Codelco requests permit for $2.5bn Ministro Hales mine extension
SANTIAGO - Chile's State-owned Codelco, the world's largest copper producer, submitted on Tuesday a request for an environmental permit to extend the useful life of its Ministro Hales mine with a $2.5-billion investment.
The project aims to boost production capacity of copper concentrate from the current 700 000 metric tons a year to 830,000 tons. It also seeks to increase the mineral processing rate from an annual average of 57 000 tons a day to 65 000 tons a day.
The request said the project would extend operations by 30 years.
"(Ministro Hales) will maintain the currently approved production process, mineral extraction in an open pit mine and waste disposal in a dump, mineral processing in a concentrator plant, roasting of part of the concentrate produced and disposal of tailings," it added.
Various operating problems brought Codelco's production down to its lowest level in a quarter of a century in 2022. Ministro Hales, located in the northern city of Calama, produced 152 000 tons of copper in 2022.
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