GREY:MLKKF - Post by User
Post by
vlieton Jan 04, 2010 3:41pm
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Post# 16636617
Codelco not just copper
Codelco not just copperChuquicamata open pit
The Chuquicamata open pit is located some 250 km north of the coastal city of Antofagasta and 1200 km north of the capital Santiago de Chile at an altitude of 2800 m. For as early as 1910 the mining of copper was commenced by the US American Chile Exploration Mining, later Anaconda Mining. Since 1971 the open pit belongs to Codelco Chile. Today some 6500 workers are employed, who produce around 600,000 t of copper and 14,000 t of molybdenum per annum. Over its entire mine life Chuquicamata has produced so far almost 35 mill t of copper, corresponding with 2.5 times the recent annual world copper consumption.
This is taken from:
https://www.bgmr.rwth-aachen.de/downloads/200411surfaceminingchileexkursion.pdfKeep in mind world molybdenum production is obviously much less than world copper production so 14,000 t per year is significant. I believe that Chuquicamata is one of the worlds largest producers of molybdenum