Chile’s Escondida, the world’s biggest copper mine, said it is banking on a new $4.2-billion concentrator, its third, and $3-billion water desalination plant to counteract falling ore grades and help boost production over the coming years.
Once all three of its concentrators are up and running, Escondida expects to produce around 1.2-million tonnes of copper annually for the next decade. The mine, nestled high in Chile’s arid Atacama desert, produced 1.15-million tonnes in 2015.
