Capstone Copper (TSX: CS; ASX: CSC) has secured environmental approval from authorities in Chile’s Atacama region for its $150-million Mantoverde Optimized (MV-O) project.
The green light extends the mine’s life from 19 to 25 years and marks a key step in Capstone’s broader plans to create a major copper-cobalt district in northern Chile.
The permit, granted as part of a national evaluation led by Chile’s environmental review agency SEA, paves the way for increased production at the Mantoverde mine. Once MV-O is operational, annual copper equivalent output is expected to rise to 125,000–135,000 tonnes, up from the current 97,000–112,000 tonnes.
The expansion will also boost concentrator throughput from 32,000 to 45,000 tonnes per day and add roughly 20,000 tonnes of copper per year. President and CEO Cashel Meagher said the MV-O project, combined with the nearby Santo Domingo deposit, sets the stage for transformational growth.
“We envision the Mantoverde-Santo Domingo district becoming one of the largest producing copper districts in the world with very attractive unit cash costs,” Meagher said.
Capstone views the swift approval of the MV-O environmental impact study — submitted in October 2024 and reviewed by SEA in early 2025 — as a positive signal for upcoming permits tied to its Santo Domingo asset. Together, the two iron oxide-copper-gold deposits are expected to produce 250,000 tonnes of copper equivalent annually.
Second stage
Shares in Capstone Copper fell 2% to $8.20 apiece in Toronto by mid-Wednesday, valuing the company at $6.25 billion.
MV-O is considered the second stage of the Mantoverde development project, which was completed in 2023. The project allowed the mine to process copper sulphide reserves through the addition of a concentrator, tailings storage system and an expanded desalination plant.
The Vancouver-based miner produced the first saleable copper concentrate at the site in June 2024, and kicked off commercial production in late September. In January this year, the plant exceeded nameplate capacity with an average throughput of 33,409 tonnes per day.
Capstone owns 70% of Mantoverde and the remaining 30% is held by Japan’s Mitsubishi Materials. The mine consists of four open pits located along the Mantoverde fault, containing both sulphide and oxide ores.
It plans to release a detailed schedule and capital expenditure breakdown for the MV-O stage in the coming weeks.
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