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Chile
Escondida Mine

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 Location:
151 km SE from Antofagasta, Chile

  Regional Office:
Avda Americo Vespucio Sur 100 Piso 9 Las Condes
Santiago
Chile
7550148
Phone  ...  Subscription required
Fax56-22-207-6520
WebsiteWeb
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  • Overview
  • Owners
  • Geology
  • Processing
  • Production
  • Reserves
  • Financials
  • Fleet
  • Personnel
  • Filings & News

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Overview

StageProduction
Mine TypeOpen Pit
Commodities
  • Copper
  • Gold
  • Silver
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
Processing
  • Bacterial leaching
  • Flotation
  • Heap leach
  • Solvent Extraction & Electrowinning
Mine Life58 years (as of Jan 1, 2018)
Escondida is the world’s largest copper-producing mine.


Owners & OPERATOR

Source: p. 244
CompanyInterestOwnershipInvestor's Info
Jeco 2 Ltd. 2.5 % Indirect
JECO Corp. 10 % Indirect
Rio Tinto plc 30 % Indirect
BHP Group Ltd. 57.5 % Indirect
Minera Escondida Ltda. (operator) 100 % Direct
Minera Escondida is owned by BHP Billiton (57.5%), Rio Tinto (30%), JECO Corporation (10%), and JECO2 LTD (2.5%).

Deposit Type

  • Porphyry


Summary:

The Escondida porphyry copper deposit, located in northern Chile, was one of the two largest copper producers of the world in the 1990s. The hydrothermal evolution of this deposit is associated with the emplacement of a late Eocene- Oligocene quartz monzonitic to granodioritic intrusive stock complex composed of at least three intrusive phases and hosted by Paleocene andesite. This Paleocene andesite is underlain by Mesozoic and Paleozoic sedimentary and volcanic rocks, which are characteristic of the basement of the Precordillera de Domeyko province in northern Chile.

The complete evolution of the porphyry system is characterized by overprinting of pervasive and vein-associated alteration-mineralization styles grouped in three main hydrothermal stages. The early stage includes a zone of pervasive biotitization of andesite and development of a silicification shell around the intrusive complex, propylitic alteration around the biotitic zone, and a vein-associated orthoclase-quartz ± anhydrite biotite alteration that mark the end of stage one. This early alteration contains magnetite, chalcopyrite, and bornite, with less than 0.5 vol percent of sulfides and a hypogene copper grade of £0.2 wt percent.

The second hydrothermal stage is represented by vein and vein selvage-associated chlorite sericite ± quartz and by quartz-sericite with sulfides including chalcopyrite, pyrite, and molybdenite. In the chlorite-sericite and quartz-sericite zones the content of sulfides ranges from less than 0.5 to 2 vol percent with a chalcopyrite to pyrite ratio of 3 to 1 and copper grades that range between 0.4 and 0.6 wt percent. The intrusion of a rhyolite dikeand a dome are at least 3 m.y. younger than the first and second hydrothermal stages and separate them in time from the late hydrothermal stage.

The late hydrothermal stage is represented by an acid-sulfate mineral association that includes pyrophyllite, alunite, and quartz as alteration minerals and a variety of sulfides that include bornite, chalcopyrite, pyrite, chalcocite, covellite, enargite, sphalerite, tennantite, and galena. This acid-sulfate event occurred mainly in west-northwest striking veins and also along the contact of the rhyolite and its host rock. Where sulfides from this event overprint previous sulfides, the primary copper grades range from 0.6 to higher than 1.0 wt percent. In the Escondida deposit, the highest hypogene and supergene copper grades occur in areas where all three hydrothermal stages are present.


Mining Methods

  • Truck & Shovel / Loader


Summary:


Crushing and Grinding


Processing

  • Bacterial leaching
  • Flotation
  • Heap leach
  • Solvent Extraction & Electrowinning

Source: Subscription required

Summary:

* Oxide and sulphide leaching streams with
~330 ktpa effective cathode capacity
* ~3.5 Mtpa of concentrate shipments
* Delivery of OGP1 and OLAP2 supporting our concentrate and leaching strategy.

3 concentrator plants extract copper concentrate from sulphide ore by flotation extraction process.

2 solvent extraction plants produce copper cathode.

Nominal capacity: 153.7 Mtpa (nominal milling capacity) and 350 ktpa copper cathode (nominal capacity of tank house). Two 168 km concentrate pipelines 167 km water pipeline Port facilities at Coloso, Antofagasta.


Production:

CommodityProductUnits202020192018201720162015
Copper Cathode kt  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required232330310
Copper Metal in concentrate kt  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required540649916
Gold Metal in concentrate koz  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required
Silver Metal in concentrate koz  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Operational Metrics:

Metrics20202019201820172016
Total tonnes mined  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required
Tonnes milled  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required
Annual milling capacity  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required153.7 Mt
Annual production capacity  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required350 kt of copper cathode
Daily mining rate  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required1.2 Mt
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Reserves at June 30, 2020:

CategoryOreTypeTonnage CommodityGrade
Proven Heap leach 1,330 Mt Copper 0.42 %
Proven Mill / Sulphide 3,420 Mt Copper 0.7 %
Proven Oxide 77 Mt Copper 0.64 %
Probable Heap leach 326 Mt Copper 0.41 %
Probable Mill / Sulphide 1,790 Mt Copper 0.57 %
Probable Oxide 129 Mt Copper 0.55 %
Measured Mill / Sulphide 5,280 Mt Copper 0.61 %
Measured Oxide 113 Mt Copper 0.65 %
Measured Mixed 98 Mt Copper 0.58 %
Indicated Mill / Sulphide 3,510 Mt Copper 0.5 %
Indicated Oxide 42 Mt Copper 0.58 %
Indicated Mixed 63 Mt Copper 0.47 %

Financials:

Units20202019201820172016201520142013
Capital expenditures M USD  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required 3,273   3,186   2,859  
Revenue M USD  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required 8,092   8,706   8,826  
After-tax Income M USD  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required 2,194   3,007   3,309  
EBITDA M USD  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required 4,064  
Subscription required - Subscription is required


Heavy Mobile Equipment as of December 31, 2015:
HME TypeQuantity
Shovel (rope) 20
Truck (haul) 172

Mine Management:

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jan 29, 2021
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jan 29, 2021
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jan 29, 2021
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jan 29, 2021
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Staff:

Total WorkforceYear
Subscription required 2015

Corporate Filings & Presentations:

DocumentYear
................................... Subscription required 2020
................................... Subscription required 2020
................................... Subscription required 2019
................................... Subscription required 2018
................................... Subscription required 2018
Annual Report 2017
Annual Report 2017
Annual Report 2017
Annual Report 2016
Annual Report 2015
Corporate Presentation 2015
Annual Report 2014
Other 2001
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Aerial view:

Subscription required - Subscription is required.

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