Chile’s copper giant Codelco has awarded a $200mn contract to the Spanish firm Acciona to develop the underground tunnels at the Chuquicamata mine in the Atacama desert.
Acciona stated in a release on Feb 10 that work includes construction and the development of 31 kilometers of tunnels at various levels of the mine and excavating about 40,000 cubic meters of land. The project is expected to be completed by mid 2024 and generate 1,000 jobs.
Coldeco increased its copper production by 1.2pc to 1.72mn mt in 2020 according to data by the Chilean Copper Commission (Cochilco). The country’s production, however, fell by 0.87pc to 5.73mn mt last year. This year, production is expected to increase by 3.6pc to 6mn mt.
Copper prices reached $3.75/lb on Feb 10, up by 1.63pc compared to the prior day, according to data from Cochilco.