Company Insight · Chile · Codelco · Copper · Lithium · Water Infrastructure
Codelco: Copper, Lithium and Water Infrastructure
Codelco enters the second half of 2026 with new leadership, an independent KPMG review of its 2024–2025 production reports and a sharper focus on capital discipline. Chile’s state miner must stabilise copper output, restore reporting credibility, prioritise a heavy project portfolio, integrate NovaAndino Litio, advance Maricunga and complete the Distrito Norte desalination system.
Codelco remains Chile’s central copper company, but its current operating problem is wider than copper tonnage.
The company is now operating under a new leadership team. Bernardo Fontaine has chaired the board since 27 May 2026, while Jorge Gómez has served as chief executive since 13 July 2026. Their mandate combines production stability, financial discipline, safety, reporting credibility, large capital projects and lithium execution.
Codelco originally reported 1.334 million tonnes of own copper production in 2025. Its operating pages now show revised figures for Chuquicamata and Ministro Hales after an internal audit, and KPMG is independently reviewing the 2024 and 2025 production reports. First-quarter 2026 own production was 272,000 tonnes, 8.1% below the same period of 2025, while Codelco maintained its full-year guidance of 1.331–1.357 million tonnes.
For the infrastructure layer, see Econosur’s Seawater Mining Infrastructure analysis, the Chile Power Grid analysis, and the CRAMSA / Aguas Marítimas profile as a multi-user corridor comparison. Wider company and sector context is available in the Copper Mining overview, NovaAndino Litio company insight and the Chile market profile.
Core company reading:
Codelco is simultaneously trying to recover copper production, restore confidence in operating data, manage El Teniente’s multi-year constraints, impose tighter capital discipline, deliver water infrastructure and build a state-controlled lithium business.
Current Status in August 2026
Codelco enters the second half of 2026 after two years of modest output improvement from the low point reached in 2023. The company originally reported 2025 own production of 1,334,445 tonnes of fine copper. Its internal audit later identified 26,875 tonnes that had been classified as finished production despite requiring further processing; the current revised divisional figures sum to roughly 1.308 million tonnes. KPMG is independently reviewing the 2024 and 2025 production reports.
The 2025 financial result was strengthened by copper operations and by the accounting recognition of Codelco’s 50% plus one share in NovaAndino Litio. The group reported EBITDA of US$6.67 billion, contributions to the Chilean state of US$1.778 billion and record capital expenditure of US$5.073 billion.
On 10 August, the Chilean government allowed Codelco to capitalise 100% of its 2025 profits. The measure is intended to support operational continuity and the project portfolio while reducing the need for additional debt. It should be read as retention of 2025 profits inside Codelco, not as a separate new cash injection.
For 2026, Codelco guides for own production of 1.331–1.357 million tonnes and capital expenditure of US$4–5 billion. First-quarter own production was 272,000 tonnes, 8.1% below the same period of 2025. Codelco maintained its annual guidance, but the weaker quarter does not remove the pressure from El Teniente, mine transitions, costs and reporting credibility.
A New Chairman and a New Chief Executive
President José Antonio Kast appointed Bernardo Fontaine as chairman of Codelco, and Fontaine formally assumed the role on 27 May 2026. The government also appointed Luz Granier and Alejandro Canut to the board. The leadership reset was explicitly connected to production, debt, budget and transparency concerns.
The executive transition is also complete. Jorge Gómez began his duties as chief executive officer on 13 July 2026, replacing Rubén Alvarado. Gómez led Collahuasi for 14 years and entered Codelco with priorities around safety, operational discipline, profitability, management control and sustainability.
Chairman: Bernardo Fontaine, responsible for the board and corporate oversight.
Chief executive officer: Jorge Gómez, responsible for day-to-day executive management since 13 July 2026.
The two appointments form one leadership reset, but they are different corporate roles.
Copper Production: Recovery Without a Full Return
Codelco operates seven mining divisions plus the Ventanas refinery. The copper base remains large, but the recovery is uneven. Radomiro Tomic produced 295,000 tonnes in 2025, Andina 182,000 tonnes, Gabriela Mistral 82,000 tonnes, Salvador 47,000 tonnes and El Teniente 310,000 tonnes.
Chuquicamata and Ministro Hales require a separate explanation because their divisional figures were revised after the production-reporting audit. Codelco’s current operations page lists Chuquicamata at 246,000 tonnes and Ministro Hales at 146,000 tonnes for 2025.
| Division | Current 2025 figure | Operational meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Radomiro Tomic | 295 kt | Northern copper anchor and direct beneficiary of Distrito Norte desalinated water. |
| Chuquicamata | 246 kt, revised | Open-pit and underground transition with a corrected divisional production figure. |
| Ministro Hales | 146 kt, revised | High-arsenic ore operation with a corrected divisional production figure. |
| Andina | 182 kt | Central Chile asset connected to the proposed Andina–Los Bronces district plan. |
| El Teniente | 310 kt | Largest divisional output in 2025, but under long-term constraints after the fatal collapse. |
Andina–Los Bronces: a joint copper district plan
On 24 June 2026, Codelco and Anglo American completed the definitive agreement to implement a joint mine plan for the neighbouring Andina and Los Bronces operations. The agreement followed the required competition approvals and creates a coordinated operating framework without merging ownership of the two mines.
The companies expect the plan to unlock approximately 2.7 million additional tonnes of copper over 21 years, equivalent to around 120,000 tonnes per year. Codelco states that unit costs could be about 15% lower than under separate operations and that the plan could create at least US$5 billion of additional pre-tax net present value, shared equally between the partners.
The agreement is complete, but the additional production is not immediate. Implementation still depends on environmental and sector-specific permits, currently expected by 2030. The market significance is therefore strategic rather than operational in 2026: Codelco has secured a framework for district-scale optimisation, but the production uplift remains permit-dependent.
Agreement: Definitive agreement completed on 24 June 2026.
Expected uplift: Approximately 2.7 million additional tonnes over 21 years, or around 120,000 tonnes annually.
Current boundary: Environmental and sector permits remain required before the joint mine plan can begin delivering additional production.
What the Production Audit Changed
Codelco’s internal audit found that 26,875 tonnes from Chuquicamata and Ministro Hales had been reported as finished production in December 2025 even though the material still required further processing. The company corrected the production reports and recalculated the relevant internal information.
The company dismissed an executive, disciplined others, recalculated variable incentives and referred the matter to prosecutors to determine whether criminal conduct occurred. Codelco stated that its 2025 financial statements did not require revision.
On 21 July 2026, Codelco’s board commissioned KPMG to conduct an independent external audit of the company’s production reports for 2024 and 2025. The internal review addressed the identified December 2025 error; the KPMG mandate broadens the examination across two reporting years. Until that review is complete, the originally reported company-wide production figures should be treated as reported figures under external review rather than as a closed evidentiary record.
Originally reported own production: 1,334,445 tonnes in Codelco’s 2025 results; the 2024 and 2025 production reports are now under independent KPMG review.
Current divisional figures: 246,000 tonnes for Chuquicamata and 146,000 tonnes for Ministro Hales.
Financial statements: Codelco said the internal audit did not require their modification.
The issue is therefore not simply a numerical footnote. It affects trust in operating classification at the same moment that Codelco is trying to stabilise operations, execute a large capital portfolio and demonstrate that reported improvements are supported by reliable controls.
El Teniente: A Five-Year Production Constraint
El Teniente produced 310,000 tonnes in 2025, 13% less than in 2024, after the fatal collapse and related operating restrictions. Codelco expects production to remain below earlier levels for approximately five years.
The mine’s 2026 output is projected at around 301,000 tonnes. A full recovery requires new seismic monitoring, safety systems, geotechnical work and changes to mine development. The final investigation into the collapse was still pending in the latest reporting reviewed for this update.
On 4 August 2026, Codelco temporarily suspended development and construction activities at the Andes Norte project after technical analysis identified an emerging deep-seismicity risk with characteristics different from previously managed conditions. Codelco did not publish a fixed restart date, making Andes Norte a direct example of how geological and safety constraints can alter the timing of already-funded mine-development work.
El Teniente therefore changes the production-recovery narrative. Codelco cannot assume that one of its most important assets will quickly return to its former output profile. The company has to compensate through other divisions, structural projects and better operating discipline.
Codelco’s production problem is not one weak year. El Teniente turns part of the recovery challenge into a multi-year constraint.
Distrito Norte: Water as Copper Infrastructure
Under construction. Aguas Horizonte continues to publish monthly construction updates, including a July 2026 progress report. Codelco still states that commissioning is committed for 2026, but commercial water delivery has not yet been publicly confirmed.
Distrito Norte is Codelco’s first major desalinated-water system. It is being built to supply Chuquicamata, Radomiro Tomic and Ministro Hales from a reverse-osmosis plant at Caleta Viuda.
The infrastructure includes maritime works, three pumping stations, more than 160 kilometres of underground pipelines, electric-power systems and an industrial-water reservoir at Radomiro Tomic above 3,000 metres.
Aguas Horizonte — founded by Marubeni and Transelec — finances, builds, owns and will operate the project for 20 years under a BOOT model before transferring it to Codelco. The first stage has design capacity of 840 litres per second and nominal flow of 630 litres per second. A second stage can expand the system to 1,956 litres per second of design capacity and 1,630 litres per second of nominal flow.
The power connection is structural. Reverse osmosis and high-elevation pumping require reliable electricity over the full coast-to-mine route, so grid reliability and electrical infrastructure become part of water-system reliability. Econosur’s Chile Power Grid analysis provides the wider system context for that dependency.
| Project layer | Current structure | Market significance |
|---|---|---|
| Ownership model | Aguas Horizonte finances, builds, owns and will operate for 20 years before transferring the infrastructure. | Private execution supports a strategic state mining system. |
| Initial capacity | 840 l/s design; 630 l/s nominal flow. | Creates a new non-continental water source for the northern copper district once commercial delivery begins. |
| Expansion | Up to 1,956 l/s design; 1,630 l/s nominal flow. | Provides a scalable water platform rather than a fixed single-mine installation. |
| Delivery route | More than 160 km from the coast to the Calama mining district. | Requires desalination, pumping, power and pipeline reliability to work as one system. |
Infrastructure-model comparison:
Distrito Norte is a defined mining-district system built around Codelco’s Chuquicamata, Radomiro Tomic and Ministro Hales operations. CRAMSA / Aguas Marítimas is designed as a broader multi-user corridor for mining, industry and potentially agricultural demand. Both depend on desalination, pumping and electricity infrastructure, but their commercial and ownership structures are different.
Kimal–Lo Aguirre belongs to a separate transmission project and is not part of Distrito Norte. It is useful only as a procurement-scale comparison for the wider high-voltage infrastructure cycle developing around Chile’s northern power system.
Lithium: One Operating Company and One Development Project
Codelco’s lithium role has two distinct parts that should not be merged.
NovaAndino Litio: existing operation, new control structure
NovaAndino Litio is the operating structure created with SQM for the Salar de Atacama through 2060. Codelco’s 2025 results describe its participation as 50% plus one share. SQM manages the operation through 2030, while Codelco is scheduled to assume general management from 2031.
This is not a greenfield lithium project. Existing assets, personnel, permits, technical knowledge and commercial structures were transferred into the new company. The central Codelco challenge is the later transfer of operating leadership.
Maricunga: association agreement, not confirmed operating joint venture
Codelco selected Rio Tinto as strategic partner for Maricunga. The agreed structure gives Codelco 50.01% and Rio Tinto 49.99%, with Rio Tinto contributing up to US$900 million through project milestones.
The reviewed public sources confirm the association agreement and the terms for creating a joint venture. They do not provide public confirmation that final closing and formation of the joint venture had occurred by 23 July 2026. Maricunga should therefore be described as a development partnership, not as an operating lithium company.
Capital, Debt and Execution Capacity
Codelco invested a record US$5.073 billion in 2025. Official 2026 guidance is US$4–5 billion, while a government budget document cited by Reuters set investment at approximately US$3.914 billion including value-added tax.
The strategic question has shifted from how quickly Codelco can return to an old production target to which investments can generate the strongest operational and financial return. In July, chairman Bernardo Fontaine said production is likely to remain broadly around current levels in the next few years, while Codelco’s own strategic communication now emphasises productivity, cost control, financial sustainability and investment prioritisation.
The investment portfolio includes mine-life extensions, underground transitions, El Teniente recovery, Rajo Inca, Distrito Norte, digital systems and lithium structures. Codelco’s investor press archive also records August reporting that the board is reassessing the previously discussed US$34 billion investment plan. The issue is therefore not the absence of capital projects, but which projects can be financed and executed without worsening the company’s debt and operating constraints.
This company-level problem is part of a wider Chilean pattern. Econosur’s Chile’s Mining Investment Pipeline: Where Copper and Lithium Capital Is Going shows how the country’s mining pipeline is dominated by copper and brownfield investment, with capital increasingly required to sustain, replace and extend existing productive capacity rather than simply create new tonnes.
Codelco controls major copper assets, a state-led lithium platform and large water and mine-continuity projects.
Production recovery, safety, capital discipline, water infrastructure and lithium development compete for management capacity.
The production audit and leadership reset mean that transparent data and project controls now affect market confidence directly.
What Codelco Means for Suppliers
Codelco creates several supplier markets, but they operate through different technical and procurement environments.
- underground mining, geotechnical monitoring and seismic safety
- automation, production-control and data-governance systems
- mine-development, material-handling and concentrator equipment
- maintenance, critical spares and plant-reliability services
- desalination, reverse osmosis and water treatment
- high-pressure pumping, pipelines, reservoirs and power systems
- substations, transformers, protection, control and transmission integration
- brine monitoring, process technology and environmental systems for lithium
- audit, safety, operating and supplier documentation
The relevant commercial question is not whether Codelco has demand. It is which division, project company, partner or management phase controls the requirement. Distrito Norte procurement sits inside a BOOT project company. NovaAndino remains SQM-managed through 2030. Maricunga remains a development partnership. Copper divisions have their own operating and supplier structures.
The electrical package around mining-water systems also sits inside this fragmented procurement landscape. The Kimal–Lo Aguirre analysis offers a separate reference for how specialist transmission equipment, international suppliers and logistics enter large Chilean infrastructure projects, without implying any direct procurement link to Codelco’s Distrito Norte system.
Operating position: Codelco is trying to stabilise production, but El Teniente, structural mine transitions and the external review of production reporting prevent a simple recovery narrative.
Less visible commercially: public coverage focuses on copper tonnes and lithium announcements. Less visible are the leadership reset, revised divisional data, partner-controlled procurement routes and water-infrastructure dependencies.
Procurement structure: Codelco is best understood as a portfolio of operating systems rather than one buyer. Supplier access depends on identifying the correct division, project vehicle, partner and decision route.
Business questions
Where Codelco’s investment portfolio becomes commercially relevant
Codelco’s public investment program shows where technical demand exists. The harder commercial questions are which parts of that portfolio are active now, who controls procurement and what a supplier needs to verify before committing sales resources.
1. Which parts of Codelco’s investment portfolio are creating the strongest supplier demand?
The strongest demand is spread across operating mines, mine-continuity projects, water infrastructure and emerging lithium activities rather than concentrated in one procurement program.
For the copper business, the clearest requirements include underground mining, geotechnical and seismic monitoring, automation and production-control systems, material handling, concentrator equipment, maintenance, critical spares and plant-reliability services. The temporary Andes Norte suspension reinforces the importance of seismic-risk and mine-development systems. Distrito Norte adds desalination, reverse osmosis, high-pressure pumping, pipelines, reservoirs, substations and electrical integration. Lithium activities add process, brine-monitoring and environmental requirements.
The important distinction is timing. A sector can represent substantial technical demand without implying that a specific package is currently open to suppliers.
2. Who actually controls procurement across Codelco’s divisions, projects and partnerships?
Codelco should not be treated as one buyer with one procurement route.
Copper divisions have their own operating and supplier structures. Distrito Norte is being financed, built and operated through Aguas Horizonte under a BOOT structure. NovaAndino is Codelco-controlled at ownership level but remains SQM-managed through 2030. Maricunga is being developed with Rio Tinto and, in the source base used for this article, final joint-venture closing had not yet been publicly confirmed.
For suppliers, the practical task is to identify the division, project company, partner, engineering contractor or operating team that actually controls the requirement.
3. What should suppliers verify before pursuing a Codelco opportunity?
Investment announcements and technical fit do not by themselves establish a live commercial opportunity.
Suppliers should verify who owns the package, whether procurement is direct or partner- or contractor-led, the current tender or sourcing stage, qualification and technical standards, incumbent supplier positions, local service expectations and realistic decision timing. For infrastructure and lithium projects, the project vehicle and operating partner can be as important as Codelco itself.
Where published information stops
Public sources can identify Codelco’s divisions, announced projects, partnerships, investment priorities and some contractor structures. They usually do not establish the current buyer for a specific package, live procurement status, incumbent suppliers, qualification priorities, local service requirements or whether a technically relevant requirement is commercially addressable now.
Econosur investigates these questions through targeted company, supplier and procurement research.
Research by Marcus A. Volz
Codelco company, supplier and procurement research
Custom research can focus on one Codelco division, project, partner structure, supplier category or procurement question rather than treating the company as one undifferentiated market.
- Codelco — 2025 full-year results: originally reported production, EBITDA, state contribution, capital expenditure, 2026 guidance and NovaAndino accounting.
- Codelco — Q1 2026 results: 272,000 tonnes of own production, 8.1% year-on-year decline and annual guidance maintained.
- Codelco — 100% capitalization of 2025 profits, 10 August 2026: retained profits support operational continuity and the project portfolio while reducing pressure for additional debt.
- Codelco — temporary suspension of Andes Norte, 4 August 2026: preventive suspension of development and construction because of emerging deep-seismicity risk; no fixed restart date announced.
- Codelco — strategic priorities, 15 July 2026: lower production, higher costs, weaker cash generation and higher debt underpin a stronger focus on productivity, cost control and investment prioritisation.
- Reuters — Codelco expects broadly flat production in coming years, 15 July 2026: current leadership shifts the focus away from the former 1.7 Mt production ambition.
- Codelco investor press archive — August 2026: records 7 August reporting on reassessment of the previously discussed US$34 billion investment plan.
- Codelco — Operations: seven divisions and current revised 2025 divisional production figures.
- Codelco — Bernardo Fontaine assumes the chairmanship: official start date of 27 May 2026.
- Codelco — Jorge Gómez begins his tenure: official start as chief executive on 13 July 2026.
- Codelco — KPMG external audit: independent review of the 2024 and 2025 production reports following the internal investigation into 26,875 tonnes.
- Codelco — Andina–Los Bronces agreement completed: 2.7 million additional tonnes over 21 years, subject to environmental and sector permits.
- Reuters — El Teniente outlook: lower production for approximately five years and 2026 output near 301,000 tonnes.
- Codelco — Distrito Norte desalination project: capacity, route, pumping and beneficiary divisions.
- Aguas Horizonte — Construction progress and project structure: July 2026 construction update, BOOT model, 20-year operation and two-stage capacity.
- Reuters — Codelco and Rio Tinto in Maricunga: proposed ownership, investment milestones and planned joint-venture formation.
- Maricunga status: Codelco’s current public material continues to describe conditions precedent to finalising the Rio Tinto partnership; no later public closing announcement was identified in the sources reviewed for this 21 August update.
- Econosur analysis updated 21 August 2026.
- Which Codelco division or project vehicle is the real buyer for a defined product category?
- Which procurement packages are active, planned, already awarded or still too early to pursue?
- Which engineering firms, operating partners and contractors influence vendor selection?
- Which suppliers already hold positions in the relevant division or project?
- Which qualification, technical, safety and local-service requirements matter before approaching the buyer?
- Where do Distrito Norte, NovaAndino and Maricunga require a different supplier strategy from Codelco’s copper divisions?
Need to know where a Codelco opportunity actually sits?
Codelco’s investment portfolio spans operating divisions, project companies and private partnerships. Identifying technical demand is only the first step; the commercial question is who controls the package, what stage it has reached and which suppliers are realistically positioned.
Econosur prepares company reports and custom research on buyers, suppliers, procurement structures, project status and commercial timing across South American mining and infrastructure markets.
Explore Company ReportsFrequently Asked Questions
Who leads Codelco in August 2026?
Bernardo Fontaine has chaired Codelco’s board since 27 May 2026. Jorge Gómez has served as chief executive officer since 13 July 2026.
How much copper did Codelco produce in 2025?
Codelco originally reported own production of 1,334,445 tonnes of fine copper and total production of 1,439,732 tonnes including attributed output from minority holdings. KPMG is independently reviewing the 2024 and 2025 production reports.
What is being reviewed in Codelco’s production audit?
An internal audit identified 26,875 tonnes that had been reported as finished production in December 2025 despite requiring further processing. Codelco corrected the reports, applied sanctions and referred information to prosecutors. On 21 July 2026, the board commissioned KPMG to review the 2024 and 2025 production reports independently.
What is Codelco’s 2026 production target?
Official guidance is 1.331–1.357 million tonnes of own copper production. First-quarter own production was 272,000 tonnes, 8.1% below the same period of 2025, while Codelco maintained its full-year guidance.
How is Codelco connected to lithium?
Codelco holds 50% plus one share in NovaAndino Litio with SQM in the Salar de Atacama. It also has an association agreement with Rio Tinto for Maricunga. No public confirmation of final joint-venture closing was identified as of 23 July 2026.
How is Distrito Norte connected to Chile’s power system?
Reverse osmosis and high-elevation pumping require reliable electricity from the coast to Codelco’s northern mining district. Power systems, substations and grid reliability are therefore part of the water-supply infrastructure. See the Chile Power Grid analysis for the wider system context.
What is the Distrito Norte desalination project?
Distrito Norte is a reverse-osmosis desalination and water-transport system for Chuquicamata, Radomiro Tomic and Ministro Hales. Its first stage has 840 l/s of design capacity and the system can expand to 1,956 l/s. The project remains under construction, with commissioning scheduled for 2026 and commercial water delivery not yet confirmed.
