VISIONS Magazine (September 2026 Edition)
Dos Amigos Opens a New Path for Copper Business
There are two ways to find an opportunity: wait for somebody to bring one to the table, or go looking before everybody else knows the opportunity exists. Sumitomo Corporation’s stake in the Dos Amigos copper-gold project in northern Chile is very much the latter.
Through a special purpose vehicle funded equally with G Mining Group, Sumitomo Corporation joined an approximately $48 million investment in Canadian mine developer Tintina Mines Limited. The SPV holds approximately 25% of Tintina, which owns 100% of Dos Amigos, for an effective Sumitomo Corporation interest of approximately 12.5%. In addition, the SPV holds warrants that provide the opportunity to increase its ownership position in the future. The figures tell only part of the story.
Dos Amigos, approximately 130 kilometers northeast of La Serena in Chile’s Atacama Region, is an open-pit copper-gold project whose 2026 Preliminary Economic Assessment identified approximately 101 million metric tons of measured and indicated resources, approximately 256 million metric tons inferred and a mine life of approximately 25 years.
“Two key factors made the Dos Amigos Project an attractive investment opportunity for Sumitomo Corporation: the high probability of advancing to development, and significant upside potential,” said Koji Watanabe, Sumitomo Corporation’s Head of Non-Ferrous Metals Business Development Unit.
“First, the project is located in Chile, one of the world’s most established mining jurisdictions, with a long history of supporting responsible mine development.”
“Second, Dos Amigos is located in a highly prospective copper district with considerable geological upside,” Watanabe said. “Our technical evaluation indicated that the resource base has the potential to expand further. The project also benefits from its low elevation and access to existing infrastructure, which are expected to simplify construction and contribute to a comparatively low capital intensity relative to many other copper development projects.”
Existing mining nearby, few population centers and conventional open-pit mining and flotation processing round out the profile.
What distinguishes Dos Amigos is not only what Sumitomo Corporation found, but how it found it. The project was identified and structured through G Mining Capital Inc., an upstream copper business development platform jointly established and operated by Sumitomo Corporation and the Gignac family, founder of G Mining Group. Renowned for its expertise in engineering, mine development, and construction, G Mining Group has built a strong track record of delivering mining projects on schedule and within budget. Drawing on the strengths of both organizations, Sumitomo Corporation and G Mining Group have worked closely together across opportunity sourcing, technical evaluation, transaction structuring and business development. Dos Amigos was largely unknown to the market when the partners found it.
“The complementary partnership between G Mining and Sumitomo Corporation has enhanced our ability to take a proactive approach that involves identifying the opportunity early, establishing a relationship with the owner, developing a value-enhancing business plan and execution strategy, and moving decisively to structure and execute the transaction,” Watanabe said.
Copper has long anchored Sumitomo Corporation’s mineral resources portfolio, built through stakes in Morenci, Northparkes, Cerro Verde, Candelaria and Quebrada Blanca. Market demands for increased electrification, renewable energy and digital infrastructure are raising its importance. Dos Amigos represents this proactive approach.
“Our ambition is to become a partner of choice in the copper industry, recognized not only for providing capital, but also for our abilities. We aim to continuously create, develop, and expand high-quality opportunities,” Watanabe said,” and we do that by leveraging our industry experience, global network, and trusted relationships across the mining sector.”
“As the mining industry has become increasingly competitive and complex, proactively creating opportunities has become more important than ever,” he continued. “The number of high-quality projects capable of advancing to production is limited, while demand for critical minerals such as copper continues to grow.”
Dos Amigos is a development project. Tintina’s financing will help advance it toward a final investment decision, and Sumitomo Corporation will evaluate its options as development progresses. Dos Amigos is only the beginning of a much larger growth journey.
“As we pursue future opportunities, we do not intend to limit ourselves to projects of a similar scale or stage to Dos Amigos,” Watanabe said. “Rather, we will take a broad and flexible approach, evaluating a wide range of opportunities where our capabilities can add value.”
For this team and SC in general, Dos Amigos is an early demonstration of what happens when the company uses its capital, experience, relationships and reach not to find its place in an opportunity, but to create one.
“Ultimately, success would mean not only growing a portfolio of attractive mineral assets,” Watanabe concluded, “but also establishing a virtuous cycle in which successful projects, trusted partnerships, and proven capabilities lead to the creation of new opportunities and long-term value creation.”
