Chile's Codelco Starts Testing Rajo Inca Copper Mine Crusher

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Written by Amir Richani for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Codelco (Santiago, Chile), Chile's largest copper miner, said it has started testing one of the two crushers at the Rajo Inca mine project.

The Rajo Inca project will extend the Salvador mine's life for more than 40 years and increase its production capacity by 40%, based on the company's previous production volumes.

Codelco will test more than 700 pieces of equipment related to the project, progressively allowing the company to put the mine in operation by the end of this year.

In the next few weeks, the second crushing unit also will be tested, followed by the processes of grinding and floating of the concentrator plant.

"Compliance with this phase is part of the process of moving Rajo Inca forward and commits us even more to our country and the Atacama Region," Christian Toutin, general manager of the Salvador Division, said in a company statement.

Rajo Inca is one of Codelco's structural projects, which are developments aimed at increasing the company's production and expanding the life of mines. Such projects have faced significant delays, leading to Codelco's lower production volumes in the last few years.

In 2023, Codelco produced 1.32 million metric tons of copper, and it only expects to return to its previous output of 1.7 million metric tons per year by 2030, following the completion of its structural projects.

Last year, the Salvador division produced 13,000 fine metric tons of copper, the smallest output of Codelco's mines.

According to the company's first-quarter report, Rajo Inca's development was 76.1% complete by the end of March, the second most advanced structural project after Traspaso Andina, which was 99.8% complete.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Metals & Minerals Project and Plant databases can click here for reports related to the Rajo Inca project and click here for the plant profile.

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