Chilean National Copper Corporation's Salvador Copper Mine Expansion Project officially started
The world’s largest copper producer, Chile’s National Copper Corporation (Codelco), spent US$1.4 billion to expand the Salvador copper mine. The project will extend the life of this old copper mine by 47 years and increase production by nearly 50%.
The Rajo Inca project (The Rajo Inca) will transform the El Salvador copper mine, which has been operating since 1959, from an underground mine to an open pit.
"So far, this mine has relied on three underground mines. Juan Benavides, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Chile’s National Copper Corporation, stated in a statement that the new El Salvador copper mine will be obtained from an open-pit mine. For all ore, the copper grade is 40% higher than the existing one, which will help increase production and productivity."
The mine is expected to run out of ore this year; however, the expansion plan approved in January this year allowed Chile's National Copper Corporation to obtain another 796 million tons of ore, with an estimated copper grade of 0.59% on average.
At present, the productivity of the El Salvador mine is the lowest among all deposits of the Chilean National Copper Corporation. Last year it produced only 50,600 tons, accounting for only less than 3% of the company's total output.
Through open-pit mining, the mine can produce 90,000 tons of copper per year. Full production of the new mine is planned to begin in the first half of 2023.
The Laho Inca project is one of the six major projects being promoted by the Chilean National Copper Corporation. This is part of its 10-year US$40 billion plan to upgrade its large-scale but depleted mine.
The new underground operation of the Chuquicamata mine (Chuquicamata) to which the company belongs will be put into operation in 2019; and the new layer of the underground El Teniente mine (El Teniente) will be put into operation in 2023.
Chile's National Copper Corporation will send all its profits to the country; the company has a large number of copper deposits, accounting for 10% of the world's known proven copper resources and possible copper reserves, accounting for about 11% of the world's annual copper output, and its output in 2020 will be 180 10,000 tons of copper metal.
Chilean National Copper Corporation operates 7 mines and 4 smelters in Chile.
Copper Pipe Fittings Supplier
Winland Metal supplies copper pipe and fittings for plumbing, HVACR, medical & gas, construction and other industires.
Email us to get free quotation
Copper Pipe Copper Fittings Copper Prices
