Mining and Infrastructure
Tedagua-Cobra / Consorcio Caitan
BHP Billinton, Minera Spence
Mejillones, Región de Antofagasta
2017-2018
Engineering and Procurement Management
Detailed engineering in various specialities, architectural design, 3D technology, technical procurement management and site engineering.
In 2005, construction work began on the Spence mine and two years later production began, consolidating over time as a relevant deposit in BHP’s investment portfolio.
In August 2017, BHP approved the Spence Growth Option (SGO) project, with an estimated investment of US$2.46 billion, which was aligned with the mining company’s corporate strategy of having large, long-life, low-cost operations.
Today, the site is ready to take a big step forward thanks to the construction of the SGO project, which allows Spence to project itself in the long term through the treatment of hypogenous minerals by means of a concentrator plant, which will operate in conjunction with the current FullSal mixed minerals leaching process.
Overall, the project comprises: a new 95,000 tpd concentrator plant, which is expected to increase current copper production by approximately 185,000 tonnes per year in the first ten years of operation, extending the life of the Spence mine by more than 50 years; and the commissioning of the desalination plant at the end of last year, among others.
The desalination plant, which considers the use of desalinated water for 100% of the mining process, uses reverse osmosis technology and has a capacity of approximately 1,000 l/s of water and required 154 km of water pipeline from the plant to the mine operation.
Pares&Alvarez developed detail engineering in various specialties, architectural design, 3D technology, technical procurement management and site engineering and was implemented in 14 months.
Sources: Video BHP
