Guía Minera Escondida Ltda
Guía Minera Escondida Ltda
Guía Minera Escondida Ltda
RUT/ID Number:79.587.210-8
www.bhpbilliton.com
La Compañía
Minera Escondida Ltda. opera la mina de mayor producción de cobre del mundo. La
faena productiva se encuentra ubicada en la II Región, a 170 km al sureste de la
ciudad de Antofagasta y a una altitud de 3.100 metros. La Compañía produce
concentrado de cobre mediante el proceso de flotación de mineral sulfurado y
cátodos de cobre mediante los procesos de lixiviación de mineral oxidado y
biolixiviación de sulfuros de baja ley.
The Company
Minera Escondida Ltda. operates the mine with the largest copper production in the
world. The productive site is located in the Second Region, 170 km southeast of
Antofagasta and 3,100 meters above sea level. The company produces copper
concentrate through the floating process of sulphide minerals, and copper
cathodes through the leaching processes of oxidized minerals and bio-leaching of
low-grade sulfurs.
The mine opened in 1991, with an initial production capacity of 35,000 daily tons of
mineral. The total investment in the mine’s construction, equipment, plants, mine
piping and other facilities, was originally of US$ 836 million. In September 2002,
after a US$1 billion investment, the Stage 4 expansion construction ended, destined
to increase the total process capacity to 230,000 tpd of ore, in the Los Colorados
concentrator and the Laguna Seca concentrator. Escondida Norte started its
operations in October 2005, and in June 2006, the sulfur bio-leaching project
started its production, where for 6 months of operation it produced 36,000 tons of
cathodes. This project also covered a seawater desalination plant and its
corresponding pumping system with a pipe that connects the plant located in
Puerto Coloso to the mine’s facilities; a pile and solvent extraction area and the
electro-winning area that constitutes the Ship 2 of the current Oxide Plant.
In April 2016, the “Organic Growth Project 1 (OGP1)” was inaugurated, a treatment
plant that generates 152.000 tons of mineral per day (tpd). The project required an
investment of US$4.2 billion. Additionally, the construction of a new dynamic
leaching pile and a conveyer belt system began, called Oxide Leach Area Project
(OLAP). The new pile will maintain the oxide leaching capacity in current levels, after
the depletion of the current pile in 2014. Its implementation began in March of
2015.
Minera Escondida’s copper production in 2015 was 1.152.510 metric tons, which
was comprised of 826.220 tons of contained copper in concentrates and 326.290
tons of copper cathodes.