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Antamina had announced in April an expansion project that includes investments of $1.6 billion to extend the mine’s useful life, currently set to expire in 2028.

“In an optimistic scenario, we should have the approval by the end of this year or the beginning of the next,” Antamina CEO Victor Gobitz said late on Monday, adding that the approval would give the base metals miner a green light for its planned investments.

Antamina is co-owned by Glencore PLC, BHP Group Ltd, Teck Resources Ltd and Mitsubishi Corp. Peru is the world’s second-largest producer of copper.

Gobitz said Antamina is waiting for a response from local authority Senace to the company’s request to modify its environmental impact assessment, which currently allows for the mine to operate only until 2028.

He said that Antamina, as part of that process, is currently carrying out a third and final “public participation” with residents of the northern Andean region of Ancash, where the mine is located.

“The operational footprint remains the same and production would not change,” he said.