Chile Codelco OKs $875 mln for Chuqui overhaul

[Judi Lynn]

Chile Codelco OKs $875 mln for Chuqui overhaul
Wed Oct 19, 2011 3:29pm EDT

SANTIAGO, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Chile state copper giant
Codelco said on Wednesday it had approved investment
of $875 million for initial works to transform Chuquicamata,
the world's No.1 open-pit mine, into an underground operation.

Codelco said the authorization permits the start of the
initial work, which will be geared on exploiting reserves
currently buried under the deposit and will take about five
years, keeping on schedule with plans to finish the overhaul in
the first half of 2019.

The new underground operation is expected to produce
340,000 tonnes of copper annually in what was once the world's
top copper mine, but has been hit in past years by dwindling
ore grades. Chuquicamata's underground copper and molybdenum
reserves are estimated at around 1.7 billion tonnes, the
world's top copper producer said in a statement to Chile's
regulator.

"The underground operation is the only viable solution for
Chuquicamata ... as it will stop being economically profitable
at the end of this decade," Codelco said in the statement.

More:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/19/chile-codelco-chuqui-idUSN1E79I1K720111019

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