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Chile
Quebrada Blanca Phase 2 (QB2) Mine (Quebrada Blanca)

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 Location:
165 km SE from Iquique, Chile

  Address:
Esmeralda 340 Piso 10 Región de Tarapacá
Iquique
Chile
1100324
Phone56-57-528-110
Fax56-57-528-264
WebsiteWeb
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Overview

StageProduction
Mine TypeOpen Pit
Commodities
  • Copper
  • Molybdenum
  • Silver
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
On-Site Camp 1,300 beds Source:
Production Start2023
Mine Life28 years (as of Jan 1, 2019)
Teck Resources Limited announced its Quebrada Blanca Phase 2 Project has produced its first bulk copper concentrate, as the project advances commissioning and ramps up to full production through 2023.


Owners

Source:
CompanyInterestOwnership
Sumitomo Corp. 5 % Indirect
Empresa Nacional de Minería (ENAMI) 10 % Indirect
Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd 25 % Indirect
Teck Resources Ltd. 60 % Indirect
Teck holds an indirect 60% interest in Compañía Minera Teck Quebrada Blanca SA ("QBSA") which owns QB2. Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd. (25%) and Sumitomo Corporation together have a collective 30% indirect interest in QBSA. ENAMI, a Chilean state agency, has a 10% non-funding interest in QBSA.

Contractors

ContractorContractDescriptionRef. DateExpirySource
AES Gener S.A. Power supply Teck Resources Limited (“Teck”) and AES Corporation announced that their Chilean affiliates, Compañía Minera Teck Quebrada Blanca S.A. and AES Andes S.A ("AES Andes"), entered into a long-term clean power purchase agreement for the Quebrada Blanca Phase 2 copper project ("QB2") in Chile. Under the 17-year agreement, AES Andes will provide 1,069 Gigawatt hours per year of energy from renewable sources, building on the February 2020 QB2 renewable energy announcement to achieve 100% clean, renewable energy for QB2 starting in 2025. AES Andes uses its growing renewable portfolio that includes wind, solar, hydro and battery plants to supply clean energy to QB2. Nov 10, 2022 17
unawarded or unknown Blasting Blasting services would be contracted to a third party. Jan 1, 2019


Deposit Type

  • Porphyry

Source: Source p.84-106

Summary:

Quebrada Blanca has a complex magmatic and hydrothermal history that includes a polyphase intrusive complex, multiple cross-cutting breccia facies, and at least three separate hydrothermal stages.

The initial intrusive phase consisted of Paleozoic quartz monzonite to granodiorite and diorite. These rocks were in turn intruded by pre- to syn-mineral feldspar porphyries and syn-mineral hydrothermal breccias that were emplaced along northeast–north–northeast- trending faults. The hydrothermal breccia is interpreted to be a single event, with textural and hydrothermal facies representing different energy conditions and hydrothermal zonation.

The deposit is divided into four domains or blocks, with the south and east blocks containing most of the mineralization. The blocks have different oxidation, alteration, and lithology characteristics. The western block, limited by a major northwest fault, the DDH-49 fault, is characterised by alteration features indicative of deeper parts of a porphyry system, and has been well drilled out. The eastern block has alteration facies consistent with the upper levels of a porphyry system, and is not as well drilled out. The northeastern-most block shows intermediate- level alteration features and has the least drill information.

Mineralization consists of supergene (chalcocite and, to a lesser degree, copper oxides such as atacamite, cuprite, and locally brochantite) and hypogene (chalcopyrite, bornite, molybdenite) mineralization.

Supergene Zone.
Secondary mineralization appears to be preferentially concentrated close to structures and more permeable rocks. The leach cap varies from about 7–200 m in thickness, whereas the thickness of the secondary copper zone ranges from 10–200 m. Continuous supergene copper mineralization has been traced over a 2.5 x 1.5 km area. The lower portions of the secondary enrichment zone transition into primary copper mineralization, resulting in a mixed low-grade ore type that was processed through runof-mine (ROM) dump leaching.

Hypogene Zone.
In the hypogene environment, mineralization occurs mainly as disseminated, veinlet-like and breccia cement mineralization following an east–northeast-trending area of about 2 x 5 km that is hosted within the Paleozoic quartz- monzonite to granodiorite, feldspar porphyry intrusions, and breccias. Drill holes have intersected mineralization over 1,000 m vertical depth in the hypogene zone.

The porphyry-style mineralization at Quebrada Blanca is considered to be typical of an Andean porphyry copper–molybdenum deposit. Common features of this subset of porphyry-style deposits include:

- Large zones (>10 km2) of hydrothermally altered rocks that commonly grade from a central potassic core to peripheral phyllic-, argillic-, and propylitic-altered zones;

- Mineralization is generally low grade and consists of disseminated, fracture, veinlet, and quartz stock-work controlled sulphide mineralization. Deposit boundaries are determined by economic factors that outline ore zones within larger areas of lowgrade, concentrically-zoned mineralization;

- Mineralization is commonly zoned with a chalcopyrite–bornite–molybdenite core and peripheral chalcopyrite–pyrite and pyrite zones;

- The effects of surface oxidation commonly modify porphyry deposits in weathered environments. Low pH meteoric waters generated by the oxidation of iron sulphides will leach copper from hypogene copper sulphides and form oxide copper minerals such as malachite, chrysocolla, and brochantite, and redeposit copper as secondary chalcocite and covellite immediately below the water table in flat tabular zones of supergene enrichment.


Mining Methods

  • Truck & Shovel / Loader

Source: p.169-191

Summary:

The initial open pit mine at Quebrada Blanca (the Quebrada Blanca Phase 1 operation or QB1) commenced operation in 1994, exploiting supergene copper mineralization. To date, operations at the mine have used a heap leach and dump leach and solvent extraction/electrowinning (SX/EW) process. The supergene ore is now depleted and mining operations ceased in October 2018; however, the SX/EW plant will continue to produce cathodes throughout 2019 and 2020 from existing supergene leaching pads.

The Quebrada Blanca Phase 2 project (QB2) is planned to exploit hypogene mineralization below the supergene mineralization mined in QB1. The environmental impact assessment (EIA) for QB2 was prepared in 2016, and approved by the Chilean environmental authorities in August 2018. The Teck board has approved the QB2 project for full construction, with first production targeted for the second half of 2021.

Mining operations will continue to use open pit methods, and conventional truck-and shovel operations. From an operational standpoint, QB2 represents a continuation of the existing supergene mine activities; however, there are significant differences between the two operations, such as the significant increase in the ultimate pit depth and width, the change in rock type from enriched supergene to hypogene, and increases in the mining extraction rate.

Teck prepared two mine plans for the Project: -- Base Case that includes only Measured and Indicated (MI) Mineral Resources and support reporting of Mineral Reserves. This plan schedules a total of 1.4 Bt of mill feed and 0.56 Bt of waste rock over a mine life of about 28 years at a 0.41:1 strip ratio.

- Sanction Case that includes Measured, Indicated, and Inferred (MII) Mineral Resources. The Sanction Case optimization, mine planning and financial analysis considered realistic mining conditions and the likely continuity of the ore body. The plan, used for Project evaluation purposes, generates a total mill feed of 1.4 Bt and 0.909 Bt of waste rock over a 28-year mine life at a 0.65:1 strip ratio.

The conventional open pit supergene mining operation was completed in October 2018. The existing QB1 mining fleet will be used in pre-production and early works activities related to QB2, including the mass excavation required for the concentrator site, and mass earthworks associated with construction of the starter dam for the TMF.

To generate the required slope designs, the pit was subdivided into five geotechnical zones, each with different design inter-ramp slope angles.

The pit design criteria for each of the Base Case and Sanction Case are summarized:
- Ramp width 40 m - with a design grade of 10%;
- Minimum bench operational width - 70 m;
- Bench face angle - 65°;
- Inter-ramp angle - Varies from 30° to 44° depending on geotechnical zone;
- Bench height - 15 m;
- Berm width - typically 8 m, but adjusted for inter-ramp angle where necessary;
- Inter-ramp slope height - 150 m;
- Geotechnical berm width 30 m (haulage ramps can replace geotechnical berms).

Mining Equipment.
Equipment requirements are identical for the Base Case and the Sanction Case. The mine design and costing for the Base Case and Sanction Case currently assume the use of 291 t haulage trucks; however, actual equipment selection will be made based on pricing and performance considerations following commercial discussions with several equipment suppliers.

Loading.
The primary loading units would be 58.1 m³ ultra-class electric rope shovels, which are well-matched (three-pass loading) to 291 t haulage trucks. The existing 27 m³ hydraulic shovel fleet (Komatsu PC5500) would continue to remain in service, given the units’ availability and remaining available service lives. The existing 18 m³ front-end loader fleet (Komatsu WA1200-6) would continue to serve the mine and would be replaced as necessary to ensure two units are available at all times to serve the mine.

Haulage.
Eleven Komatsu 730E haul trucks and six Komatsu 830E haul trucks would remain from the supergene operations and would be used by the QB2 operations until reaching their expected service lifespan. As mine production rates will surpass the existing fleet capacity, 291 t capacity haul trucks (Komatsu 930E-4SE) will be purchased as necessary.

At the peak, the haulage fleet would require 34 haul trucks.

Support Equipment.
At peak of operations, this will see equipment requirements will be four tracked dozers, four wheeled dozers, seven graders, five water trucks, one tracked excavator, three cable reelers and two mobile generators.


Crushing and Grinding
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Processing

  • Flotation
  • Filter press

Flow Sheet: Source
Source: Source

Summary:

The process design is conventional and uses conventional equipment.

The concentrator facility would contain two semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) mills and four ball mills, cyclone feed pumps, and cyclone clusters. The pebble crushing area would include pebble transfer conveyors, storage bins, feeders, and crushers. The flotation system would include bulk rougher flotation cells, bulk rougher regrind cyclone clusters, high-intensity grinding (HIG) regrind mills, and cleaner/scavengers. The concentrator thickener area will include bulk concentrate and copper concentrate thickeners.

The molybdenum plant would consist of the molybdenum rougher, first cleaner, second cleaner, and third cleaner flotation and regrind equipment, as well as the molybdenum concentrate thickener, filter, dryer and packaging equipment.

Flotation and Regrind area would contain the following major equipment and structures:
- Fourteen 600 m3 bulk rougher flotation tank cells (two rows of seven cells);
- Two bulk rougher regrind cyclone clusters;
- Two 3,500 kW high-intensity grinding (HIG) regrind mills;
- Eight bulk first cleaner staged flotation reactor (SFR) “SFR-2200” cells (two rows of four cells);
- Ten bulk cleaner/scavenger SFR “SFR-2200” cells (two rows of five cells);
- Five bulk second cleaner SFR “SFR-1300” cells.

Concentrate thickening facility would consist of the bulk concentrate and copper concentrate thickeners. The area would contain the following major equipment and structures:
- One 43 m diameter bulk conventional concentrate thickener with rakes and underflow pumps;
- One 43 m diameter copper conventional concentrate thickener with rakes and underflow pumps.

Molybdenum plant facility would consist of the molybdenum rougher, first cleaner, second cleaner, and third cleaner flotation and regrind equipment, as well as the molybdenum concentrate thickener, filter, dryer and packaging equipment. The area would contain the following major equipment and structures:

• Seven 42.5 m3 molybdenum rougher cells (one row of seven);
- One 300 kW vertical molybdenum regrind mill;
- Six 14.2 m3 molybdenum first cleaners (one row of six cells);
- One 3 m diameter second cleaner column cell;
- Two 1.5 m diameter third cleaner column cells;
- One molybdenum flotation cell exhaust gas scrubber with fan;
- One 15 m diameter molybdenum concentrate thickener with rakes and underflow pumps;
- One automated pressure filter, one heated-oil screw dryer, a 42 t capacity dry molybdenum storage bin, and a bulk bag molybdenum packaging system;
- One molybdenum concentrate dryer exhaust gas scrubber with fan.

The reagent facility would consist of equipment and systems for mixing, storing, and distributing the various reagents to their points of use.

Two tailings thickeners and their associated equipment would comprise the tailings thickening area.

Power for the process plant will be sourced from the Chilean grid. Process make-up water will be from desalinated water with reclaim water from the TMF.

CommodityParameter

Production:

CommodityUnitsAvg. Annual (Projected)LOM (Projected)
Copper kt 2286,092
Molybdenum kt 7.1190
Silver M oz 1.540
Copper Equivalent kt 2566,832
All production numbers are expressed as metal in concentrate.


Reserves at November 30, 2018:

CategoryTonnage CommodityGradeContained Metal
Proven 476,300 kt Copper 0.51 % 2,411 kt
Proven 476,300 kt Molybdenum 0.018 % 84 kt
Proven 476,300 kt Silver 1.4 g/t 21.466 M oz
Probable 923,800 kt Copper 0.47 % 4,350 kt
Probable 923,800 kt Molybdenum 0.019 % 173 kt
Probable 923,800 kt Silver 1.2 g/t 37.174 M oz
Proven & Probable 1,400,000 kt Copper 0.48 % 6,761 kt
Proven & Probable 1,400,000 kt Molybdenum 0.018 % 258 kt
Proven & Probable 1,400,000 kt Silver 1.3 g/t 58.64 M oz
Measured 36,200 kt Copper 0.42 % 152 kt
Measured 36,200 kt Molybdenum 0.014 % 5 kt
Measured 36,200 kt Silver 1.23 g/t 1.433 M oz
Indicated 1,558,000 kt Copper 0.4 % 6,218 kt
Indicated 1,558,000 kt Molybdenum 0.016 % 247 kt
Indicated 1,558,000 kt Silver 1.14 g/t 56.965 M oz
Measured & Indicated 1,594,200 kt Copper 0.4 % 6,370 kt
Measured & Indicated 1,594,200 kt Molybdenum 0.016 % 252 kt
Measured & Indicated 1,594,200 kt Silver 1.14 g/t 58.398 M oz
Inferred 3,125,200 kt Copper 0.38 % 11,880 kt
Inferred 3,125,200 kt Molybdenum 0.018 % 555 kt
Inferred 3,125,200 kt Silver 1.14 g/t 114.791 M oz


Pipelines
Source: Subscription required


Heavy Mobile Equipment as of January 1, 2019:
Source: Source p.191
HME TypeModelSizeQuantityStatus
Loader (FEL) Komatsu WA1200-6 18 cu. m 2 Existing
Shovel (hydraulic) Komatsu PC5500 27 cu. m 1 Existing
Shovel (rope) 58.1 cu. m 4 Proposed
Truck (haul) Komatsu 730E 11 Existing
Truck (haul) Komatsu 830E 6 Existing
Truck (haul) Komatsu 930E-4SE 291 t 34 Proposed

Mine Management:

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
Maintenance Superintendent Jaime Maldonado LinkedIn Sep 15, 2022
Mine Planning Manager Alexis Méndez Muñoz LinkedIn Sep 15, 2022
Procurement Manager Fernando Manresa Albornoz LinkedIn Sep 15, 2022
Project Director Ian Fairlamb LinkedIn Apr 24, 2023


Corporate Filings & Presentations:

DocumentYear
Quarterly Report 2022
Annual Information Form 2021
Corporate Presentation 2021
Technical Report 2019
Feasibility Study Report 2017

Aerial view:

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