Mina Ministro Hales

550,000 tpa

copper concentrate bearing 6% arsenic

444,000 tpa

copper calcine bearing 0.3% arsenic

183,000 tpa

increase in output

1,300 Mt

(0.96% Cu) of resources

Challenges

Develop a 50,000 tpd copper concentrator while concurrently executing various large projects with limited qualified workforce availability.
Provide solutions and coordinate interfaces between the new facilities and existing installations.
Sustain the implementation schedule and budget.
The plant's location, next to the city of Calama, was also a challenge.

Solutions

Developed the basic and detailed engineering, procurement, and site-support services for the greenfield conventional copper concentrator, the roaster peripheral facilities, and the plant-wide infrastructure.
Codelco representatives worked in close collaboration with our team, reviewing the incorporation of design features to provide high plant-availability and operations-workforce productivity.
Technical optimization of the exisiting concentrator plant resulted in improved availability and utilization.
Controlled mining and abatement systems for crushing and ore-handling facilities reduced dust emissions affecting the nearby Calama population.

Highlights

We were awarded the sole-source contract given our strong implementation-phase team and previous successful delivery during basic engineering.
Technical optimization of the concentrator plant has resulted in improved availability and utilization.
The controlled mining-and-abatement systems for crushing and ore-handling facilities reduced dust emissions affecting the Calama population.
Concentrator facility was delivered by Codelco on time and had a rapid start-up to full capacity.

”With this new operation we transition to more efficient and productive mining. Ministro Hales is our most productive asset, delivering 67 t of refined copper by person this first year of operation, 70% over the corporative value.”

Nelson Pizarro | CEO, Codelco

Project numbers

300 tpa of silver
1,300 Mt (0.96% Cu) of resources
289 Mt of reserves processed
164 tpa of calcine storage and truck loading facility
US$3.1 billion overall project CAPEX
41 month project implementation schedule