Diversified miner Teck Resources has withdrawn the environmental permit application for the Quebrada Blanca Mill Expansion (QBME) project, in Chile.

The withdrawal follows feedback from regulators regarding the company’s plans for the project, which is a proposed future expansion of the Quebrada Blanca (QB) mine throughput.

“This is part of the ongoing regulatory process, and withdrawing now will allow time to incorporate feedback and to further optimise the scope of the project,” Teck said in a statement on Tuesday.

To submit a revised application would add about 12 months to the overall regulatory process from the date of submission. However, Teck pointed out that it would not sanction the QBME project before it had completed the ramp-up of the existing QB asset to full capability.

QBME entails an increase in concentrator throughput of about 50% with the addition of one identical semi-autogenous grinding line.

On Tuesday, Teck also updated the capital cost guidance of the QB project to between $8.6-billion and $8.8-billion, from the previously disclosed $8-billion to $8.2-billion.

The cost increase is attributed to delays in construction of the molybdenum plant and port offshore facilities, slower-than-planned demobilisation progress and contract claims risks.

The molybdenum plant is expected to be completed by the end of the fourth quarter and port offshore facilities will be completed in the first quarter of 2023. The existing shipping arrangements are expected to provide adequate capacity for shipping product through the first quarter.

By the end of the third quarter, the QB2 project has been operating consistently at 70% of design capacity. Teck expects to be operating at design throughput and recovery rates by year-end, although production will be at the lower-end of the 2023 production guidance of 80 000 t to 100 000 t.