Chile’s state copper company Codelco and state mineral company Enami are to form an agreement to process Enami’s concentrate inventory at Codelco’s El Salvador division in Region III.
Enami and Codelco hope to sign a joint venture contract on or before July 30 under which Codelco will process 1 million tonnes of a 1.5-million-tonne copper concentrate stockpile that Enami has near Copiapo. Shipments of concentrate could start on August 1, an Enami spokeswomen told Metal Bulletin.
“This will be a one-year contract
to supply 1 million tonnes of oxide material to the El Salvador SX-EW plant. As both are state companies the plan is to share the costs and benefits 50-50,” the spokeswoman said.
Enami has capacity to process 380,000 tpm, but is buying about 500,000 tpm of copper mineral at an average grade of 2.5% copper from 2,500 small- and medium-sized miners that have been stimulated to produce more by high copper prices.
The boom in small-scale production has resulted in Enami generating a 3.5 million tonne stockpile of copper concentrates estimated to contain 90,000 fine tonnes of copper that will take three years to clear, according to executive vp Jaime Pérez de Arce. Codelco is due to close its El Salvador operation in 2011 following the exhaustion of its mineral.
