May 11, 2023
In Adelaide, Australia, the Copper to the World Conference and Exhibition was held, in which Mario Escudero, Business Development Manager of Pares&Alvarez (Chile), spoke about the multidisciplinary challenges of chlorinated leaching, within the framework of the debates on the leadership of South America in the future of copper. The presentation was seen by the more than 500 delegates attending the event.
Organised by the South Australian Ministry of Energy and Mining, Copper to the World has established itself as one of the leading annual copper events in the world, providing unique access to new ideas and conversations about the Australian and global copper market, an opportunity in which Andrés Jara, Commercial Manager of Pares&Alvarez, highlighted “the privilege that it was for the company to present itself as a speaker at such an important event for copper mining and attended by representatives of more than 70 mining companies in the world, as well as to show the world the knowledge and power of Chilean engineering.” For his part, Escudero said that the presence of Pares & Alvarez allowed to show Chilean customers and the rest of the world the experience and expertise of the company in providing solutions on issues such as chlorinated leaching.
The conference was established in 2015 by the South Australian Government to focus on this key strategic mineral. In 2023, Copper to the World (May 9) was held in conjunction with the Austmine 2023 Conference and Exhibition (May 10-11, 2023), where Edgar Basto, Global Chief Operating Officer of BHP and former President of Minera Escondida in Chile, highlighted in his speech that “The world will need more copper to drive the global energy transition. We expect global demand for copper to increase significantly as the world moves towards lower carbon energy sources, powered by solar and wind power.”
“Electric vehicles could account for nearly 60% of annual car sales by 2030 and close to all sales by 2050 and these vehicles use three to four times more copper than gasoline cars. We often associate EV batteries with nickel and lithium, but they also need more copper. “.
For his part, Mauricio Saldías, Country Manager of Pares&Alvarez Australia, highlighted the importance of having opened offices in this country and of being sponsors of this event at such a significant moment for the industry, where BHP becomes, perhaps, the second largest copper producer in the world, after Codelco.
Finally, considering that for the next few years a copper supply is envisioned that will be outstripped by demand, this edition of the conference focused on South America’s leadership in the future of copper. This was explained by Jennifer Purdie, Asset President Olympic Dam at BHP, in her speech, who emphasized the need to make collaborative efforts to deliver copper sustainably to the world.
