Alliance Copper Ltda. is a society between Codelco Chile and BHP Billiton created for the development and use of technologies of concentrate bioleaching to exploit deposits with a high content of arsenic. The construction of a pilot plant for 20,000 tons a year was started in 2002.

Codelco and the Finnish company Outokumpu have undersigned an Framework Agreement establishing their complementarity and cooperation potential. One of the activities included is the development of new technologies. The agreement is also aimed at taking advantage of business opportunities in third countries.

Biosigma S.A. is a society created in 2002 between Codelco and Nippon Mining and Metals Co. Ltd. This agreement fits within the biomining program outlined by Codelco in 2001, aimed at incorporating into mining the developments in genomics, proteomics and bioinformatics. The agreement seeks to jointly set in motion a company devoted to the technological development in bio-mining.