en.Wedoany.com Reported - The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) submitted by Anglo American Sur S.A. for the life extension and new technology application project at its El Soldado mine in Chile has been formally accepted by the Valparaíso Regional Office of Chile's Environmental Assessment Service (SEA). With an investment of US$295 million, the project aims to achieve operational continuity by mining new phases of the open pit (Phases 6S, 6N, and 7), restarting the underground mine, constructing a new tailings storage facility and waste rock dump, and expanding existing facilities.

The project, named "El Soldado Development Project (PDES)," plans to maintain conventional open-pit mining methods while processing slag from the Chagres smelter or other sources, as well as ore from other mines. The existing El Cobre concentrator plant has a maximum installed capacity of 8.1 million tonnes per year; once the project is operational, it will process slag and/or ore at an annual throughput of 6 million tonnes. PDES will prioritize utilizing areas previously developed by the mine, making this a core element of its design and sustainable development.

The construction phase is expected to last approximately 18 months (three half-year periods), commencing with pre-stripping activities after obtaining environmental approval and the corresponding sectoral permits. The operational phase is planned to last 16 years, comprising two production cycles of approximately 8 years each. Tailings disposal will be directed, according to the production cycle, to the Phase 5 Tailings Storage Facility, the Los Quilos Tailings Storage Facility, the Phase 7 Tailings Storage Facility, and the underground mine voids, requiring the construction of a new classification and thickening plant as a supplementary facility for tailings transport. For waste rock storage, the capacity of the existing El Carmen, San José, and El Sauce waste rock dumps will be expanded, and a new dump will be created inside the El Soldado open pit (Phase 6S-7 In-Pit Waste Dump).

The closure phase of the El Soldado project is expected to last 6 years, starting from the cessation of tailings discharge to the Phase 7 Tailings Storage Facility and concluding with the completion of monitoring and the closure of all access points. The execution of the project timeline will depend on the acquisition of sectoral permits, potential unplanned shutdowns or contingencies, and market conditions.

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