Chilean Sociedad Punta de Cobre (Pucobre) is awaiting environmental clearance for its copper mine in the Atacama region before it begins the project’s construction by July 2022.
The company noted that this mine comes under the Transit Mining Project (TPM) sector in Chile. Once operational, the mine’s extraction is estimated at 100,000mt per month over a 12-year mine life at an investment of $3.8mn. The mine will produce oxidized copper as well as copper sulfides.
Pucobre’s Environmental Impact Statement states the material extracted from the mine will be taken to the Biocobre and the San José processing facilities for final copper production. TPM is the fourth sector -along with Revoltosa, Deubree, and Omega- Pucobre to explore for copper in the commune of Tierra Amarilla, Copiapó, in Atacama.
Chilean copper production decreased by 1pc in the first eight months of 2021.