Chile’s state mining company Enami has received multiple financing offers for its $1.7 billion copper smelter project and plans to name the structuring banks for the deal as early as next week, even amid a depressed market. CEO Ivan Mlynarz stated in an interview that the company has received “very encouraging” preliminary financing proposals. Additionally, Enami is analyzing six indicative offtake bids from 17 companies that expressed interest in purchasing finished copper and financing the project.

The project involves constructing a new smelter and refinery at the site of a shuttered plant in northern Chile. Participants are taking a long-term view, given the current excess smelting capacity led by China. Mlynarz made these comments from Shanghai during the Asia Copper Week conference, where miners and smelters are negotiating rock-bottom fees for converting imported ore into metal.

“The imbalance is in China, but the copper concentrate is in Chile and Peru,” Mlynarz noted. “Our proximity to deposits and geopolitical factors are key. Current market conditions are temporary.” The six indicative offtake proposals vary widely in size and the share of future production they are willing to take. Separately evaluated financial institutions have offered structures that could includ...