# Capstone Copper Plans More Than US$3 Billion for Chile Expansion

By John Kim

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/business/42266
Published: 2026-10-28T02:32:00.000Z
Updated: 2026-10-28T02:32:00.000Z
Section: Business

> Santo Domingo accounts for US$2.3 billion of the disclosed allocations, which total US$2.905 billion.

Capstone Copper announced more than US$3 billion in planned investment for Chile’s Atacama region on Monday, Oct. 26, with projects intended to double its copper output in the country by 2031.

The five disclosed spending categories total US$2.905 billion. They include US$2.3 billion for Santo Domingo, about US$220 million for two Mantoverde growth projects, US$165 million for mine development in 2026, US$150 million for sustaining capital and US$70 million for exploration. The listed amounts leave at least US$95 million of the announced total outside the breakdown.

Santo Domingo is a fully permitted copper and iron project in the Atacama region, about 35 kilometers northeast of Mantoverde. It has the largest disclosed allocation. The mine plan projects annual copper production of 106,000 metric tons during its first seven years and a mine life of more than 19 years.

Mantoverde Optimized is budgeted at US$176 million and Pyrite Augmentation at about US$45 million, or roughly US$221 million combined. The investment plan lists about US$220 million for the two Mantoverde growth projects.

Capstone expects a final investment decision on Santo Domingo in the fourth quarter of 2026. Detailed engineering, infrastructure optimization and financing remained in progress, and the project’s initial capital estimate was being updated.

Construction at Santo Domingo is expected to require more than 8,000 workers at its peak. Operations are projected to generate about 3,000 direct and indirect jobs.

Chilean Economy and Mining Minister Daniel Mas said the investment “represents the consolidation of Chile as an undisputed mining power globally.”