Antofagasta Minerals seeks technologies to push productivity at Los Pelambres

Antofagasta Minerals seeks proposals for technologies that can be implemented rapidly to increase productivity at its main operation in Chile, Los Pelambres mine in Coquimbo region.

A call for proposals is aimed at companies, startups, institutes, research centers and local and international consortiums that offer solutions with technological maturity at or close to pre-commercial scale. Proposals may be submitted through June 21 and details are available here, in Spanish.

The proposals must contribute to the optimization of the availability, performance and quality of equipment, and reduce costs and improve occupational safety and health in at least one area managed by Minera Los Pelambres, such as the mine, plant, fluid transportation or desalination plant.

In a statement, Los Pelambres' operational excellence manager, Carmen Vega, highlighted the company's interest in "capturing the best developments in the industry."

Carolina Rojas, director of innovation at Expande Minería, a program by public-private entity Fundación Chile, which advises companies and promotes efficient industry, said improvements in competitiveness, sustainability and safety indicators are expected.

Apart from having an electrification plan to reduce emissions, Antofagasta Minerals has a roadmap for innovation.

Last year, it incorporated a robotization project at Los Pelambres to maintain the SAG mill and eliminate staff exposure to risks. It also implemented a digital twin system to obtain digital replication of mining processes.

Antofagasta Minerals' latest sustainability report also mentioned that a pilot plan to recover water from thickeners through an optimization method that will provide suggestions and validate results in real time will be implemented this year.

These efforts are part of the Pelambres Futuro initiative to extend the useful life of operations beyond 2050. As part of this approach, the start-up of the desalination plant at Punta Chungo port, in Los Vilos, is key to the company's expansion plans.

Operational adaptation at Los Pelambres, doubling desalination plant capacity to 800l/s, in addition to other works, is underway.

In 2023, Antofagasta Minerals reported production of 660,600t of fine copper, up 2%, mainly due to improvements at Los Pelambres.