Chile's State copper firm outlines lifeline plan for Salvador mine
SANTIAGO – Chile's State copper miner, Codelco, has submitted an environmental impact assessment of its plans to overhaul its aging Salvador deposit that would sharply increase its production and extend its life by 40 years.
The Rajo Inca project would convert the existing mine, which has been in operation since 1959 and is due to run dry in its current state in 2021, to an opencast mine from an underground one.
Codelco said the mine's overhaul would involve an investment of about $1-billion, and increase production to 90 000 t of refined copper from the 62 000 t produced last year. It said the new mine should be operational by 2021.
"Through various drilling campaigns, we have identified copper reserves of 900-million tonnes of ore, with average ore grades of 0.59%, which would prolong the useful life of the division and its operational continuity for at least four decades," Codelco CEO Nelson Pizarro said in a statement emailed to Reuters.
Codelco, the world’s largest copper producer, plans to raise up to $1-billion next year to help finance a $39-billion, 10-year overhaul of its existing mines, chairperson Juan Benavides told Reuters in an interview earlier this month.
The company has long battled to keep a lid on costs at Salvador, which has the lowest productivity of any of the copper miner´s deposits, accounting for just under 4% of its total production last year.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation