Codelco extends the Life of Andina Copper Mine by 30 years

Chile's state-owned copper miner Codelco has cut the ribbon in its eponymous division's $1.4 billion Andina Transfer project, allowing the world's largest copper producer to extend the useful life of its assets by another 30 years.

The project turns underground operations into an open-pit mine 3500 metres above sea level in the Andes, which holds 30 per cent of Chile's copper reserves.

The eight-year construction, including a 52-meter-high dome, surrounds the truck unloading area to protect the primary crusher from winter temperatures and dust emissions.

Andina Transfer will also be operated using a 4km underground recycled ore conveyor belt, which will provide more than 3.6MW of electricity to the sector's Electroweb, thereby reducing external energy consumption.

The crushing and ore transport system now requires only 14 equipment, compared with 50 before.

Andina Transfer's production capacity is set at 240000 tons of copper per year. So far, the sector has produced 184000 tonnes of metals a year, accounting for only 10 per cent of Codelco's total production.

The operation is currently in the debugging phase and the acceleration phase will begin in February.

Chile is the world's largest producer of metals, which are used in everything from construction to electric vehicles and renewable energy, accounting for nearly 30 per cent of world output.

The Cochilco of the National Copper Commission said in November that the country expected to receive nearly $69 billion in mining investment by the end of the decade, down 6.9 per cent from previous forecasts.