Chile’s Antofagasta Region, 1,350 km north of Santiago
Shareholders:
70% Antofagasta plc, 30% Marubeni Corporation
Ore Reserves:
211.6 million tonnes @ 0.57% copper
Mineral Resources:
270.3 million tonnes @ 0.56% copper
Figures as of December 2009
El Tesoro is a deposit located in Chile’s Antofagasta Region, 1,350 km north of Santiago. It now comprises two open-pit mines feeding a heap-leach operation and a run-of-mine (“ROM”) leaching operation, which produces copper cathodes using a solvent-extraction electro-winning process.
During 2009 the El Tesoro plant began processing material from the Tesoro North-East deposit, and run-of-mine processing of the Esperanza oxide cap also commenced. These additional resources extend the mine life to 2019. As a result of the full year impact of these additional resources production in 2010 is expected to increase to 96,000 tonnes, from the 90,200 tonnes produced in 2009.
