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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)
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SnapshotThe Boleo Project involves the development of an underground copper-cobalt mine and the operation of a complex processing plant that extracts cobalt as a byproduct of its copper extraction.

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Camrova Resources Inc. 6.71 % Indirect
Korea Mine Rehabilitation and Mineral Resources Corp. (KOMIR 82.74 % Indirect
Minera y Metalúrgica del Boleo, S.A. P.I. de C.V. (operator) 100 % Direct
Korea Mine Rehabilitation and Mineral Resources Corp. (KOMIR) holds an 82.74% equity interest in the Boleo Project and operates it through its subsidiary, Minera y Metalúrgica del Boleo, S.A.P.I. de C.V.

A consortium led by the Company, comprised of the Company, LS MnM Co., Ltd., Hyundai Steel, SK Networks Co., Ltd., and Lotte Energy Materials Co., Ltd., collectively holds a 93.29% equity interest in the project, with the remaining 6.71% held by Camrova Resources, a Canadian company and previous operator of the project.

In February 2023, KOMIR announced a notice of public sale of Boleo and is discussing such sale with a potential purchaser.

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

CommodityProductUnits202320222021202020192018201720162015
Copper Cathode t  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe13,64019,43819,90014,2847,319
Cobalt Metal t 226419
Zinc Sulphate t 4521,444

Operational metrics

Metrics20242022202120182016
Annual production capacity  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Annual production capacity  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Annual processing capacity  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Daily processing capacity  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Ore tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe2,813,000 t1.4 Mt

Production Costs

Commodity production costs have not been reported.

Heavy Mobile Equipment

Fleet data has not been reported.

Personnel

Mine Management

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jan 10, 2025
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jan 10, 2025
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jan 10, 2025
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jan 10, 2025

Total WorkforceYear
...... Subscription required 2021

Aerial view:

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