The Centinela mine from Antofagasta plc - copper output with a clean-energy twist

The Centinela mine combines copper, gold and molybdenum production with a growing share of renewable energy in the Chilean desert. This long-running asset stays in focus for holders of Antofagasta shares (ISIN GB0000456144).

Reviewed: ad hoc news Classics & Longseller desk. Edited and checked on 2026-06-29, 01:24. Details in the imprint.

The Centinela mine sits in the dry light of the Atacama desert, haul trucks crawling along dusty benches as the sun reflects off a growing field of solar panels nearby. For Antofagasta plc, Centinela is one of those quiet workhorses that define the company more than any headline-grabbing project.

How Centinela earns its keep

Centinela is a large open-pit copper operation in Chile’s Antofagasta Region, producing copper concentrate, copper cathodes, gold and molybdenum by-products. Antofagasta reports that Centinela delivered around 231,100 tonnes of copper production in 2023, underlining its role as a core asset in the group portfolio.Antofagasta 2023 production report

The mine combines sulphide and oxide operations, feeding both a concentrator and a heap-leach SX-EW plant for cathode output. That dual setup gives operations director Iván Arriagada and his team room to balance ore types and respond to copper market swings without overcommitting to a single processing route.official Centinela operation page

Why renewables matter here

Centinela has become an early testbed for Antofagasta’s push to source a high share of power from renewables in Chile. The company highlights that all its Chilean operations, including Centinela, switched to 100% renewable power contracts in 2022, cutting operational emissions intensity and responding to investor pressure on Scope 2 emissions.Antofagasta renewable energy announcement

Walking along the pit rim, engineers now hear the low hum of electric drive systems more than the roar of diesel generators. That shift does not make the operation quiet, but it changes the profile of local air and noise pollution compared with older Chilean mines still reliant on fossil-heavy grids.

Expansion plans and constraints

Centinela is not static. Antofagasta has been progressing engineering work for a potential second concentrator line, broadly referred to as the Centinela Expansion project, aimed at lifting long-term copper output and improving economies of scale. The project remains subject to permitting and capital allocation, with the company weighing it against other portfolio options.

On site, that expansion translates into marked-out areas for possible new plant foundations and route planning for future conveyor lines. It also raises questions for local communities and regulators about water use and dust control, two issues that any new stage of Centinela must address more aggressively than earlier phases.

Water, tailings and community impact

Water management has become one of the most sensitive aspects of running Centinela in an arid region. Antofagasta points to increased use of seawater through pipelines and higher rates of water recycling from tailings facilities to reduce freshwater draw from local sources.

For residents in nearby communities, the tactile reality is dust on windowsills and truck traffic on access roads, even as the company invests in paved haul routes and controlled blasting schedules. Community relations teams now spend more time explaining tailings dam monitoring data than production figures, reflecting a shift in what neighbours care about.

Safety culture on the benches

CEO Iván Arriagada regularly stresses that Centinela’s future depends on maintaining a strong safety culture, not just hitting tonnage targets. Antofagasta has published LTIFR metrics showing a downward trend over recent years, though any serious incident immediately becomes a focal point for investors and regulators.

Out in the pit, that translates to operators stepping through pre-start checklists, wearing cooling vests under high-visibility gear and listening for radio calls above the rumble of haul trucks. Those routines may look mundane, but they underpin the mine’s ability to run consistently without sobering interruptions.

How the mine fits Antofagasta shares

Overall, Centinela is a classic long-life copper mine: not the newest, not the highest grade, but a consistent contributor that shapes the narrative around Antofagasta’s production profile and exposure to green-energy demand. For retail investors, understanding Centinela’s direction helps put the company’s growth and sustainability claims into more practical context.

Antofagasta shares (ISIN GB0000456144) trade on the London Stock Exchange as part of the FTSE 100 index, giving Centinela’s performance a direct, if quiet, link to many UK index portfolios.

Key facts on Centinela

• Product: Centinela mine
• Manufacturer: Antofagasta plc
• Category: Classic long-life copper asset
• Launch: Industrial production since the 1990s, with later expansions
• RRP / Price: Not applicable - industrial copper production rather than consumer pricing
• Availability: Located in Chile’s Antofagasta Region, supplying global copper markets via concentrates and cathodes
• Target group: Industrial customers, smelters and traders in the global copper supply chain
• Highlight / USP: Combination of copper, gold and molybdenum output under 100% renewable power contracts in a major Chilean mining district

This article was AI-assisted and editorially reviewed. Product information without guarantee; prices and availability may change at short notice. No investment advice, no buy or sell recommendation. Stock-market transactions involve risks up to total loss.