Camino Minerals Makes Senior Management Appointments to Advance Its Puquios Copper Project in Chile
[Click image to enlarge]
Camino Minerals has made key appointments to its management and operational team to support the advancement of the Puquios Copper Project in Chile toward construction and for corporate development. These appointments will further strengthen the company’s operational, financial, and strategic capabilities as it transitions towards development and production in Chile and corporate growth.
The company along with its partner Nittetsu Mining has appointed Marcelo Bruna as chief executive officer of Cuprum SpA, the established Chilean company to advance the development of the Puquios copper mine, a 50/50 joint venture with Nittetsu. Based in Santiago, Marcelo will manage the Chilean operations. Marcelo is a senior mining executive with more than 30 years of experience in project development and operations. He has overseen more than $2.5 billion in mining investments and brings strong expertise in delivering large-scale copper projects through construction and operations.
In addition, Camino Minerals has established a new finance team based in Santiago, Chile, to support the company’s operations. The team will play a key role in advancing project-level financial planning, supporting debt financing initiatives, and general joint venture accounting functions as the company moves towards the planned commencement of construction of the Puquios copper mine in mid-2026. A finance package with a Japanese lender is expected in mid-year 2026 to begin construction of the copper mine.
The company has also engaged Darryl Steane as a corporate development consultant. Steane will support Camino’s strategic initiatives, including supporting technology development and potential expansion of Puquios copper mine, and continue to build the company’s portfolio of copper assets. Steane is a mining executive with more than 20 years of global experience in corporate development, project financing, and M&A. He has held senior roles at BHP and South32 and served as the inaugural president and CEO of Ambler Metals copper project in Alaska and advancing large-scale resource development initiatives in North America.
“Marcelo Bruna knows the Puquios Mine, having worked with Denham Capital, and has very deep experience constructing and operating mines; he has most recently operated an SXEW copper mine in Chile, similar to the Puquios mine process. Camino and its partner Nittetsu Mining met with our potential lender in Japan in April, and our financial package is on track to target the summer for initial drawdown,” said Jay Chmelauskas, CEO of Camino.
“We have further bolstered our finance and human resources team in Chile with additional hires in our offices in Santiago. In April, the Puquios project was visited by senior Camino and Nittetsu management to inspect progress of early works and to plan for mine construction. We are also pleased to have Darryl Steane join our Vancouver-based team to support management with his extensive copper mining background and recent commercial experience with new leaching technologies, for the next phase of growth at Camino,” added Chmelauskas.
Camino Minerals is a discovery and development stage copper exploration company. The company has entered into a joint venture partnership with Nittetsu Mining Co. to advance the construction-ready Puquios copper project in Chile toward development and production. Camino is advancing its IOCG Los Chapitos copper project located in Peru through to resource delineation and development, and to add new discoveries. Camino has also permitted the Maria Cecilia copper porphyry project for exploration discovery drilling to add to its NI43-101 resources. In addition, Camino has increased its land position at its copper and silver Plata Dorada project. Camino seeks to acquire a portfolio of advanced copper assets that have the potential to deliver copper into an electrifying copper intensive global economy.
Be in-the-know when you’re on-the-go!
FREE eNews delivery service to your email twice-weekly. With a focus on lead-driven news, our news service will help you develop new business contacts on an on-going basis.
CLICK HERE to register your email address.
Copyright © 2026 Mining Connection LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission.
For licensing permission, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
