Chile to present mineral project used in healthcare, pharmaceuticals and electromobility for the first time at international convention

Minister Baldo Prokurica will lead the Chilean delegation at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) convention from March 1 through March 4. The event is considered the world’s largest meeting of new mining projects and explorations.

At the launch activity, the Minister said that “we will have good results because there is an effort to provide more information and attract more investment to our country.”

For her part, Foreign Relations Undersecretary, Carolina Valdivia, highlighted the strong response that this international event generates each year. This version is expected to host more than 1,100 exhibitors from 132 countries and 25,000 visitors over the course of four days. “Supporting the internationalization of Chilean companies is a key objective of the Foreign Affairs Ministry that goes beyond the situation that we are currently experiencing. ProChile plays an essential role in identifying more and better opportunities to allow our international firms to access the world stage. We make every effort to help Chileans benefit from trade agreements. That is one of the goals of this administration,” she emphasized.

The Chilean delegation will be comprised of 20 organizations and institutions. Since PDAC was founded in 1932, it has grown exponentially in terms of its size and influence within the industry.

The Director of InvestChile, Cristián Rodríguez, noted that “we will attend over 50 meetings abroad over the course of 2020, promoting the portfolio of mining exploration projects as well as the rest of the public portfolio that our country has to offer.”

News from Chile for the 2020 event

During his stay in Toronto, the Mining Minister will play an active role at the opening of the convention and will hold a series of meetings along with the National Geology and Mining Service (Sernageomin), the Chilean Copper Commission (Cochilco) and the National Mining Company (ENAMI) in order to attract investors to the projects that the country will represent at this fourteenth version of the event.

Minister Prokurica will lead Chile Day on the third day of the event, which will feature important lithium projects associated with state-run companies Codelco and ENAMI. The delegation also will highlight gold exploration initiatives, their metallogenic strips, market estimates and new challenges.

The 40 initiatives were included in the book Chile: leader in metals that facilitate the future. Minister Prokurica highlighted the copper (26), gold (11), sodium chloride (1), zinc (1) and titanium (1) projects that form part of Chile’s offerings at the Canadian convention. “We will show the book that the Ministry published in order to disseminate the projects that are open for investment, especially those focused on electromobility and gold, one of the areas where markets seek refuge when there is instability in the world.”

One of the Chilean innovations at PDAC 2020 will be titanium, represented by the Cerro Blanco project, the first rutile concentrate (TiO2) extraction project developed in Chile. The site is located to the south of Freirina in the Atacama Region and has a useful life of 21 years and approved environmental impact study. The initiative involves a total investment of US$238 million and will employ nearly 1,200 people during the construction and operation phases.