Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking acts as Joint Lead Arranger for the $375 million construction financing of the El Espino copper mine project in Chile, sponsored by Pucobre and Resource Capital Funds

Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking (Natixis CIB) has successfully closed a $375 million senior-secured project financing for the construction of the El Espino copper-gold mine in the Coquimbo region in central Chile. El Espino is owned by a joint venture between Sociedad Punta del Cobre S.A. (“Pucobre”) and Resource Capital Funds (“RCF”).

The project involves the construction of a mid-sized open-pit copper-gold mine operation and associated facilities. The project has an expected average annual production upon completion of 26,000 tons of copper and 13,000 ounces of gold per year, over a useful life of 18 years.

“This is an important step for the El Espino project, which is progressing at a very good pace, with significant participation of the Coquimbo region´s labor and companies. Obtaining this international financing was possible thanks to the high environmental and social standards of the project,” said Pucobre CEO Sebastian Rios.

“We are extremely happy about our existing partnership with Pucobre developing El Espino and the progress that the project is showing so far. Now we welcome to this partnership the project finance banks that are allowing, for this really important project, to be fully funded all the way to operations” said Martin Valdes, Head of Private Equity of RCF.

"Natixis CIB has a proven track record of financing copper mining developments in Latin America, and this transaction contributes to reinforcing our regional and sectorial leadership position. Furthermore, the transaction is completely aligned with the Bank’s efforts to support the global energy transition and digitalization mega trends, for which copper is indispensable,” said Adam Hendley, Global Head of Metals & Mining at Natixis CIB. “We are pleased to support Pucobre and RCF in this strategic transaction and look forward to continued collaboration in the future.”