BHP’s Vicuna unveils $25 billion mining investment

Miner Vicuna Corporation, controlled by Australia’s BHP ‌and Canada’s Lundin Mining has announced a $US18 billion ($A25 ‌billion) multi-year investment plan to develop copper, gold ‌and silver mining projects in northern Argentina.

The initial investment in its Josemaria and Filo del Sol projects in the province of San ‌Juan will ‌be $US7 billion ($A9.9 ⁠billion) with capital deployment scheduled from ​2027 until production begins in 2030, Vicuna said in a statement on Monday.

The project is forecast to average 395,000 tonnes of copper, 711,000 ounces of ⁠gold, and ‌22.2 ​million ounces of silver annually over its first ​25 years.

Output ‌during the first decade is projected ​at approximately 2.5 million tonnes of copper, 5.5 million ounces of gold, and 214 million ​ounces ​of silver.

Development ​of the Josemaria and ‌Filo del Sol mining projects will be carried out in three stages.

The first stage will be focused on the Josemaria deposit, with ​the latter two focused on Filo del Sol.