Zaldívar

Zaldívar is an open-pit, heap-leach copper mine in northern Chile. The mine is located in the Andean Precordillera in Region II of northern Chile, approximately 1,400 kilometers north of Santiago and 175 kilometers southeast of the port city of Antofagasta near Escondida, the world’s largest copper mine. The mine lies at an average elevation of 3,300 meters.

Zaldívar uses conventional methods of open pit mining. Pure cathode copper is produced by three stages of crushing and stacking of ore, followed by heap leaching and bacterial activity to remove the copper from the ore into solution. Run-of-mine dump leach material is placed on the old sulphide ore pad, and is also leached.

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In 2007, Zaldívar produced 315 million pounds of copper at total cash costs of US$0.70 per pound¹. Proven and probable copper reserves as of December 31, 2007 are estimated at 6.0 billion pounds².

Para obtener más información sobre Zaldívar, haga click en Proyectos en Sudamérica.