BHP kicks off $10.8bn plan to prevent Chile copper slump
BHP Group will kick off a massive $10.8-billion investment programme in Chile with the overhaul of an ageing copper plant as the world’s most valuable mining company battles declining ore quality.
As part of a site visit Tuesday by Chilean Finance Minister Mario Marcel, Melbourne-based BHP said in a statement that it would enter the $2-billion-plus plant upgrade into environmental processing soon.
While BHP’s overall investment pipeline in Chile over the next decade is nothing new, Tuesday’s announcement confirms the overhaul of the Escondida concentrator as the first step in the plan.
The scale of spending needed just to keep BHP’s Chilean production from falling shows how tough a task it will be for the industry to meet growing demand for the wiring metal in the energy transition and data-center boom.
BHP’s pipeline in Chile also includes an entirely new plant at Escondida, which could cost anywhere from $4.4-billion to $5.9-billion, according to a presentation late last year. Also being looked at is new leaching technology and a possible restart of the Cerro Colorado mine.
The projects would see BHP produce at an average annual rate of about 1.4-million metric tons next decade in Chile. Without the investments, that output would drop to about 900 000 t.
Comments
Research Reports
Projects
Latest News
Showroom
Weir is a global leader in mining technology. We recognise that our planet’s future depends on the transition to renewable energy, and that...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Introducing the Rio-Carb Smart Chute Concept - a revolutionary advancement in materials handling, designed for the toughest industries like mining...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
