Nueva Centinela dome rises in Antofagasta

Antofagasta Minerals said on May 15 that construction is advancing on a mineral-storage dome at its Nueva Centinela expansion project in Chile’s Antofagasta region. The company said the dome will store 178,000 tonnes of mineral and form part of the site’s material-handling infrastructure. Reporte Minero, citing Antofagasta Minerals, said the structure will reach 66 meters in height and 106.6 meters in diameter. Minera Centinela says Nueva Centinela is a roughly $4.4 billion expansion project whose construction began in April 2024 and is due to enter operation in 2027. ### How big is the dome now taking shape in Antofagasta? The dome is designed to reach 66 meters high and 106.6 meters across, according to Antofagasta Minerals-backed project updates published on May 15. The supporting steel structure will use 476 tonnes of steel, and the finished dome will hold 178,000 tonnes of mineral. Reporte Minero said those dimensions make it comparable to, and in some descriptions larger than, the dome over Santiago’s Movistar Arena. (reporteminero.cl) The Antofagasta region project is one of the most visible pieces of the broader Nueva Centinela build-out because the steel frame is already rising above the rest of the works. The dome is part of the mine’s storage and material-handling system rather than the processing plant itself, according to the project descriptions. (reporteminero.cl) ### Where does this fit inside the wider Nueva Centinela build-out? Minera Centinela says Nueva Centinela is the company’s expansion project at its Centinela mining district and the largest mining investment announced in Chile in the previous five years. The company puts the investment at about $4.4 billion and says the project started construction in April 2024. (reporteminero.cl) The company says the wider plan includes a new concentrator capable of processing 95,000 tonnes of ore a day, an expanded Esperanza Sur pit, a new seawater pipeline from the Esperanza port area near Caleta Michilla, a new thickened tailings deposit and an expansion of the molybdenum plant. During construction, Centinela is also developing the Encuentro pit, which will later feed the new concentrator. (web.mineracentinela.cl) ### What has the company said about schedule and scale? On Nov. 7, 2025, Antofagasta Minerals said Nueva Centinela was reaching the midpoint of development while staying on schedule and on budget. The company said nearly 40 investors and analysts visited the project and saw work on the primary crusher and concentrator as well as the broader expansion area. (web.mineracentinela.cl) Iván Arriagada, Antofagasta Minerals’ chief executive, said during that visit that the project would help lift the group’s production by 30% by the end of the decade and place Centinela among the world’s 15 largest copper mines. Antofagasta Minerals said the expansion will add a second concentrator and increase output by 170,000 tonnes of copper equivalent once it starts up in 2027. (aminerals.cl) ### How many jobs and how much extra output are tied to the project? Minera Centinela says the construction phase is expected to generate about 13,000 jobs at peak. In its November 2025 project update, Antofagasta Minerals said more than 12,000 people were already working on construction and that 27% lived in the Antofagasta region. (aminerals.cl) The company says the expansion will duplicate mineral-processing capacity and extend Centinela’s operating life by at least 30 years. Minera Centinela says annual copper production will rise by 144,000 tonnes, while Antofagasta Minerals said in November 2025 that Nueva Centinela would add 170,000 tonnes of copper equivalent when it enters service; the difference reflects the company’s use of different production measures in separate project descriptions. (web.mineracentinela.cl) ### What comes next after the dome structure goes up? The 2027 target is the next dated milestone in the project timeline. Minera Centinela says construction and commissioning are planned to finish in 2027, after which the expanded operation will begin start-up. Antofagasta Minerals has said the new concentrator will initially process ore from Esperanza Sur, where autonomous haul trucks are already operating. (web.mineracentinela.cl) That means the next steps after the dome erection are tied to the rest of the plant, crusher, pit and pipeline works now under construction across the Nueva Centinela site. (aminerals.cl)