Copper is an essential basic material for producing automobiles, electronics, and various industrial equipment, supporting our society’s industrial infrastructure and affluent lifestyles. In 2021, Mitsubishi Materials acquired the right to receive copper concentrate (the raw material used in copper smelting) equivalent to 30% of the copper production volume of the Mantoverde Mine in Chile, South America, to ensure a stable supply of high-quality copper concentrate. The mine began commercial production of copper concentrate in September 2024, and the first shipment has arrived at the Mitsubishi Materials Naoshima Smelter & Refinery (Naoshima-cho, Kagawa-gun, Kagawa Prefecture).

On October 24, Capstone Copper (headquarters: Canada), the partner operating the Mantoverde Mine, was invited to a ceremony held in a relaxed atmosphere to celebrate the arrival of the first shipment. During the ceremony, they swung mattocks at a mound of the newly arrived copper concentrate. On November 26, Capstone Copper hosted a ceremony to mark the completion of the sulfide ore processing facilities at the Mantoverde Mine, which was attended by Chile’s Minister of Mining Aurora Williams, ambassadors from Japan and other countries, as well as Mitsubishi Materials CEO Naoki Ono.

When Mitsubishi Materials acquired an interest in the Mantoverde Copper Mine in 2021, the company established Mitsubishi Materials Chile in Santiago. This subsidiary specializes in managing and operating the company’s mining investment business to improve efficiency and strengthen the management foundation for mining investment business in South America.

Since the 2000s, demand for copper has been rising worldwide, and as the existing mines become increasingly depleted, the production of high-quality copper concentrate has become limited. Meanwhile, companies are forced to develop new mines deeper underground, at higher altitudes, or in other places with challenging conditions, including those with poor infrastructure or requiring more stringent environmental considerations. All these conditions are pushing development costs upward.

Shinsuke Oe works at the Project Department of the Mineral Resources Division, Metals Company, which manages the mine. He describes the characteristics of the Mantoverde Mine as follows.

“Mantoverde is a medium-sized copper mine with an average annual copper production of 80,000 tons, and it has some excellent features. First, it produces high-quality ore with low levels of impurities, and we expect to expand the production scale in the future. Second, its location is favorable, about 50 km from the coast, not very high at around 900 m above sea level, and about 100 km from Copiapo, which is the capital city of the Atacama Region in northern Chile. A hundred kilometers may sound far, but that’s relatively close to a city for a mine, which makes it easier to secure workers. Lastly, the development costs, including the surrounding infrastructure, are relatively low as we added a new line of copper concentrate production to our existing leaching facility.”

Beyond the Mantoverde mine, Mitsubishi Materials has developed close ties with Chile. It began during Japan’s rapid economic growth in the 1960s, with the financing of copper mines in Chile. In 1985, investment in the Escondida Mine began, followed by the Los Pelambres Mine in 1997. These copper mines are large operations on a global scale that produce high-quality copper concentrate. Chile plays a significant role in the mining investment business of Mitsubishi Materials.

“Chile is the world’s largest copper producer, accounting for about one-third of the global share,” Oe explains. “They say that the scope for new mine development is increasingly limited now compared to what it once was. However, I think the country still has a lot of potential. Our Metals business produces various materials that support global society, including copper, precious metals, rare metals, and the by-products of smelting, such as sulfuric acid. Among them, copper concentrate is an essential raw material that underpins our business’s core. The Mantoverde Mine is the first new copper mine we have established in 13 years. We aim to contribute further to the world by expanding this mine and making new investments in others.”
Mitsubishi Materials manages its mines in Chile through three separate bases: its technical staff at the Mantoverde Mine, the staff at Mitsubishi Materials Chile, and the staff at the Tokyo office, including Oe.
“In addition to copper, Chile produces lithium and other products familiar to Japanese consumers, such as salmon and wine, creating close ties between our countries,” says Oe. “When in Chile, you can enjoy majestic scenery such as the Andes Mountains, the vast Atacama Salt Lake, and even the desert.” At the same time, many challenges exist for Japanese businesspeople taking business trips or being stationed in Chile: for example, it takes more than a day to travel there from Japan, and there is a 13-hour time difference (12 hours during daylight saving time).

Seigo Goto knows a lot about living in Chile after living and working there for the past seven years. Goto, the Vice President of Mitsubishi Materials Chile and General Manager of the New Business Development Division, has been stationed in Chile since initial negotiations on investing in the Mantoverde Mine. He is currently in charge of new business development.

Recently, Goto led Mitsubishi Materials in forming a partnership with Chilean Technical Institute of Higher Education, Duoc UC, and made a financial donation to manufacture containers for collecting used electrical and electronic equipment. There are currently six such containers on the campus. Goto shared his thoughts on the initiative.

“In the EU and Japan, the collection of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is well underway on the premise of extended producer responsibility (that producers are responsible for their products from sale to recycling and disposal). Chile, too, enacted the Extended Producer Responsibility Law in 2016, and they are discussing the effective implementation of the law. However, Chile’s current WEEE recycling rate is around 3 to 4%, and I think it is crucial to increase society’s understanding of metal recycling. Chile is one of our company’s most important resource suppliers. Since metal recycling is our strong point, we hope to contribute to Chilean society by fostering a recycling culture in collaboration with Duoc UC, which has 20 campuses and over 100,000 students nationwide.”

The installed WEEE collection containers have an inventory monitoring system, allowing the collection status to be monitored on the website anytime. From now on, they will study the contents and quantity of the collected items along with the reduction of the carbon footprint to help student research. The collected WEEE will be picked up and dismantled by local collection companies affiliated with Mitsubishi Materials to recover E-Scrap (waste circuit boards with a high concentration of valuable metals) to be used as smelting materials.

“The dean of Duoc UC welcomed our proposal for a partnership, calling us a powerful ally in the school’s ongoing efforts to instill a recycling culture in young students,” continues Goto. “The local media picked up our story, and we were invited to set up a container at a recycling event in front of the Presidential Palace, the Palacio de La Moneda. There, we introduced our work to the Minister of the Environment, Ms. Maisa Rojas. I have heard that it led to widespread recognition and greatly increased the students’ motivation.”

The ties Japan and Chile have built through the metal industry now have another goal: contributing to the global environment through recycling.

“My impression is that many Chileans are good-natured and diligent,” Goto says. “It is easy to work with them because Chile’s main industry is mining, and we share the same language for business. However, the system for bulk waste disposal and recyclables is not as well-established as it is in Japan. We hope to contribute to creating a recycling-oriented society by following the status of container collection, providing funds for installing more containers, and holding recycling promotion campaigns to increase opportunities for students, related parties, and multiple levels of society to be exposed to a recycling culture. The students’ energy is high, and I hope to use that energy in our recycling initiative.”

Mitsubishi Materials has established “For people, society and the earth, circulating resources for a sustainable future” as “Our Commitment.” The company is committed to strengthening its domestic relationships and, at the same time, further developing ties with faraway Chile to contribute to a sustainable society.