Chile and Ecuador have resumed negotiations over a partnership to develop a major copper deposit in the northern Imbabura province of Ecuador after a yearlong impasse, reported Bloomberg. Ecuador Energy and Mines Minister Xavier Vera said that Chile’s state copper producer Codelco has agreed to a request by its Ecuadorian counterpart Enami to suspend two arbitration processes over the jointly…
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Las Bambas mine temporarily restarts after weeks-long shutdown
Fifty-one days after a group of indigenous communities in Peru commenced a protest on MMG’s Las Bambas copper mine because of the groups’ accusation of failed “social commitments,” the protestors have temporarily lifted the action.
Read MorePipeline leak reported at Antofagasta’s Los Pelambres
Antofagasta said on 7 June that its operations have been disrupted at the Los Pelambres project in Chile’s Coquimbo region after a leak was detected in the underground pipeline that carries its concentrate. The miner said the leak was detected on 31 May in the line between its concentrator plant and the Los Vilos port and was immediately shut down;…
Read MoreNine dead in Colombian coal mine blast
Mining officials in Colombia have now confirmed the deaths of nine miners while another six remain trapped underground at the La Mestiza coal operation in El Zulia, northeastern Colombia, following a gas explosion, fire and tunnel collapse. The National Mining Agency (ANM) said the explosion on 30 May resulted from high concentrations of methane. Search and rescue efforts have been…
Read MoreSigma Lithium files Grota do Cirilo technical report
Canadian mineral development company Sigma Lithium has filed an update to its technical report for the Grota do Cirilo project in Brazil – one of the largest lithium hardrock deposit in the Americas.
Read MoreBelo Sun’s Volta Grande suffers setback
Canadian miner Belo Sun Mining has received another setback to its Volta Grande gold project in the Pará state of Brazil: the interim suspension of its construction and environmental licenses. A judge with the Agrarian Court of Altamira has suspended the licenses until a socio-environmental study of the riverside peoples, at a minimum distance of 10 kilometers from the project,…
Read MoreAtico nabs EIA approval for La Plata VMS project
Latin America-focused Atico Mining has received approval of the Environmental Impact Assessment for the construction and operations of its high-grade La Plata VMS project in Ecuador. The La Plata project plan consists of a 900-t/d underground mining operation with state-of-the-art infrastructure, including a filtered tailings facility – a first of its kind in Ecuador. This technology, already used at Atico’s…
Read MoreHorizonte breaks ground at Araguaia
Nickel developer Horizonte Minerals has kicked off construction at its flagship Araguaia project in Para state, northern Brazil. The company is now entering a 24-month construction period with its Stage 1 targeting production of 14,500 tonnes per year. It has already awarded most of its crucial long-lead equipment contracts, including the project’s furnace in late February, earthworks earlier this month…
Read MoreBHP opens US$2.46 billion copper concentrator at Spence
Global miner BHP inaugurated a new copper concentrator plant on May 13 at its Spence operation in northern Chile, which will extend the life of the mine for another 50 years. The project required an investment of US$2.46 billion and has a throughput of 95,000 t/d to produce copper concentrate and molybdenum concentrate. The miner said the project supports its…
Read MoreEquinox temporarily halts mining at RDM
Equinox Gold said it has stopped operations at its RDM mine in Brazil amid a delay in permits for the mine’s scheduled tailings storage facility raise. Discussions with regulatory officials are ongoing and its contractor for the work is ready to mobilize and begin working. Full operations, it added, could restart as early as two months after the approval is…
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