Name: Escondida mine.

Location: The mine is located in the Atacama desert, in northern Chile.

Controlling Company: BHP Billiton owns 57.5% of Minera Escondida Limitada (MEL), which is the operator of the mine; Rio Tinto 30%; and JECO Corporation consortium, comprising Mitsubishi, JX Nippon Mining & Metals 10%, and JECO2 2.5%.

Brief History: The construction of the Escondida mine was completed in 1990. Sulphide leach copper production started in 2006.

Brief Description: In terms of production, Escondida is the largest copper mine in the world. It features two opencut pits, which currently supply the Laguna Seca and Los Colorados concentrator plants, the recently commissioned Organic Growth Project 1 (OGP1) and two leaching operations (oxide and sulphide).

Products: Copper concentrate.

Geology/Mineralisation: The Escondida and Escondida Norte mineral deposits are adjacent, but distinct, supergene-enriched porphyry copper deposits.

Reserves: Proven and probable reserves of oxide as at June 30, 2015, were estimated at 147-million tonnes, grading 0.76% copper. Proven and probable reserves of sulphide were estimated at 5.61-billion tonnes, grading 0.67% copper. Proven and probable reserves of sulphide leach were estimated at 2.64-billion tonnes, grading 0.45% copper.

Resources: Oxide mineral resources as at June 30, 2015, were estimated at 213-million tonnes, grading 0.68% copper. Mixed mineral resources were estimated at 203-million tonnes, grading 0.53% copper. Sulphide mineral resources were estimated at 18.8-billion tonnes, grading 0.54% copper.

Mining Method: Opencut.

Major Infrastructure and Equipment: Escondida includes three concentrator plants that extract copper concentrate from sulphide ore using flotation extraction, two solvent-extraction plants that produce copper cathode, two 168 km concentrate pipelines, a 167 km water pipeline and port facilities at Coloso, Antofagasta.

The nominal milling capacity is estimated at 153.7-million tonnes a year. The nominal capacity of the tank house is estimated at 350 000 t/y of copper cathode.

Prospects: The OGP1 is a new concentrator with a 152 000 t/d plant. BHP Billiton expects this project to provide additional processing capacity and allow access to high-grade ore. The project was completed in May 2015 and is currently in the commissioning and ramp-up phase.

Contact: Media relations for the UK and Americas Ruban Yogarajah.

Contact Details:
BHP BIlliton,
tel +44 207 802 4033,
email Ruban.Yogarajah@bhpbilliton.com, and
website http://www.bhpbilliton.com.