The Playa Verde project aims to extract red metal from old tailings deposited on the Playa Grande beach in Chañaral. Between 1938 and 1975, the beach received tailings from the Potrerillos smelter and the Salvador mine of state-owned copper producer Codelco.
It is estimated that it could hold about 250 million tons of tailings that form a deposit of metalliferous sands 10.15m thick. In addition, according to a feasibility study, recoverable resources reach 35Mt with 0.24% copper.
The purpose is to process the tailings in a metallurgical plant to extract copper in cathodes or concentrates. The project will also clean up the beach, which has high levels of arsenic and copper. This will involve dredging, a solvent extraction area and electro-winning to produce cathodes.
Copper-gold project that considers the construction of a LX-SX-EW plant for the treatment of 6.3 ktpd of leachable mineral, and a concentrator plant for the treatment of sulphide ore at a rate of 20 ktpd. The estimated oxide reserve is 7.2 ktpy of copper cathodes, while the sulfides production in 32.8 ktpy of fine copper and 25 Koz/y of copper contained in concentrates, for a useful life of almost 18 years.
“Tente en el Aire” (TEA) is the name of the project located at Nueva Victoria, SQM’s mine in the Pozo Almonte district, where iodine and nitrate-rich salts are produced. The project is aimed at incorporating new areas in the mine to increase its production, incorporating the use of seawater in the production process.
The project will double the iodine production capacity, reaching 23 thousand tons by extracting 900 liters per second of seawater. The project’s investment is one of SQM’s most ambitious, reaching US$ 350 million, which will be reflected over the 20-year life of the project.
The construction stage will last four years, which will require the permanent employment of 1,400 people, even reaching a pick of 2,760 jobs, which will benefit the region’s economy and increase employability. Once the project is completed, 717 workers will be required on a stable basis.
