Los Andes Copper

What Los Andes Copper does

Los Andes Copper Ltd. is a Vancouver-based, British Columbia-incorporated mineral exploration and development company whose entire corporate purpose is the advancement of a single asset: the 100%-owned Vizcachitas copper-molybdenum porphyry project located 150 kilometers north of Santiago, Chile. The company was established in 2007, is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the ticker LA and on OTCQX under LSANF, and operates from offices in Vancouver (corporate headquarters), London (European investor relations), and Santiago (Chilean operations, through wholly-owned subsidiary Compañía Minera Vizcachitas Holding). Vizcachitas is described as one of the largest undeveloped copper deposits in the Americas not controlled by a major, with Measured & Indicated Resources of 14.801 billion pounds CuEq, Inferred Resources of 15.444 billion pounds CuEq, and Proven & Probable Reserves of 1.22 billion tonnes at 0.36% Cu.

The Vizcachitas Project is designed as a conventional open-pit mine with a 26-year life, 136,000 t/day throughput, and a strip ratio of 1.54:1 in the first eight years; the 2023 Pre-Feasibility Study (prepared by Tetra Tech Sudamericana) projects 183,017 t/yr average copper production for the first 8 years and 152,883 t/yr LOM, with by-product molybdenum (273.3M lbs LOM) and silver (32.7M oz LOM). Planned processing flowsheet incorporates three-stage crushing with High Pressure Grinding Rolls (HPGR) targeting P80 of 240 microns, froth flotation concentration, and dry-stacked filtered tailings at 15% cake moisture; supporting infrastructure includes a desalinated water supply under LOI with Desala Petorca SPA and a 28-30 MW run-of-river hydroelectric project at Rocin SpA (with Icafal Inversiones). The PFS values the asset at US$2.776B post-tax NPV (8% discount) and 24% IRR on US$3.68/lb Cu, US$12.9/lb Mo, US$21.79/oz Ag assumptions, with US$2.441B initial CAPEX, a 2.5-year payback, and an all-in sustaining margin of 44%.

The company is pre-revenue and does not yet sell copper; its "business model" today is capital raising and project advancement rather than commodity sales. Capital has been sourced through non-brokered private placements (e.g., 2014 C$2.1M, 2018 US$8.8M with Resource Capital Fund VI), three tranches of 8% convertible debentures with Queen's Road Capital totaling US$14M (2021-2022, all subsequently converted), a C$10M BMO/Paradigm bought deal in January 2023, and a US$20M royalty agreement with Ecora Resources PLC in July 2023 (0.25% NSR open pit / 0.125% NSR underground). Existing NSR burdens total 2% open pit and 1% underground. Capital is directed at feasibility-study work, drilling, permitting (via ERM), and corporate overhead; the company maintains an 11-50 headcount, a sales-led institutional and mining-focused investor relations function (webcasts, conferences including LME Week, press releases, analyst coverage by Cantor Fitzgerald, Hannam & Partners, and Paradigm), and a CEO transition pipeline that moved from R. Michael Jones (Oct 2021) to Santiago Montt (Nov 2022 interim, May 2023 permanent) to Antony Amberg as Interim CEO from January 2026 following Montt's departure to become Chile's Mining Minister.

Name

Los Andes Copper

Legal name

Los Andes Copper Ltd.

Website

https://losandescopper.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Los Andes Copper Ltd. is a Vancouver-based mineral exploration and development company advancing the 100%-owned Vizcachitas copper-molybdenum porphyry project in Chile, a pre-revenue single-asset developer listed on TSX-V (LA) and OTCQX (LSANF).

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Copper-Molybdenum Mining

NAICS

Copper, Nickel, Lead, and Zinc Mining (212230)

SIC

Metal Mining (1000), Miscellaneous Metal Ores (1090)

akta.pro primary industry

Copper Exploration & Resource Development (IMAKADAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Copper Ore Mining (Open-Pit & Underground) (IMAKADAB), Copper By-Products Recovery (Molybdenum, Gold/Silver, Sulfuric Acid) (IMAKADAH), Copper Concentration (Crushing, Grinding, Flotation) (IMAKADAC)

Keywords

• Copper mining exploration
• Mineral resource development
• Copper molybdenum porphyry
• Open pit mining
• Mining project development

Headquarters

HQ city

Vancouver

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Copper Production and Sales: Primary revenue stream from production and sale of copper concentrate and molybdenum concentrate. The PFS projects average annual copper production of 183,017 tonnes in first 8 years at C1 cash costs of $0.93/lb. Life of mine of 26 years producing 8.763 billion lbs copper, 273.3 million lbs molybdenum, and 32.7 million oz silver.
2. Royalty Obligations: Company pays royalties to underlying royalty holders including Ecora Resources (0.25% NSR open pit, 0.125% NSR underground), plus existing NSRs of 2% for open pit and 1% for underground operations.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Los Andes Copper is a pre-revenue mineral exploration and development company advancing the 100%-owned Vizcachitas copper-molybdenum porphyry project in Chile. The project is designed as a conventional open-pit mine with a 26-year life targeting average annual production of 183,017 tonnes of copper, along with molybdenum and silver by-products. Once operational, the company will sell copper and molybdenum concentrate to global smelters and commodity traders.

Product overview

Los Andes Copper is a mining exploration and development company focused on a single core asset: the Vizcachitas copper-molybdenum project in Chile. The company does not operate a platform-plus-modules architecture or offer multiple products; its entire value proposition centers on developing this one world-class copper deposit. The project represents Chile's next major copper mine, positioned along the country's most prolific copper belt.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered strategic and minor.

• ERMstrategicImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 4 September 2023Leading global sustainability consulting firm engaged to conduct strategic analysis of the licensing process for Vizcachitas Project and define required baseline studies. ERM operates in Latin America since 1990s with 7 regional offices.
• Tetra Tech Sudamérica S.A.strategicStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 June 2019Leading international engineering firm engaged as independent technical consultant for Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) and NI 43-101 Technical Report. Prepared the 2023 PFS demonstrating US$2.77 billion post-tax NPV and 24% IRR.
• Icafal Inversiones S.A.minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 June 2014Investment subsidiary of Icafal S.A., leading Chilean engineering and construction conglomerate. Invested US$7.5 million in subsidiary for hydroelectric facility development (28-30 MW expected capacity) on Rocin River. Entitled to 36.3% interest after total investment.
• Cantor FitzgeraldminorOthersFinancial analyst coverage. Analyst: Mike Kozak, email: [email protected]
• Hannam & PartnersminorOthersFinancial analyst coverage. Analyst: Roger Bell, email: [email protected]
• Paradigm CapitalminorOthersFinancial analyst coverage. Analyst: David Davidson, email: [email protected]
• Desala Petorca SPAstrategicStrategic or Co-development PartnerDesalinated water supply company providing water supply for the Vizcachitas Project via letter of intent. Removes need for continental water use in drought-affected area. Plan includes preferential water rates for community groups along pipeline route.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Antofagasta PLC: Major Chilean copper producer operating Los Pelambres, Centinela, and Antucoya. Provides benchmark for what a fully-developed Chilean copper asset at scale looks like; potential acquirer of Vizcachitas.
• Capstone Copper: Mid-tier copper producer operating mines in Chile (Mantos Blancos, Mantoverde) and recently acquired Coppernico Metals. Broad incumbent in Chilean copper space with operational cash flow that Los Andes aspires to.
• First Quantum Minerals: Major copper producer with Chilean operations (Cobre Panamá notwithstanding, and Tía María/Kra Pana projects). Major global copper developer with track record of acquiring and advancing large-scale copper projects.
• Lundin Mining: Mid-tier diversified miner with significant copper production from Chile (Caserones) and Candelaria. Established Chilean copper incumbent and indirect peer via investor overlap (Lundin family is also a key Filo Corp backer).

Direct peers

• Filo Corp: Copper-gold-silver developer with the Filo del Sol project on the Chile-Argentina border. Comparable single-asset, large-scale copper porphyry development with major-miner backing (BHP, Lundin).
• Taseko Mines: Mid-tier copper producer/developer with Florence Copper and Gibraltar operations. Comparable copper-focused company at similar development stage with North American listing.
• Solaris Resources: Copper developer advancing the Warintza copper porphyry project in Ecuador. Comparable as a single-asset copper porphyry developer at PFS/preliminary stage with strong institutional sponsorship.
• NGEx Minerals: Canadian-listed copper-gold developer with the Los Helados project in Chile/Argentina. Most directly comparable to Los Andes given similar South American porphyry copper-gold resource, single-asset focus, and PFS-stage development profile.
• SolGold: Copper-gold porphyry explorer/developer focused on the Cascabel project in Ecuador. Similar single-asset, large-scale porphyry copper-gold development model with major-miner backing (BHP, Newcrest).
• Hot Chili: Copper-gold developer advancing the Costa Fuego project in Chile. Directly comparable Chilean copper developer with similar scale, single-asset focus, and PFS-stage economics.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/LosAndesCopper
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/los-andes-copper-ltd-l41-

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Los Andes Copper