CORDOBA, ARGENTINA--July 8, 2008--Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Antofagasta Minerals S.A. (Santiago, Chile), the mining arm of Antofagasta plc ( LSE:ANTO ) (London), is expected to select a construction firm by the end of August to build a processing plant for the Esperanza copper and gold project in the Atacama Desert near the city of Sierra Gorda in Chile. Aker Solutions (OSL:AKSO) (Santiago) and two other firms have been awarded one of several other contracts for the project.