Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, centre, is seen at a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Santiago to mark the opening of the Caserones copper mine, which is located 4 000 m above sea level in the Chilean Andes. The mine will supply copper concentrate to Japanese copper smelter Pan Pacific Copper, which built it. Caserones, which is situated 62 km south-east of Copiapo, in the Atacama Desert, has the capacity to produce 10% of Japan’s yearly imported volume of copper concentrate. Pan Pacific, controlled by JX Nippon Mining, owns 77% of the asset and Japanese trading house Mitsui the remaining 23%.