Pucobre and Codelco's Tovaku wins environmental approval: a US$870 million copper mine with a 193 MW solar park and seawater

The Tovaku mining project now has environmental approval. The Environmental Evaluation Commission of the Antofagasta Region approved it unanimously at its session on Friday 23 October 2026, as reported by Reporte Minero and REDIMIN magazine on 26 October. It is a US$870 million open-pit copper mine to be built in the communes of María Elena and Tocopilla, with two features that are unusual for a project of its size: it will have its own 193 MW solar photovoltaic park with battery storage, and it will use untreated seawater instead of freshwater.

The project holder before Chile's Environmental Impact Assessment System (SEIA) is Sociedad Punta del Cobre (Pucobre), which filed the Environmental Impact Study on 23 July 2025, according to the extract published in the Diario Oficial on 6 August 2025. The project will be carried out by Minera Puntilla S.A., a company in which Pucobre holds 60% and Codelco 40%: the state miner contributes the mining concessions and Pucobre finances development and construction.

Tovaku will mine the Puntilla deposit, about 70 kilometres east of Tocopilla, with estimated reserves of 633 million tonnes of ore, according to REDIMIN. The goal is to produce 46,000 tonnes a year of high-purity copper cathodes for 21 years. The process will be hydrometallurgical: crushing, heap leaching, solvent extraction and electrowinning, the stage that deposits pure copper on cathode plates using electric current.

Sources: extract of the Environmental Impact Study in the Diario Oficial (6 August 2025), Reporte Minero and REDIMIN (26 October 2026). Investment, output and employment are figures declared by the project holder.

The most striking energy component is the 193 MW solar photovoltaic park of installed capacity, with battery energy storage, which is part of the same Environmental Impact Study. REDIMIN reports that about US$220 million of the US$870 million investment corresponds to that solar plant. The project will also connect to Chile's National Electric System through a 220 kV line to the Ana María substation, so it can buy power from the grid when the sun is not enough.

The choice makes technical sense. A cathode mine depends on electricity in the electrowinning stage, while a concentrate mine spends most of its electricity grinding and floating ore. According to the Cochilco report on copper mining emissions up to 2024, direct emissions linked to electrowon cathodes are 0.23 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per tonne of copper, compared with 1.29 tonnes for the industry average across the whole operation. Having electricity come from its own solar plant also cuts the indirect part of that footprint.

Tovaku thus joins the trend that already dominates large private mining, where 96% of power consumption was covered by renewable contracts in 2024, as detailed in how much renewable energy each major Chilean miner uses. The difference is that here the generation will be part of the project itself, not just a supply contract with a power company.

Untreated seawater

The second pillar is water. Tovaku will not use water from wells or rivers: a 72.5 km Seawater Pumping System will carry untreated seawater from the header tanks of the Estación de Bombeo Cero in Tocopilla to the site. The project does not draw the water directly from the ocean; according to the official extract, that intake is handled by a supplier that already holds its own permits. Using untreated seawater is possible in some leaching processes and avoids the energy cost of reverse osmosis, although it requires corrosion-resistant materials.

Copper mining drew 8.11 m³/s of seawater in 2025, of which 2.40 m³/s was used without desalination, according to Cochilco. The breakdown by site, region and plant is in seawater in Chilean mining in figures.

The review took 450 days, about 40% less than the average for Environmental Impact Studies in 2025, according to Reporte Minero. There were three rounds of clarifications before the Antofagasta office of the Environmental Evaluation Service (SEA) published a 142-page Consolidated Evaluation Report (ICE) recommending approval.

Sources: Diario Oficial, Reporte Minero and REDIMIN. The 2027 and 2030 dates are company projections and depend on sector permits, detailed engineering and bank financing, which are still pending.

Objections during the review

The process was not free of objections. The significant impact declared by the holder itself concerns archaeological heritage: REDIMIN counts 118 finds, of which 63 lie within the area of influence and could be affected during construction, for which the project committed to permanent archaeological monitoring, rescue and recording. The General Water Directorate and the Hydraulic Works Directorate questioned why no sector permit was required for three ravine diversion works, and the Aymara community of Quillagua requested an indigenous consultation that was ultimately not held; Conadi approved the report without observations.

For Codelco, the deal is a way to add output without spending capital: it keeps 40% with no new contributions, and Pucobre recovers its investment from future distributions that would go to the state miner. The 46,000 tonnes a year amount to less than 1% of Chile's output, but they arrive as the country is producing less copper: Cochilco projects that 2026 will close at its lowest level in more than two decades, as explained in the fall in Chile's copper output.

Sources: Cochilco reports Energy consumption in copper mining to 2025 and Water consumption in the copper industry to 2025, both published in 2026.

Tovaku's design sums up the two conditions the sector has set itself to grow in the desert: renewable energy and water that does not compete with communities. What the mine still needs to exist is financial close; environmental approval is only the first permit on a long list, and construction has not been decided.

Who owns the Tovaku project?

Minera Puntilla S.A., 60% owned by Pucobre (Sociedad Punta del Cobre) and 40% by Codelco. Pucobre controls and operates the company.

Where is Tovaku?

In the communes of María Elena and Tocopilla, in the Antofagasta Region, about 70 km east of Tocopilla.

How much copper will it produce?

About 46,000 tonnes a year of high-purity copper cathodes over 21 years of operation.

What energy will the mine use?

Its own 193 MW photovoltaic park with batteries, plus a connection to the National Electric System through a 220 kV line.

When would it start producing?

The companies plan to start construction in the second half of 2027 and produce copper in 2030, subject to sector permits and financing.