The mining sector has been making fewer headlines in the financial press than we were accustomed to 10 or 15 years ago. However, January saw the completion of the largest mining merger in the last twelve months, which also marks the entry of a new player into the Chilean mining sector.

This is Pan American Silver, a mining company with operations and projects in Peru, Argentina, Mexico, and Guatemala, which acquired Yamana Gold's Latin American operations for US$4.8 billion. Yamana has projects and operations in Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Nicaragua, and Mexico.

With this transaction, Pan American will add Yamana's portfolio of projects in Latin America, worth nearly US$10 billion, to its assets.This includes the US$400 million Agua de la Falda reopening project under study, located in Antofagasta, where it is a partner of Codelco. The bulk of Yamana's projects are located in Argentina.