Mining projects for about US$15,000 million will start operating between 2013 and 2014
12-Feb-2013 Estrategia – News
Main copper projects
Mining projects for about US$15,000 million will start operating between 2013 and 2014
Gold and iron ore projects to start production during this period add up US$4,462 million approximately
Some important copper, gold and iron ore mining projects will start-up in the 2013-2014 period. Total investment of most important projects in the construction status adds up US$14,596 million, almost 15% of the US$104,000 million investment portfolio forecasted for Chilean mining industry for 2022.
Some of the most important projects will be soon started this year and they are mainly concentrated in the copper industry development. One of these projects is the US$3,000 million Caserones project owned by Lumina Copper that will start producing cathodes by the end of this month and it is estimated it will start running its sulphides unit by the end of this year. The Codelco’s Ministro Hales is also expected to start operating by the end of this year. The new state-controlled mine considers a US$2,513 million investment and 200,000 tons of copper fines output per year.
Iron ore Cerro Negro Norte and Los Colorados expansion are also expected to start their productive stage this year. Both CAP projects require a final US$1,162 million disbursement.
Some other projects for US$7,200 million will be started up in 2014, where Barrick’s gold mine Pascua is to be highlighted with an investment exceeding US$3,000 million in the Chilean side and the Sierra Gorda copper mine owned by Polish KGHM for US$3,900 million. The Barrick’s binational project which nowadays adds up more than US$8,000 million, is expected to start operating during the second half of 2014.
