MANAGEMENT

Mantos Copper signs water deal with Almar

Chilean producer Mantos Copper has signed a water management deal with Almar Water Solutions covering the operation of a reverse osmosis process water plant in northern Chile.

 A Mantos Copper worker monitoring the belt

A Mantos Copper worker monitoring the belt

The three-year contract with Almar Water will focus on ensuring the osmosis plant produces quality water for mining activity at the Mantos Blancos project in the Antofagasta region.

"This new project will help Mantos Blancos to guarantee the operational excellence of its water infrastructure, allowing it to optimise costs and increase its annual copper production," said Gonzalo Gómez-Rodulfo, director of services at Almar Water Solutions.

Mantos Blancos is a mining complex located in Region II, 45 kilometres northeast of the city of Antofagasta at 800 meters altitide. It comprises an openpit mine, crushing plants and facilities for processing oxidized and sulphide minerals.

Last September, the company announced a US$250 million financing package to expand the sulphide concentrator plant.

The concentrator debottlenecking project is expected to increase sulphide ore throughput capacity to 7.3 Mtpa from 4.3 Mtpa currently, prior to the expected depletion of oxide ore Reserves in 2023, according to partner Anglo-Pacific. It will also extend the life of the Mantos Blancos mine to 2035 and reduce operating costs.

During the first 10 years following the completion of the debottlenecking project in 2021, the mine is expected to produce an average of 52.000 tonnes of copper per annum at an average cash cost of US$1.87/lb (including silver by-product credits) with further production upside and mine life extension potential.

 

 

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Magazine Intelligence team.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Magazine Intelligence team.

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Future Fleets Report 2024

The report paints a picture of the equipment landscape and includes detailed profiles of mines that are employing these fleets

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Digitalisation Report 2023

An in-depth review of operations that use digitalisation technology to drive improvements across all areas of mining production

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Automation Report 2023

An in-depth review of operations using autonomous solutions in every region and sector, including analysis of the factors driving investment decisions

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Exploration Report 2023 (feat. Opaxe data)

A comprehensive review of current exploration rates, trending exploration technologies, a ranking of top drill intercepts and a catalog of 2022 Initial Resource Estimates and recent discovery successes.