In April, an environmental court in Antofagasta ruled the project complied with regulations and presented all information required for its evaluation and sent it back to the regulator to review. The open pit project has an anticipated lifespan of 27 years and would produce 12 million tonnes of iron concentrate and 150,000t of copper concentrate per year.

"We reiterate that the Dominga project will add 56 ships per year at a distance of 30km from the Humboldt Penguin National Reserve in circumstances that currently transit more than 2,000 ships without any restriction. Dominga is a modern project, designed according to the most demanding world standards, considering the continuous improvement of technology and its processes, in addition to sustainability as the cornerstone of the company," said the company.

The mining project will use desalinated seawater in its processes and will also provide water to communities in the area. The port will be developed to handle the export of other minerals produced in the region. The company also contemplates building a 200MW solar voltaic plant to assure a supply of renewable energy for it.

The project had faced numerous challenges from environmental groups who believe it will impact ecologically sensitive areas.