Rio Tinto to acquire Chilean assets, commits $150m to Centre for Future Materials

Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) is set to purchase PanAmerican Silver’s 57.74% stake in Agua de la Falda S.A., a company with exploration tenements in Chile’s Atacama region.

The company has also entered a joint venture with Corporación Nacional del Cobre de Chile (Codelco) to explore and potentially develop Agua de la Falda’s assets.

Rio will acquire PanAmerican’s 57.74% stake in Agua for $45m and the grant of new smelter returns royalties. Rio will also acquire 100% of nearby concessions known as the Meridian Property for $550k and the grant of new smelter returns royalties.

Corporación Nacional del Cobre de Chile holds the remaining 42.26% of Agua de la Falda.

Rio chief executive Jakob Stausholm is pleased with the partnership.  

“Copper is critical for the global energy transition, which is at the heart of Rio Tinto’s strategy, and Chile is one of the most important sources of world supply as demand for copper in renewables and electrification grows,” he said.

“Although this is an early-stage exploration project, we are very excited to be actively exploring in Chile in partnership with Codelco.”

Codelco chairman Maximo Pacheco said this partnership is a remarkable opportunity for both companies.

“This is a remarkable opportunity to put two leading mining companies to work together, leveraging the combined experiences, strengths and capabilities of each organisation,” he said.

“Public-private partnerships have proven to be successful for Codelco and Chile for many years, and we are convinced that this is a compelling alternative to move a project forward and to complement the significant exploration and project portfolio being developed exclusively by Codelco.”

In a busy day for Rio, the mining giant also revealed it had committed $150m to create a Centre for Future Materials led by Imperial College London to find innovative ways to provide needed materials for energy transition.

Named the ‘Rio Tinto Centre for Future Materials’, the centre will fund research programs to transform the way vital materials are produced, used and recycled, and make them move environmentally, economically and socially sustainable.

Imperial vice provost professor Mary Ryan said sustainable ways to produce materials need to be created.

“All aspects of human society rely on materials — from housing to transport, energy, communications and health. We need to create sustainable ways to extract, process and reuse these resources,” she said.

“Moving to a truly sustainable society requires a holistic approach to these complex industrial processes.

“We will tackle these challenges and design future innovations that are resource and energy efficient, nature positive, humancentric and just. By working hand-in-hand with other leasing international institutions, we will create a truly multidisciplinary global effort to drive the next industrial revolution in harmony with nature.”

The centre will be established in the second half of 2023 with the first research programs to begin in 2024.