Codelco to submit updated EIS on Andina expansion by mid December

BNamericas reported that Chilean state copper producer Codelco will submit a new environmental impact study for the USD 6.27 billion phase II expansion project at its Andina division in central region V by mid December.

A company spokesperson said that the original EIS was submitted to the environment ministry at end September but was withdrawn in mid November. The EIS received observations from most of the authorities involved in its evaluation and the company was about to be asked to submit an amendment.

However, instead of preparing the amendment Codelco decided to draw up a new EIS which is about to be completed and will be submitted during the first two weeks of December.

The company said that the incorporation of new information for projects is a common practice in the environmental evaluation process and constitutes an opportunity for Codelco to improve the proposal submitted to authorities, simplifying the evaluation process.

The expansion aims to increase throughput capacity from the current 94,000 tonne per day to 244,000 tonne per day through the construction of a new concentrator with capacity to process 150,000 tonne per day. The project will require a maximum of 17,500 workers during its construction stage which is slated to start in 2013.

On September 23, the company announced it had pushed back the deadline for the completion of the feasibility study to end 2012 after which a construction decision will be made by the board. The study was originally expected to be completed by the end of this year for operations to kick off in 2017. Operations are now expected to start in early 2019.

The project will expand the current open pit, waste dump and tailings dam, and also involves constructing new crushing facilities, conveyor belts, a new transmission line and a system for the reuse of process water.

The Andina phase II expansion is expected to add 350,000 tonne per year of fine copper to the division’s production, for total output of 650,000 tonne per year during the first 5 years of operation and 600,000 tonne per year during the first 30 years. Once the expansion is complete, Andina will become Codelco’s largest division.

Читать полностью или написать коммент.. Про установку спутниковых тарелок в Московской областиhttp://tarelka-tv.ru/