In November 2018, Water. Desalination + reuse (Faversham House) reported that Capstone Mining Corporation was reassessing its stake in Santo Domingo, a Chilean copper, iron and gold project, after a technical report. Plans included two open pit mines near Diego de Almagro (Atacama), at up to 1,280 metres altitude, and a concentrator using desalinated water for flotation. The desalination plant was planned 41 kilometres north of Caldera at Punta Roca Blanca, with a pipeline and a new port. Capstone owned 70 per cent and Korea Resources Corporation 30 per cent.
The report showed that mining projects in the Atacama were then planning desalinated seawater as a fixed part of their infrastructure, with pipelines from the coast up to the mines.