical Jeronimo project in the Atacama region and several adjoining concessions.
Rio’s acquisition of a 57.74% stake in ADLF paves the way for the companies to kick off their joint exploration work at the asset, as the Chilean miner holds the remaining 42.26%.
Agua de la Falda has previously been explored for precious metals, with minimal modern exploration for copper. Rio Tinto’s studies indicate it is prospective for new copper discoveries, which will now be the focus of the joint venture with Codelco.
“Chile is one of the most important sources of the copper and other critical minerals the world needs to deliver the energy transition and achieve net zero,” Stausholm said. “With this partnership, we are bringing together Codelco’s second-to-none expertise and local knowledge and our global track record in exploration.”
The partnership builds on a collaboration agreement between the two companies signed last year, which was aimed at encouraging innovation and technological development to improve safety, productivity and environmental, social and governance (ESG) outcomes in underground mining.
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