Santiago, Jan. 27, Ivan Arriagada, president of Antofagasta, a Chilean copper miner, said Sunday it was evaluating a new concentrator at Centinela, costing about $3 billion.

Antofagasta’s copper production grew by 3% to 725,300 tons last year, allowing the company to weigh potential expansion and upgrading projects, it said.

Arriagada said, “The best option is to build a new concentrator in Centinela, and the project is in the feasibility stage.” It adds that the project costs between $2.7 billion and $3 billion.

Antofagasta had expected copper production to rise to 750,000-790,000 tons this year.