A&O Shearman advises Pucobre and RCF in USD375 million loan for El Espino copper project in Chile

The loan agreement was announced on January 29, 2025, by El Espino SpA. El Espino is expected to begin operating in 2027 and to produce 26,000 tons of copper and 13,000 ounces of gold annually for approximately 18 years.

“We were very pleased to have been able to work with the excellent teams at Pucobre and RCF on the financing of the El Espino mine,” said energy, natural resources and infrastructure (ENRI) partner Cynthia Urda Kassis. “The transaction was particularly significant given that it is the first greenfield copper project to be constructed in Chile in ten years.”

The A&O Shearman team that advised Pucobre and RCF was led by ENRI partners Cynthia Urda Kassis and Robert O’Leary, who were supported by ENRI associates Krystyna Lopez, Aigul Gaisin and Vicky Cheng. The team also included global financial markets (GFM) partner Geoffrey Goldman, GFM consultant Alessandro Storchi and GFM associate Derrick Vallejos, litigation and investigations partner Paula Anderson, litigation and investigations associate Alicia Rose, tax associate Andrew Meiser, environmental and sanctions partner Jake Pratt and environmental and sanctions associate Maria Christopher Bell as well as the Tyndall Group as financial advisor and Larrain y Asociados Abogados as Chilean counsel.