Freeport mulling US$7.5bn expansion at Chile's El Abra copper mine

Phoenix-based Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) is mulling investment of US$7.5bn to expand its El Abra copper mine in northern Chile’s Antofagasta region. 

The environmental impact statement should be presented at the end of next year.

The US company completed a drilling program and identified a potential for additional resources of nearly 20Blb (about 9.07Mt) and is evaluating the economic aspects of the possible initiative, it said during an investor presentation on Tuesday.

According to FCX estimates, the process would involve about three years of permitting and four years of construction.

The start of commissioning would be in 2033. However, the expansion is still subject to approval by interested parties, the company noted in its presentation.

FCX owns 51% of the mine and Chilean state-owned Codelco 49%.

The operational continuity project would incorporate a large-scale concentrator, similar to that of Cerro Verde, the copper mine that FCX operates in Peru.

The El Abra project had previously been in FCX's portfolio with an investment of US$5bn but was finally abandoned and was excluded from the register of state copper commission Cochilco.

Currently, El Abra includes an electrowinning extraction facility with annual capacity of 500Mlb of copper cathodes and a leaching circuit that has a throughput rate of 125,000t/d.

Last year production reached 98,414t of copper, according to data from the Mining Council, which represents Chile’s largest mining companies.