Codelco to Increase Extraction at Radomiro Tomic

The world’s leading copper producer, has submitted a $300 million proposal to the Environmental Impact Evaluation System (Spanish acronym SEIA) to expand its mineral extraction plant at the Rodomiro Tomic mine in northern Chile, according to El Mercurio. The Rodomiro Tomic open-pit mine belongs to the company’s largest group of plants, the Codelco Norte division, which also includes the Chuquicamata mine. The Codelco Norte division produced 896,000 metric tons (mt) of copper last year.

Codelco is planning to build a new system of grinding equipment and conveyor belts at the Rodomiro Tomic mine to transfer sulphur-treated minerals from the plant to a concentration facility near Chuquicamata. The plan consists of mining sulphide and oxide ore. The sulphide will go to the concentrator at Codelco’s Chuquicamata mine through 2012, moving by truck from 2008-09 and via conveyer belt from 2010-12. Radomiro Tomic will send enough ore by truck for the Chuquicamata plant to fill its present 182,000 t/d throughput capacity, later sending the plant up to 100,000 t/d from 2010-12. As for Radomiro Tomic’s future beyond 2012, Codelco will evaluate the mine plan at a later date.

As featured in Womp 08 Vol 3 - www.womp-int.com