Antofagasta Los Pelambres Copper Mine Celebrated 25 Years of Mining

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Antofagasta plc. celebrated 25 years of operations at its flagship Los Pelambres copper mine in Coquimbo region of Chile- one of the largest copper mines in the world.

Since its start, the Los Pelambres mine has produced almost 8.5 million tonnes of copper, according to the data that is now accessible. Approximately 320,000 tonnes were produced in the preceding year.

The company announced completion of its first phase of expansion in 2024. This comprised of construction of a desalination plant and water pipeline from the coast to the El Mauro tailings storage facility, and installation of additional mills and flotation cells aimed at expanding the concentrator plant.

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Since then, the business has started construction on an expanded desalination facility and a new concentrate pipeline via a less-traveled route. The business reported that both of these projects are progressing according to plan and within budget. It has done this by deploying about 3,000 contractors to different locations.

Over the next two to three years, a trolley-assist system that runs solely on renewable energy is anticipated to be tested. It is expected that this will lower the amount of diesel that haul trucks use at the mine, which will lower expenses and emissions.