Dear shareholders
The past year was one of strong financial performance, operational resilience, and the start of key growth projects. Once completed, these projects will deliver growth, increase competitiveness and position us as leaders in supplying critical metals for energy security and the global transition to electrification. We generated $7.65 billion of value for our stakeholders in 2024, including salaries to employees, payments to suppliers and local communities, and our pipeline of projects is set to deliver material production growth. We finished the year with a year-on-year increase in copper production, with strong performance in respect of our cash costs and positive first steps in the construction of several significant projects.
Our financial performance remains robust; revenues increased by 5%, cash flow from operations increased by 8% to $3.3 billion and our EBITDA margin widened by 300 basis points to 52%, which is towards the top end of our copper-focused industry peers. This performance has enabled the Board to propose shareholder returns that are aligned to our policy, while simultaneously advancing over $7 billion of growth and development projects.
The past year saw another positive result in safety, with a fatality-free year and a lost time injury frequency rate of 0.57 – a level below both our industry peers and historic levels for the Group, and I would like to thank everyone across our portfolio for this achievement. We are particularly pleased by our recent safety performance given the number of large-scale construction projects recently commenced, with these projects completing the year with lost time injury frequency rates below the average for the Group, despite a combined total of more than 10,000 contractors now mobilised across our major construction sites. Furthermore, Zaldívar completed 2024 without a single high-potential incident, and our Transport Division continues to make good progress, with a 50% decrease in its lost-time injury frequency rate in the past year.
An engaged workforce is critical for achieving these results, and we are proud to offer people the opportunity to grow and develop their careers with us, and we provided 33% more hours of workforce training per employee in 2024 compared to 2023.
Annual Report 2024
Strong delivery across the portfolio
At Los Pelambres, the successful delivery of the Phase 1 Expansion Project facilitated a 22% increase in ore processing in 2024, compensating for lower copper grades, which are expected to revert to higher levels in the near term and in line with the recent past, as mining operations move to new areas currently under development. Los Pelambres successfully completed by year end the drawdown of the stockpile that accumulated in Q1 2024, which followed the extended maintenance undertaken at the concentrate pipeline.
At Centinela Concentrates, copper production was lower compared to the prior year because of lower copper grades and elevated levels of clay and fines in ores processed during 2024, and our operational management teams successfully developed plans which responded well to these conditions. As a result, we saw a quarter-on-quarter sequential increase in production delivered during the year, alongside a record level of production at Centinela Cathodes.
Antucoya had a record year of copper production and plant performance, delivering very high levels of reliability. At Zaldívar, copper production was largely in line with the prior year, with lower grades being compensated by a 20% increase in ore processing.
We are consistently striving to increase our resilience, and central to this effort is our Competitiveness Programme. Over more than ten years, this programme and its predecessors have achieved savings and productivity improvements of more than $1 billion, which is a credit to all those involved. It was also a major factor in us achieving our cash cost results for 2024, broadly in line with the prior year, despite industry-wide cost inflation and lower grades at our concentrators. As we progress through 2025, we expect to see an incremental increase in our full year production and lower cash costs.
Investing for the future
Our strong financial performance and balance sheet give us confidence to invest for the future. Once delivered, these investments will provide growth, extend mine lives, and increase resilience through a greater focus on copper concentrates and their associated by-products.
Los Pelambres: future growth
In respect of recently completed projects, I was pleased to see the Phase 1 Expansion at Los Pelambres operating well following a successful ramp-up. This project is enabling us to once again operate consistently at our full potential, with greater water availability from our desalination plant and expanded processing capacity.
At Los Pelambres today, construction is underway on two projects that will provide a platform to enable future growth. The expansion of the recently completed desalination plant to 800 litres per second will provide further operational resilience, as well as benefits through reduced continental water sourcing, with water scarcity a fundamental aspect due to continuing drought conditions in central Chile. Separately, but also at Los Pelambres, work is underway to complete construction of a new concentrate pipeline along a new route that shares infrastructure built during the Phase 1 Expansion and which is at a greater distance from populated areas.
Construction of both projects is progressing well, and both are on schedule and on budget. Work at the end of the year was focused on trench excavation work, welding of pipe sections and commencement of construction at the desalination plant following the mobilisation of people to site.
Looking beyond today’s phase of projects, in Q4 2024 we submitted our Environmental Impact Assessment for the Los Pelambres Development Options Project, which is critical to extending the mine life by a further 15 years after 2035. If approved, this will provide for the long-term continuation of Pelambres and bring into production a significant amount of existing mineral resources which would otherwise remain unexploited. The project contemplates an increase in the capacity of the tailings storage facility, and the option for additional ore processing and desalination plant capacity. If approved, construction work is expected to commence in the early 2030s.
Centinela: expansion underway
Key projects commenced in 2024 include the Centinela Second Concentrator Project, which represents a major investment of approximately $4 billion during 2024-2027, and will double the Centinela District’s concentrate output through the addition of 170,000 copper equivalent-tonnes. This represents a major investment in Chile’s economy at a time when few other mining projects are being developed, and it is a significant step towards reaching our medium-term growth ambition
We have made a strong start to this project in 2024, with work proceeding on time and on budget. Work to date has focused on the camp facilities, ore delivery system, concentrator and tailings facility. Foundation works and the installation of concrete at the site of the primary crusher have commenced, in addition to continued work to pour concrete and earthworks at the planned concentrator and tailings facility. Key equipment continues to be shipped to Chile on schedule.
Zalvidar: implementing innovation
We aim to maximise Zaldívar’s potential by leveraging innovations like Cuprochlor-T®, which is our patented technology for the leaching of primary sulphides, as well as a transition away from continental water sourcing. Work has continued with all stakeholders, including national and regional authorities, workers and the community, on this operation’s Environmental Impact Assessment, which is being reviewed by the relevant environmental Chilean authorities. We are continuing this process having now responded to the three expected rounds of enquiries from the government.
Innovation in financing
Our financing strategy aims to enable our pipeline of growth and development projects, while also protecting our balance sheet strength and facilitating our sustainable approach to capital allocation.
In March 2024, we announced an innovative financing package for the Centinela Second Concentrator Project. This $2.5 billion facility, with a 4-year drawdown period within a 12-year term, is structured to help safeguard our approach to our capital allocation model during construction.
Separately, an agreement was completed in June 2024 for the legal transfer of existing water infrastructure at Centinela, and the planned expansion of water assets, helping to lower the capital intensity of this project at a time of cost inflation across the mining industry. Furthermore, we agreed pricing for our third corporate bond in April 2024, with $750 million issued, which represents a continuation of this process following our inaugural bond issuance in 2020. In early 2025, as part of a financing associated with Los Pelambres’ water infrastructure, the Group finalised a $2 billion facility with favourable financing terms including banks and a private placement bond with a 20-year term, reflecting the long-term nature of this operation.
Sustainability embedded within our culture
We remain well-positioned with respect to addressing our emissions footprint, while also enhancing our competitiveness. Efforts in 2024 helped to outline the next phase of work, which includes the testing and phased adoption of new technologies throughout our business.
Decarbonisation, which enhances our cost-competitiveness, is an important area for us to demonstrate innovation and a determination to deliver critical metals for electrification in a sustainable manner. We understand the importance of addressing changing environmental conditions, the effects of which are being acutely felt in Chile, notably through changing water availability. As such, we continue to develop our decarbonisation and competitiveness pathway as we continue our progress towards carbon neutrality by 2050. In early 2024, we published our Climate Action Plan, announcing updated emissions targets founded on specific action plans, with a targeted 50% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions and our first Scope 3 emissions target. We expect that through achieving these targets, we will enhance our competitiveness on costs, through extending the use of locally sourced low-cost renewable energy.
Initiatives in 2024 included the delivery of equipment for a trial of trolley-assist technology at Los Pelambres, and our continued efforts at Centinela to implement automation in mining fleets, with both projects expected to help reduce diesel consumption. Our Transport Division (FCAB) also took delivery of a hydrogen-powered locomotive, a first for South America, which is part of our strategy to evaluate alternative fuels. Our efforts to reduce Scope 3 emissions are centred on helping our suppliers of goods and services to reduce their emissions footprints as well as enhance competitiveness through improving their overall sustainability practices, through our Suppliers for a Better Future Programme.
Elsewhere in sustainability, a highlight remains our continued high levels of sea water use at a number of our operations, representing 58% of the Group’s total withdrawals in 2024, which reflects our recent investment in desalinated water at Los Pelambres. In terms of building and developing a balanced workforce, we reached a level of 26.6% female participation as at the end of 2024, with an aspiration of achieving 30% by the end of 2025. We remain committed to our work with industry-leading organisations such as the International Council on Mining and Metals, the Copper Mark, the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management and other third parties to help develop and implement industry best practice
Looking ahead: growth and value
Our ambition is to increase our production by delivering on our transformational projects for industry-leading levels of growth in copper production. Through this, we will also add resilience to our business for decades to come through a greater focus on concentrates and associated by-products. In 2024, we made significant progress along that path with a disciplined and experienced team set to deliver this growth.
We believe that copper markets are facing a structural shortage due to supply-side constraints, coupled with rising demand from global economic growth, electrification, the rise in the digital economy, and energy security.
We are pursuing growth ahead of others, and we have positioned ourselves as a responsible producer of copper. As we navigate a rapidly changing world, we remain focused on our long-term vision: to be a leading copper producer with a focus on responsible production and creating value for all our stakeholders. Thank you for your continued support
IVÁN ARRIAGADA
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER