Los Pelambres mine
.jpg) | |
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Coquimbo Region | |
| Country | Chile |
| Coordinates | 31°43′00″S 70°29′26″W / 31.716691°S 70.490446°W |
| Production | |
| Products | Copper |
| History | |
| Opened | 1990 |
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]
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
[edit]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
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Minera Los Pelambres, Chile" (in Romanian). mining-technology.com. 2012. Retrieved 2013-06-12.
- ^ Charles Caldwell Hawley (2014). A Kennecott Story. The University of Utah Press. p. 109,111.
- ^ "Expansion of Chile's Los Pelambres copper mi..." BNamericas.com. 20 August 2020.
- ^ 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.