Mission of the Construction Equipment Association visited Chile
British companies join trade mission to the Northern Chilean city of Copiapo to participate at the Atexpo Mining Exhibition.
Members of CEA trade mission at GREAT stand in Atexpo Mining Fair.
A trade mission led by the Construction Equipment Association (CEA) attended Atexpo Mining Exhibition from 11 to 12 November in Copiapo, Chile.
Copiapo is located in Chile’s Atacama region, one of the country’s most important mining areas with over USD 30 billion of planned investment over the coming years. major projects are located there, such as Pascua Lama (Barrick), El Morro (Goldcorp) and Relincho (Teck Resources). Other major mines in the region include Codelco Salvador, Kinross Maricunga, Candelaria, and several CAP Mineria operations.
The mission
Twelve British companies took part in the mission. Products and services offered by the companies ranged from dust control to electronic safety equipment, as well as heavy duty processing equipment and innovative flotation technology that reduce water and energy consumption. Other companies had wear and spare parts, and solutions to increase the life of tyres- both major costs in a mine. All in all each company can really contribute to solving at least one of Chile’s major challenges of productivity, environmental issues, water and energy use and cost control. The companies were well received by the Chilean market and all left with several leads to follow up and, where necessary, potential Chilean partners to help their entry into the local market.
UK trade and Investment (UKTI) arranged for companies to visit a plant run by state company Enami (National Mining Company). This was a great chance for companies to visit a working plant and to see an example of process used in Chile. Then on 11 and 12 November, the companies exhibited on the UKTI/CEA stand at Atexpo Mining Exhibition, a mining fair with 300 stands and over 10,000 visitors. As part of this event, UKTI Chile arranged for companies to participate in a ‘meet the buyer’ event, where companies had direct contact with purchasing managers from numerous local mines, many operated by multi-nationals. This was highly successful and a number of the UK companies are now already registered suppliers to those mines and one environmental company was even asked to do a site visit immediately and has already been asked to implement a pilot project.
As part of these activities, UKTI organised a seminar and networking reception to give the companies a chance to present their products and services to key decision makers in the Atacama region’s mining industry. Once again excellent contacts and leads were generated from this event.
Finally the mission returned to Santiago for meetings with the Chilean Construction Chamber and Sonami to gain further insight into developments in their sectors. Also, the companies had private meetings with potential clients- some facilitated by UKTI.
Overall, it was a very successful week. Companies left with leads, requests for proposals and good Chilean contacts. UKTI and the Embassy were able to reach out and engage with a major mining region. UKTI Chile expects several business wins to come out of the week.
Another highlight was the visit of Chile’s Mining Minister, Aurora Williams, to our stand, with her making companies feel very welcome.
The trade mission’s visit to Chile is part of the activities the British Embassy in Santiago is carriying out as part of the GREAT Month taking place during November in Chile.
Further information
The next major mining mission will be focused on the much larger Exponor event in Chile’s mining capital, Antofagasta, where UKTI will be organising a UK pavilion. For further details about this mission please contact Scott Bennett, UK Trade & Investment Mining Officer, British Embassy, Santiago.
For further information on trade with Chile, see our ‘Exporting to Chile guide or contact the UKTI team in Chile.
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