Codelco to Invest $250 Million to Increase Extraction at Radomiro Tomic Copper Mine

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Chilean state-owned miner Codelco (Santiago), the world's largest copper producer, will invest $250 million at its Radomiro Tomic open pit mine located 25 kilometers north of Calama, Chile. The project entails the construction of a new rotary primary crusher, an 8 kilometer-long conveyor belt system and a 150,000 tons capacity stockpile, which will enable the company to mine and process sulfide copper ore. The sulfide ore will be transported from the mine site via the new conveyor belt to Codelco's Chuquicamata concentrator plant for processing. Kvaerner Chile S. A. (Santiago), a subsidiary of Norwegian Aeker Solutions A.S.A. (Lysaker), was awarded an Engineering, Procurement and Construction Management contract for this project. Codelco submitted environmental studies to the Chilean authorities last March, and as soon as the permits are granted, construction will start with a total duration of about 12 to 16 months. Project completion is expected by the first quarter of 2010.

With the implementation of this project, both oxide and sulfide ores will be mined at Radomiro Tomic. According to the company, the removal of oxide ores brought to surface the sulfide ores, making the prestripping work easier. By exploiting sulfide ore, Codelco will overcome the challenge of lower grade mineral ores and lower production of the Chuquicamata open pit in a period of booming metals demand.

Radomiro Tomic, along with Chuquicamata, are part of the North Division of Codelco, which produces about 940 tons of electro-refined and electrowinned copper cathodes with 99.99% purity. Besides the Radomiro Tomic project, the North Division is also advancing a project at Chuquicamata, involving a large-scale transition from open pit mining to underground mining in order to extend mine life by exploiting the deep resources of the orebody at a cost of $834 million. For details, see related December 20, 2007 article - Codelco To Go Underground at Chuquicamata Copper Mine.

View Plant Profile - 1041711 1047830
View Project Report - 70000238

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is a marketing information service specializing in industrial process, energy and financial related markets with products and services ranging from industry news, analytics, forecasting, plant and project databases, as well as multimedia services.