As part of the project, ITT will provide pumps to deliver filtered seawater from the Pacific ocean to the mine site, located 91 miles from the coast at an elevation of 7,550 ft above sea level. The ITT system will employ a total of 16 pumps at four pumping stations, each comprising four horizontal multi-stage pumps driven by 2,400- and 1,800-hp electric motors.

“In an area with virtually no rainfall, supplying a mine with enough water to support its operations is a challenge. This project is a significant milestone in meeting that need, and will showcase ITT’s reliability in the movement and treatment of water in extreme conditions,” said Ken Napolitano, president of ITT’s Industrial Process business. “As water scarcity continues, we anticipate more mining projects in Chile, Peru and other mining areas of the world will use seawater in this way.”

Antofagasta Minerals S.A., a subsidiary of London-based Antofagasta plc, began exploration of the Esperanza property in 1999. Previous drilling by Anglo American had indicated a resource containing 20 million mt of oxide ore grading 0.45% Cu and 19 million mt of sulphide ore at 0.55% Cu. In 2004, after 26,000 m of drilling, Antofagasta reported the property’s geological resources at 71 million mt of oxide ore grading 0.42% Cu with a 0.3% cutoff grade and 469 million mt of sulphide ore grading 0.63% Cu (0.3% cutoff grade) and 0.27 g/mt gold. As of yearend 2007, Antofagasta listed Esperanza’s ore reserves at 480 million mt of sulphide ore grading 0.57% Cu and 0.236 g/mt Au; resources were 1.1 billion mt of sulphide ore grading 0.45% Cu 119.6 million mt of oxides at 0.35% Cu plus gold, silver and minor molybdenum values.

Sixteen of ITT Industrial Products’ Goulds 3600 pumps—eight in five-stage configuration and eight in
four-stage form—will be installed in four pumping stations along the Esperanza seawater delivery pipeline.
(Photo courtesy of ITT Goulds Pumps)

Capital cost of Esperanza has been reported at $1.9 billion, not including working capital or financing costs. On April 24, Antofagasta plc said it had reached an agreement with Marubeni Corp. under which Marubeni would enter as an investment partner in the Sierra Gorda district by acquiring a 30% interest in both Minera Esperanza and Minera El Tesoro and funding its 30% share of the development costs of Esperanza. That transaction has subsequently closed, with Antofagasta receiving $1.4 billion from Marubeni, reflecting a “base consideration” of $1.31 billion plus interest and other adjustments specified in the agreement.

Initial production from Esperanza is anticipated to begin in late 2010. In the first 10 years of operation Esperanza is expected to produce an annual average of approximately 700,000 mt of concentrate containing 195,000 mt of payable copper, 229,000 oz of payable gold and 1,556,000 oz of payable silver. Molybdenum production could begin in 2015. The current life-of-mine figure is 15 years, but favorable future results from the nearby Telgrafo deposit could lead to expansion or extension of Esperanza’s plant.

Antofagasta Minerals awarded Aker Kvaerner Metals the EPCM contract for Esperanza, valued at roughly $35 million, in October 2007; Aker Kvaerner had previously conducted the feasibility study and early works studies for the project.

Aker was expected to select a firm for plant construction by the end of August. Among the other major contracts awarded for the project, FLSmidth Minerals said it had received orders totaling approximately $50 million to supply crushing and grinding equipment that included a Fuller-Traylor gyratory crusher, three FLSmidth Minerals Raptor XL 1100 cone crushers, one Fuller-Traylor gearless SAG mill and two gearless ball mills. The SAG mill, ball mills and cone crushers were described by FLSmidth Minerals as the largest of their kind in the world.

The award to ITT for high-capacity pumping equipment highlights a doubleedged issue that new mines in northern Chile face: an urgent need for water and an almost complete lack thereof in the region except for an almost endless supply of seawater. Although Esperanza will not be the first Chilean mine to use seawater for mineral processing—Minera Escondida was the first to do so, but desalinates its water at a facility near Antofagasta, Chile, before pumping—it will be the first to use raw seawater, filtered to remove solid contaminants but not desalinated.

Miguel Otarola, ITT Industrial Products’ director–Latin America region, in Santiago, Chile, said the seawater delivery system will include an intake/filtration station near Michilla and a 24-inch diameter pipeline with a rated flow of 720 liters per second to the mine site. Desalination capabilities at the site will provide water for worker accommodations and for process filtration requirements.

Equipment supplied by ITT Industrial Products will include four of its Goulds 3600 pumps in five-stage configuration at each of the pipeline’s first two pump stations and four 3600 four-stage units at the last two stations. The pumps, featuring an axially split casing and dual volute design, are intended for high head/high capacity applications and will be fabricated from duplex stainless steel for enhanced corrosion resistance. They are scheduled to arrive at the project site in late spring 2009. ITT also is providing technology and equipment to monitor the pumps’ vibration, pressure and temperature levels throughout the system. A preliminary estimate for the startup of pipeline operations is late third-quarter 2009.