The International Copper Association (ICA) kicked off CESCO Week in Santiago, Chile, with ICA President Juan Ignacio Diaz participating in a panel hosted by the Colorado School of Mines.
The discussion explored the region’s strategic role in enabling global megatrends such as artificial intelligence, electrification, and emerging technologies including quantum computing.
During the panel, Juan Ignacio emphasized why copper remains essential to the energy transition, highlighting its unmatched efficiency as a non-precious conductor of heat and electricity, its full recyclability without loss of performance, and the resilience and geographic diversity of global copper value chains.
With established copper-producing nations across the Western Hemisphere — including Chile, Peru, Canada, Mexico, and the United States — alongside emerging producers such as Argentina, the Americas are expected to play a defining role in the future of critical mineral supply chains. Participants also stressed the importance of advancing project development efficiently to help meet growing global demand.
ICA extends its thanks to the Colorado School of Mines and fellow panelists Jaime E. Sepúlveda of Grupo CAP, Jennifer Tong of CRU Communities, and Ian Lange of Colorado School of Mines for the engaging discussion.
