(Translated from Spanish by Google Translate)
In 2019, the historic Chuquicamata deposit began to ramp down production in the open pit make the shift to a high-tech underground mine operation.
Chuquicamata Subterránea will transform the century-old Chuquicamata open-pit mine, the largest in the world, into a modern large-scale underground operation using the block caving method of exploitation, extending the life of the division by at least 40 years.
The ore will be extraced through an extensive “block caving” operation, by installing four production levels. 140.000 tons of ore will be mined and treated per day, making Chuquicamata one of the largest mining operations on the globe
The new mine design for PMCHS is based on the following mine production process:
1. Initiates with the use of rock mass intensive preconditioning, which consists of the application of hydraulic fracturing and confined blasting to improve rock mass fragmentation and caveability.
2. Continues with the application of a high undercut (20 m) in order to minimise flow detentions at the initial part of the ore column extraction.
3. Caved ore is loaded by 20 t LHDs at the drawpoints, transported and directly tipped into a 500 t run-of-mine bin that feeds a wide feed gyratory crusher.
4. Crushed ore transported by an intermediate conveyor belt that feeds the main ore handling system.
100% electromobility in unde ........
