Chile's CMP looks to invest US$67mn to start Romeral's conversion into underground iron ore mine

Chile’s Minera del Pacífico (CMP), part of holding company CAP, is seeking approval for a US$67mn project to start underground extraction at its Romeral iron ore mine in central-northern Coquimbo region.

The iron ore and pellet producer submitted an environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the initiative, called ‘Modification of the Romeral mining project phase V: underground exploitation and adjustments to existing facilities’. The project involves the progressive inclusion of a sublevel stoping extractive method, in which ore is blasted from different levels of elevation but then removed from one level at the bottom of the mine.

The project would extend operations until 2034, indicates the EIA, which also describes some changes in facilities and operational adjustments.

At the mine in La Serena municipality, CMP processes ore to produce pellet feed, lumps and fines that are transported along a 38km rail line to the port of Guayacán, which is also owned by the company. 

In 2023, a total of 2.1Mt were shipped, CAP said in its annual report for that year.

According to the schedule, project construction would take three months and operations would begin in the first half of 2026.

The initiative unveiled this week is part of a larger US$400mn project to convert Romeral into an underground mine and increase reserves from 18Mt to 173Mt and the quality of the iron content from 66% to 68% by 2027, CAP said in a November investor presentation.

The project is key to CAP's strategy to increase production at its Cerro Norte, Los Colorados and Romeral mining operations by around 38% by 2032, with planned investment of US$2.2bn.

The overall project includes extending the useful life of the Romeral underground operation until 2050 to ensure production of around 4Mt/y from the current 2Mt/y, the firm added in the presentation.

Currently, that plan is in the prefeasibility and engineering stage, with construction estimated to start in 2030.