Codelco to Move Forward with Gabriela Mistral Phase II

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Chilean state-owned miner Codelco (Santiago) has recently approved Phase II of the Gabriela Mistral copper project, with an estimated investment of $202 million.

The Gabriela Mistral mine, formerly known as Gaby, is located near the city of Sierra Gorda, in the Antofagasta region of northern Chile. Phase II will allow the mine to reach a production capacity of 170,000 tons per year of copper, by incorporating a third line of secondary and tertiary crushers and increasing the heap leach pad area by 50%. Construction is expected to start in March 2009 with project completion set for the third quarter of 2010. SNC-Lavalin Chile S.A. (Santiago, Chile), a division of SNC-Lavalin Group Incorporated (TSX:SNC) (Montreal, Canada), was awarded the engineering, procurement and construction management contract for the project.

The mine is operated by Minera Gaby S. A., which is wholly owned by Codelco. Gabriela Mistral started operation in May 2008, after a 28-month construction period and a total investment of $1.024 billion. The mine will produce 100,000 tons of copper in 2008, ramping up to 150,000 tons of copper in 2009. This is the first mine to operate with completely automated trucks, using a fleet of 11 driverless 930 E-4 trucks provided by Komatsu Limited.

Codelco is the world's largest copper producer, holding about 20% of the world's copper reserves, and is also a world leader in molybdenum production and sales.

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