Santiago, 23 January 2017. Codelco has invited both local and international companies or consortiums, technically and financially competent, to express their interest in participating in a tender for the supply of desalinated water to its mining operations in the Region of Antofagasta.

This process aims to reach an agreement with a company o consortium in order to operate, maintain and fund the plant to reliably supply desalinated water at competitive prices, under a Boot-type arrangement. This is a type of contract where the company or consortium awarded the project undertakes to build the works, operate the assets and, then after a period of time, transfer the project to the parent company, in this case, to Codelco.

The initial capacity of the project, which shall benefit Codelco's operations in the Region of Antofagasta, will be 630 litres per second (l/s) and a potential 1,680 l/s. The project include marine works, desalination plant, and an approximately 160km pipeline and relevant pumping system to transfer the water, as well as the associated electrical infrastructure.

Codelco, the world's largest copper producer, approximately 1.7 million tonnes per year, reported that Asset Chile S.A. will be its financial advisor and will also be in charge of coordinating the process to find a world-class participant or consortium with experience in this type of project. Interested companies may request additional information at [email protected].

Communications VP