ZENITH took part in EXPONOR CHILE 2026, the biennial mining and energy exhibition held in Antofagasta, Chile. The show ran from 8 to 11 June 2026 at the AIA fairgrounds in Coloso, and the ZENITH team welcomed visitors at booth 353 for all four days.

EXPONOR is the main meeting point of the mining industry in northern Chile. Antofagasta is the centre of the country's copper production, and Chile is the world's largest copper producer. Alongside copper, the region also processes limestone, gypsum and other industrial minerals for the cement and construction sectors, which keeps grinding and crushing equipment in steady demand.

For ZENITH, the four days at the show were a chance to talk directly with the people who run the plants, rather than only through agents and distributors. Most visitors arrived with a specific project in mind and a set of numbers attached to it.

EXPONOR CHILE 2026 in numbers

The 2026 edition closed with record figures. According to the organiser:

• 1,382 exhibiting companies
• 60,000 visitors over the four days
• 36 countries represented, plus the European Union
• US$1.2 billion of projected business

Those figures place EXPONOR among the largest mining exhibitions in the world, and they explain why the show is a fixed date for suppliers who want to work in Latin America.

What ZENITH presented at booth 353

The booth panels covered the two halves of the ZENITH product range. On the crushing side, the C6X jaw crusher and the HPT cone crusher were presented as primary and secondary options for hard rock and ore. On the grinding side, the display covered the MTW European trapezium mill, the LM and LUM vertical roller mills, the XZM ultrafine mill and the ball mill, together with the complete powder production line that ZENITH builds around them.

The EPC panel drew the most questions. Many visitors were not shopping for a single machine but for a complete plant: feed preparation, grinding, classification, dust collection, storage and the electrical control system, delivered under one contract and commissioned on site.

What customers asked about

Three subjects came up again and again during the four days.

Fineness and capacity together. Visitors usually arrived with two numbers: the target fineness and the required output in tonnes per hour. The two are linked, and the largest machine in the range is not always the cheapest answer. In several cases the better fit was a mill one size larger running at a lower speed, or a two-stage arrangement, rather than a single bigger unit.

Dust control and water use. Northern Chile is one of the driest regions on earth, so water for dust suppression is expensive and sometimes simply not available. That pushes operators towards dry collection instead of wet suppression. The ZENITH grinding circuit already runs under negative pressure with a pulse dust collector, which suits those conditions well.

Spare parts and service response. Mining in northern Chile happens far from the main industrial centres, so the time needed to get a grinding roller or a set of wearing parts to site matters as much as the price of the mill itself. Most conversations ended with questions about parts availability, delivery times and on-site commissioning support.

One small detail on the counter said a lot about the visitors: next to the brochures and a Chinese folding fan, a stand held the Chilean and Chinese flags side by side.

About ZENITH

ZENITH is a Chinese mining machinery manufacturer founded in 1987. The company designs and builds crushing and grinding equipment and delivers complete powder production plants, with capacities from 0.5 t/h to over 100 t/h and finished fineness from coarse 200 mesh up to ultrafine 2500 mesh. Its equipment is used in mineral powder, refractory materials, glass and ceramics, paints and coatings, desulfurization agents and solid waste recycling.

ZENITH has supplied grinding plants to customers in Africa, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East, South America and Oceania. The company handles process design, equipment manufacturing, installation, commissioning and operator training as a single package.

After the show

EXPONOR CHILE 2026 confirmed what the last few years have already shown: demand in Latin America is moving from single machines towards complete, turnkey grinding plants, and buyers are paying close attention to dust control, energy consumption and the availability of spare parts.

Customers who could not attend the show are welcome to send us the raw material, the target fineness and the required capacity, and our engineers will come back with a process recommendation and an equipment selection. You can reach us at [email protected] or on WhatsApp at +8618037697586.