Sierra Gorda, Chile
Photo by: KGHM
TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – The world’s largest silver and eighth-biggest copper producer KGHM this week started processing ore at its Sierra Gorda copper mine, in the Antofagasta region of Northern Chile.
The company on Thursday said it had completed the prestripping process and had launched critical processes such as crushing, grinding and flotation plants.
It has also built a 143 km seawater pipeline to supply a nearby 750 000 m³ pond.
The Sierra Gorda mine is the world’s seventh-largest copper project.
KGHM said it intended to boost mine output early next year to produce 120 000 t/y of copper, 50-million pounds a year of molybdenum and 60 000 oz/y of gold.
After the second phase had been completed, output would total about 220 000 t of copper, 25-million pounds of molybdenum and 64 000 oz of gold over its 20-year life.
"With production from Sierra Gorda, the weighted average cost of copper production in the KGHM group will decrease, thereby enhancing the company's operational security. This cost performance will be influenced by sales of Sierra Gorda's additional products, including gold and molybdenum, whose prices are at the moment almost one-fourth higher than originally planned,” KGHM executive VP and CFO Jaroslaw Romanowski said.
Sierra Gorda GM Maciej Sciazko added that pending resolution of the outstanding appeal to the Supreme Court on the Port of Antofagasta environmental permit, the project had put in place contingency arrangements.
"Half of the mine's copper production will be processed by Sumitomo Metal Mining, our partner in Sierra Gorda, at its smelters in Japan. The remaining copper production will be sold worldwide,” he noted.
The mine was expected to ship the first copper concentrate in September.