Los Pelambres mine

Los Pelambres mine is a copper mine located in the north-central of Chile in Coquimbo Region. It is one of the largest copper reserves in the world, having estimated reserves of 4.9 billion tonnes of ore grading 0.65% copper.[1]

Los Pelambres mine
Location
Coquimbo Region
CountryChile
Coordinates 31.716691°S 70.490446°W / -31.716691; -70.490446
Production
ProductsCopper
History
Opened1990

The deposit was first recognized by Willian Burford Braden in 1920. Production in 2012 was forecast at 390 tons of copper and 28,000 ounces of gold.[2] The mine is served by Los Pelambres Airport, and by a water desalination facility at Los Vilos. A billion-dollar expansion project is underway.[3]

Geology

The Upper Miocene tonalite stock is a north-south oriented oval, 4.5 by 2.4 km in size, which has undergone hydrothermal alteration. The stock intruded into andesitic host rocks. Glaciation during the Pleistocene carved the U-shaped Los Pelambres valley. The head of the valley has the highest concentration of ore in a roche moutonnee. A core of potassium silicate alteration contains the economic copper-molybdenum mineralization. Sulfide minerals include chalcopyrite, bornite, pyrite and molybdenite.[4]

See also

References
  1. "Minera Los Pelambres, Chile" (in Romanian). mining-technology.com. 2012. Retrieved 2013-06-12.
  2. Charles Caldwell Hawley (2014). A Kennecott Story. The University of Utah Press. p. 109,111.
  3. "Expansion of Chile's Los Pelambres copper mi..." BNamericas.com. 20 August 2020.
  4. Sillitoe, Richard (1973). "Geology of the Los Pelambres Porphyry Copper Deposit, Chile". Economic Geology. 68 (1): 1–10. doi:10.2113/gsecongeo.68.1.1.
Location of the Los Pelambres and El Teniente copper mines in Chile
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