Market Development

Codelco analyses and monitors the copper market and its medium and longterm prospects, through market development initiatives. At the same time, the Marketing Vice-Presidency complements the annual sales task of Codelco’s production and product portfolio, by permanently observing the metal market trends and new regulations.

Thereby substitution threats are detected, the emergence of market access restrictions; and also the development of innovative and profitable projects, that use copper in new applications and improve people’s quality of life.

 

International Copper Association – ICA

The International Copper Association (ICA) represents most of the world’s largest copper production, smelting and refining companies. Its goal is to promote and defend the copper market.

Currently the ICA has 36 member companies and it works with more than 350 additional members on different projects in more than 60 countries.

Since it was founded in 1989, Codelco has had a leading role in ICA; it has participated in the Board of Directors and the committees that guide work programmes focused on the efficient use of resources and compliance of such programmes.

In 2010, ICA focused on developing projects associated with the promotion and defence of the use of copper, and the creation and marketing of new technologies that positively impact the use of copper.

A key event in 2010 was the launch of the Antimicrobial Copper Cu+ brand, for copper touch surfaces; and the new website www.antimicrobialcopper.org.

ICA registered in the EU REACH dossier (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemical Substances) copper and intermediate products, in conformity with the European regulations to enter products into the region. It developed a chemical safety report which assessed the products effect on the environment and human health. Hence, it successfully completed the registration stage, which involved three years of joint effort of key stakeholders in the copper industry, led by ICA.

An intense programme was also undertaken to set out the 2012-2016 Strategic Plan, which will be completed in October 2011, with the final approval of the Board. The new strategy will particularly focus on external funding, sustainability, energy, antimicrobial copper and selection and management of project portfolio.

 

International Molybdenum Association – IMOA

Codelco has been a member of the International Molybdenum Association (IMOA), since it was founded in 1989. IMOA’s budget is approximately US$ 3 million.

In 2010, Codelco was no longer chair of IMOA, which it presided for three years, with major progress in all its initiatives, such as:

• Implementation of a new strategic plan for the period 2010-2014.
• Development of a new mission, vision and values.
• Completion of REACH registration, which covered 11 substances associated with molybdenum and widely used substances in Europe. The process included a complete risk assessment of molybdenum and its effect on human health and the environment. This will permit the industry to proactively address new worldwide regulatory processes.
• Completion of guidelines in different languages for new labelling of molybdenum by-products, in keeping with the requirements set by the new UN legislation on Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP).
• Elimination of molybdenum from the list of substances that could form part of the new European Union regulations on more complex and hazardous substances for human health and the environment.
• First seminar on the future use of molybdenum was held in Chile, together with Comotech, a Codelco subsidiary, and Universidad de Chile.

 

New reach regulations

In November 2010, Codelco met the requirements set out in REACH, in order to market its products in the region. The Company registered copper cathodes, fire-refined copper, roasted molybdenite, concentrates and anode slime.

In addition to meeting the registration deadlines, Codelco submitted to the European Chemical Agency a series of studies on potential risks to human health and the environment associated with the registered products, as well as the corresponding control measures. These studies were conducted jointly with the members of the copper and molybdenum consortiums that include the world’s major mining companies.

This research will enable Codelco to have valuable scientific knowledge base on the effects of copper and molybdenum on the environment, information that can also be used in future regulatory processes both in Chile and overseas.

 

Product Classification and Labelling

The European Union has implemented a new classification and labelling system for hazardous chemical substances, known as Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP Regulation). The system is aligned with Globally Harmonised Systems (GHS) which is sponsored by the United Nations.

For all substances registered in REACH, Codelco had to submit to the European Chemical Agency a CLP proposal and implement labelling and the corresponding safety data sheets, whenever required. The proposals were prepared together with the other members of the REACH copper and molybdenum consortiums.

During 2010, Codelco also began to label anode slimes and molybdenite concentrates to comply with this labelling system. Safety data sheets were generated, subject to the new format required by the European Union.

 

INCuBA S.A.

INCuBA S.A., a Codelco subsidiary, was created as an instrument to invest in profitable projects and initiatives that have an impact on the demand for copper or molybdenum; that it has a country impact or interest; and that generates an attractive value proposal for private entrepreneurs or firms.

In 2010, some of the key projects managed by INCuBA were:

 

Ecosea Farming S.A.

Company that leases copper alloy farming systems to the aquaculture sector; it marketed more than 60 fish farming systems in Chile in 2010.

 

Public Health

This initiative focused on developing products for hospitals, clothing and public transport areas (Santiago Metro). These advances use copper fibre and copper alloy materials. In this respect, an agreement was entered into with Monarch, a Chilean company, to produce and launch in 2011 a line of socks with copper fibre as a bactericide.

These projects aim to increase, directly and indirectly, the demand for copper, by approximately 50,000 tonnes per annum.

 

Copper for Energy – C4E

This consortium was created with the support of Innova Chile, an innovation programme implemented by Corfo (economic development agency), and it is formed by ICA, Fundación Chile, Universidad de Chile and Codelco. Its objective is to support technological innovation projects, intensive use of copper and enable energy efficiency improvements; and also make viable the generation and use of non-conventional renewable energies.

Some of the 2010 initiatives are C4Water (copper for water), that offers combined solutions of solar power generation and water treatment, whether desalination for human consumption or mine waste treatment; and C4Heat (copper for heat), to improve energy efficiency of heat exchangers, solving the corrosion problem which prevented the use of copper in these applications.

 

Bactericidal properties of copper

2010 saw the successful completion of Corfo’s Innova Chile project on the development of a local capacity and knowledge platform to create new products that use the antimicrobial properties of copper. This initiative was supported by ICA (through Procobre Chile), Universidad de Chile (through UNTEC) and Codelco.

The clinical trial of the use of copper on contact surfaces was carried out on half the Critical Patient Units at the Hospital del Cobre in Calama; the results demonstrated the substantial bactericidal effect of copper, by reducing major pathogens by more than 90 percent.

The enormous potential of antimicrobial copper applications led ICA to register worldwide the Antimicrobial Copper Cu+ brand, in order to have an emblem that certifies the bactericidal properties of copper or copper alloys, registered in the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), under contact surfaces.

The brand will be available in the near future to manufacturers of semi-copper products and finished copper products, prior registration and signing of the terms and conditions of use.

In May 2010, Codelco coated with Cu+ certified antimicrobial copper, high contact surfaces in the public areas at its Head Office, such as handrails, handles, public service desks and lift rails. Thereby, Codelco delivered the first building in Santiago protected with Cu+ Antimicrobial Copper. Codelco expects this initiative to be applied in other public and private buildings for the benefit of people’s health.

Another initiative is a pilot project with Metro S.A., that installed handrails made out of a copper-zinc alloy at the Santiago Bueras station on the new Maipú line of Santiago Metro. The copper- zinc handrails, apart from their aesthetic contribution, will also help to mitigate the transfer of pathogens by direct contact between people who use this public transport.