Cementos Bío Bío plans to increase lime output to meet Chilean mining demand

Cbb Cales, the main lime supplier for Chile’s copper, lithium and steel industries, has presented an environmental impact study for a US$75mn project to extend the El Way Este pit in Antofagasta region and replace the processing system.

The firm wants to increase the pit's current 650,000t/y production capacity by more than 50%.

The company, a subsidiary of Cementos Bío Bío (CBB), plans to establish a waste dump, a carbonate storage area and a crushing plant, and incorporate a new lime process using two vertical kilns that will be installed at the unit in Antofagasta’s La Negra industrial sector.

Works should start in late 2025 and will allow increased limestone output during a useful life of 28 years, according to the document submitted to environmental review agency SEA.

Motivated by the discovery of resources near El Way, the extended pit is expected to help supply rising lime demand. Last year, Cbb Cales increased its lime sales by 27% to US$142mn. Output came from its plants in Antofagasta and Copiapó, and a unit in Argentina’s San Juan province.

Cementos Bío Bío is currently supplying cement and concrete to Gold Fields' Salares Norte mine and to State miner Codelco for the development of its Chuquicamata underground copper mine.

It plans to invest US$100mn in Chile and Argentina by 2026 to increase total production capacity by 35%, incorporating modern furnaces, natural gas supply and new storage facilities.

Chile’s mining sector accounts for 90% of Cbb Cales' lime sales. Lime is used to regulate pH values in the flotation processes for extraction of copper and is essential for lithium carbonate and lithium dioxide production.