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Mexico

Boleo Mine

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Overview

Mine TypeOpen Pit & Underground
StatusActive
Commodities
  • Copper
  • Cobalt
  • Zinc
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
  • Shortwall mining
  • Strip mining (roll-over)
Production Start... Lock
Mine Life... Lock
SnapshotThe Boleo copper-cobalt deposit includes a processing plant that extracts cobalt as a byproduct of its copper extraction.

Owners

SourceSource
The Korea Mine Rehabilitation and Mineral Resources Corp. (KOMIR) held a 77.01% equity interest in the Boleo project and is the operator of the project. A consortium led by the KOMIR, comprising the Company, LS-Nikko Copper Inc., Hyundai Steel, SK Networks Co. Ltd. and Iljin Materials Co., Ltd., together holds a 93.09% interest in the project.

Camrova owns 6.91 % of the Boleo copper mine in Mexico, which is majority owned by KOMIR.

Minera y Metalúrgica del Boleo, S.A. P.I. de C.V. is a consolidated subsidiary of the KOMIR and is the operator of the Boleo project.

Deposit type

  • Manto

Summary:

The Boleo deposits occur within a Miocene rift zone basin and consist of a succession of fine to coarse clastic sedimentary rocks characterized by a number of coarsening upward cycles of deltaic deposited sediments. Faulting is common throughout the district.

The dominant faults are steeply dipping normal faults striking northwest and downthrown to the west by up to 200 meters (m). These offsets, combined with the easterly dip of the mantos, yield a stepwise configuration of the mineralized beds. Major faults are typically separated horizontally by several hundreds of meters, although lesser faults are common and are more closely spaced. The extensive faulting, with vertical offsets ranging from less than a meter to tens of meters, divides the project area into relatively small, irregularly-shaped blocks. The ground immediately adjacent
to fault zones is generally observed to be degraded, with little or no structural strength. The surface topography is highly variable and= consists of flat-topped mesa structures that are deeply incised by rugged, steep-sided arroyos. The depth of cover varies from zero to several hundred meters.

Copper-cobalt-zinc mineralization occurs throughout the Boleo District within clay-rich horizons or beds known as “mantos.” The mantos correspond to the lower units of similar stratigraphic sequences occurring in a repeated series. Each sequence consists of a general coarsening of the sediments from the base to the top. The ore-bearing mantos are the lowest beds in each sequence and consist of a 1-m-thick basal laminated mud horizon overlain by mineralized slump breccias up to 20 m thick. The ore zones are overlain by progressively coarser material of tuffaceous claystone, siltstone, sandstone, pebbly sandstone, and eventually cobble- to bouldersized conglomerates.

The contact between the mantos and floor rocks is sharp; however, the contact with the roof rocks is more traditional. Mineralization is finely disseminated in the breccias with the richest material occurring in the laminated basal section of the mantos. The Boleo District has been extensively mined by underground methods for nearly a century, and much of this early mining extracted only the very high-grade material within the basal part of the manto and backfilled the stopes with the lower grade breccias, containing copper grades of 1% to 2%, or more.

Reserves

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Mining Methods

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

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Processing

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Production

CommodityProductUnits20222021202020192018201720162015
Copper Cathode t  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe13,64019,43819,90014,2847,319
Zinc Sulphate t 4521,444

Operational metrics

Metrics2022202120182016
Annual processing capacity  ....  Subscribe
Daily processing capacity  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Annual production capacity  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Annual production capacity  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Ore tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe2,813,000 t1.4 Mt

Production Costs

Commodity production costs have not been reported.

Financials

Units2017
Capital expenditures (planned) M USD 130  
Revenue M USD

Heavy Mobile Equipment

Fleet data has not been reported.

Personnel

Mine Management

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Aug 13, 2023
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Aug 13, 2023
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Aug 17, 2023
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Aug 13, 2023
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Aug 13, 2023
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Aug 13, 2023
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Aug 17, 2023

Total WorkforceYear
...... Subscription required 2021

Aerial view:

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