Canadian export credit agency EDC has provided a US$65mn loan to Chilean mining company Minera Los Pelambres (MLP) to promote the purchase of Canadian goods and services.

EDC’s financing is part of several new corporate loan facilities totalling US$750mn that were provided to MLP between December 2009 and January 2010.

MLP’s copper mine is located 200km north of Santiago, near two other mines operated by MLP’s majority owner Antofagasta, creating additional opportunities for Canadian suppliers serving other projects in the region.

Canada is the largest investor in Chile’s mining sector and the third largest foreign investor in that country. EDC’s financial services to Canadian exporters and investors in Chile have quadrupled in value since 2002, from C$300mn to C$1.2bn in 2009, involving some 300 Canadian firms. Since mid-2008, EDC has had a representation in Santiago, Chile, to build business and financial relationships that help facilitate trade for Canadian companies.

“Chile offers a politically-stable and economically-growing market for Canadian exporters and investors,” says Benoit Daignault, senior vice-president, business development, EDC. “This new EDC loan will help more Canadian companies develop or expand business in the mining sector, which is a key industry for both our countries.”