Southern Copper hopes to win Mining license for Tia Maria Project, one of the largest undeveloped Copper deposits in the World this week

Published: Jul 8, 2019 10:20

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Oscar Gonzalez Rocha, chief executive of Southern Copper (Southern Copper), said the company had been hoping that the Peruvian government would license its $1.4 billion Tia Maria project, which is expected to happen this week. The Tia Maria copper project, located in the Arejipa Arequipa region in southern Peru, is one of the largest undeveloped copper mines in the world, with an ore volume of 641 million tons and a copper grade of 0.39 per cent.

SMM7 8: southern Copper (Southern Copper) CEO Oscar Gonzalez Rocha said the company has been hoping that the Peruvian government will be able to license its $1.4 billion Tia Maria project, which is expected to be realized this week.

The company says once it gets a mining license, it will start investing in local hospitals and health systems to benefit local residents. At the same time, the company also said that if it can not reach an agreement with the local community, it will not begin the construction of the mining area.

But if South Copper does not obtain a mining license by July 31, it may start a new environmental study.

The Tia Maria copper project, located in the Arejipa Arequipa region in southern Peru, is one of the largest undeveloped copper mines in the world, with an ore volume of 641 million tons and a copper grade of 0.39 per cent.

South Copper is currently in the stage of steady expansion.

The expansion of Nantong's Toquepala concentrator was completed in the fourth quarter of 2018 at a total cost of US $1.3 billion. By the end of the first quarter of 2019, its capacity utilization had reached 86 per cent and was expected to reach full capacity by the second quarter of 2019.

The expansion will increase Toquepala's copper production to 258000 tons in 2019, up 52 per cent from a year earlier. The company will produce 986700 tons of copper in 2019, up from 883689 tons in 2018.

And the company has plans to invest US $413 million in the Buenavista project in Mexico, including the development of a new concentrator with an annual output of about 80, 000 tons of zinc and 20, 000 tons of copper, respectively. The company expects that once the concentrator is completed, it is expected to double the company's zinc production capacity.

The company has invested US $159 million in the Pilares-Sonora project, also in Mexico, including an open pit mine with an annual production capacity of 35000 tons of copper concentrate, which is expected to significantly improve the overall ore grade.

In addition, South Copper has many other projects, so annual copper production is expected to reach 1.5 million tons by 2025.

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