Stock market players have long been watching foreign assets of KGHM Polska Miedź with interest, and the latest news from Chile will certainly heat up the trading floor at Książęca.
Chile’s diamond in the crown of the Polish giant
The Polish copper powerhouse, controlling 55% of the shares in the Sierra Gorda project, together with Australian mining partner South32 Ltd, has made a key decision that will lock in strategic production ambitions for the next decade.
This involves an amount of 725 million USD in real terms, which from 1 July 2026 will fund the construction of a modern fourth grinding line and the expansion of flotation and crushing infrastructure.
For investors this is a clear and unmistakable signal that KGHM does not intend to simply drift on the wave of high copper prices, but to realistically and aggressively scale its business.
Sierra Gorda, which has so far processed about 48 million tons of ore per year, will jump to an impressive 60 million tons. This is a massive increase in processing capacity of equal 25%, which in the world of large-scale mining means a spectacular move into a completely new weight class.
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Algorithms, gaming and the hunger for red metal
Why is this investment fundamentally important for the technology sector? The answer lies in global megatrends that drive the modern economy. The AI revolution requires gigantic infrastructure, and modern data centers consume huge amounts of energy and require extremely advanced cooling systems.
The heart of all these integrated circuits is kilometers of copper wires of the highest purity. The same is true in gaming: the new generation of advanced consoles (upcoming PlayStation 6 and Xbox’s Project Helix) and powerful graphics cards that drive digital entertainment rely on components in which copper plays a key role.
By increasing production capacity in South America, the company becomes a key, even indispensable element of the global technology supply chain. The completion of the expansion is planned for the end of 2029, and full operational capacity will be reached in the second half of 2030.
At that time, the average annual payable copper production will jump by about 20%, bringing a proportional increase in the extraction of valuable accompanying metals.
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Cost cutting at Atacama
The financing will not heavily burden the group’s balance sheet. Funds will come entirely from current operating cash flows of Sierra Gorda and optimally selected debt instruments. The key to success is the maximum use of the already existing, powerful water and energy infrastructure of the mine, which drastically reduces the initial costs of the entire project.
The most important information for shareholders, however, is the forecasted reduction in the unit cost C1. The ability to acquire raw material at a lower cost is a powerful margin shield for KGHM. The company generated consolidated revenues of 36.37 billion PLN in 2025, and the Chilean project proves that the appetite for further growth is not diminishing.
As Anna Sobieraj-Kozakiewicz, KGHM vice‑president for foreign assets, points out, this decision significantly strengthens the company’s position on the global commodity arena. The most interesting thing is that this is only the beginning.
The project perfectly aligns with recent discoveries in the Catabela Northeast exploration area. The potential of that deposit allows realistic thinking about a significant extension of the mine’s life.
Despite such positive information, KGHM shares fell by a symbolic 0,78% to the level of 328,65 PLN at the market close on Wednesday, 1 July.
Chart. KGHM Polska Miedź share price
Source: TradingView.
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Source: StockWatch.
