Escondida sees short fall

Vancouver — Between March 2001 and March 2002, copper output from Chile’s Escondida mine fell 24%, to 58,602 tonnes. Some 45,841 tonnes of concentrates and 12,761 tonnes of cathodes were produced last month.

For the recent first quarter, the mine produced 172,516 tonnes, down 19.2% from the corresponding period of 2001.

In November 2001, a serious fall in the demand for copper caused operator BHP Billiton (BHP-M) to reduce production at the operation by 10%, equivalent to 80,000 tonnes per year.

Despite the cutbacks, BHP is continuing with a US$1-billion expansion program, which, combined with sulphide leach development, could add more than 450,000 tonnes of copper production annually at a cash cost of under US40 per lb. Cash costs currently average US42 per lb.

BHP Billiton owns a 57.5% interest in the open-pit mine, 160 km south of the port town of Antofagasta. The remaining interest is divided among Rio Tinto (RTP-N), with 30%, a Japanese consortium that includes Mitsubishi, Mitsubishi Materials and Nippon Mining & Metals, with 10%, and International Finance Corp., with 2.5%.

At last count, Escondida held proven and probable sulphide reserves of 1.6 billion tonnes grading 1.22% copper, of which BHP’s share of recoverable copper amounts to 16.6 million tonnes. An additional, lower-grade component stands at 474 million tonnes grading 0.62% copper, while oxide reserves are pegged at 246 million tonnes grading 0.64% copper.