The high quality of copper cathode production at the El Abra mine in northern Chile’s region II will remain the same once the Sulfolix project’s first stage of development is completed, a company spokesperson told BNamericas.

“We started construction on the project in December last year and we expect to have its first phase ready by the first quarter of 2011,” the spokesperson said.

The project aims at mining and processing the deposit’s sulfur ores, extending the mine’s life by 10 years. Once the project is completed, El Abra will produce close to 136,000t/y of cathodes, output that will replace current production from the mining of oxide ores, which are expected to be exhausted soon.

The Sulfolix project, with an investment of US$500mn for its first phase, includes constructing permanent leach pads to treat sulfur ore and replacing the current dynamic leach pads used to process oxide ores. The new leaching facilities will have capacity to process 115,000t/d of ore. The mine will continue using existing facilities for crushing and SX/EW processing.

The project was originally scheduled to be constructed between 2008 and 2010, but mine controller Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE: FCX) decided to halt its development as a result of the worldwide financial crisis. The project was resumed by the US-based company at the end of last year as copper prices started to recover and global economic conditions improved.

El Abra, a 51:49 JV with state copper company Codelco, produced roughly 160,000t of cathodes in 2009, down slightly from the prior year as a result of the ongoing depletion of oxide ores, which were originally scheduled to be exhausted during this year. The mine’s designed production capacity is 225,000t/y of cathodes.

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