GOVERNOR JUAN PABLO GÁLVEZ VISITS
MINERA TRES VALLES’ EXPANSION PROJECTS
On Friday, May 10th, the highest provincial authority visited the plant and mine premises of the mining project, which is located between the counties of Illapel and Salamanca.
Minera Tres Valles, a medium-scale mining company dedicated to the extraction and production of copper, withholds a fundamental goal of developing a modern mining facility with a focus on sustainability, safety and innovation. Since 2018, Minera Tres Valles has been developing three large expansion projects in different production areas, with a final goal of perfecting its processes.
During the site visit, the Governor was shown the Don Gabriel open pit mine which has been in the midst of expansion and contributes to approximately 60% of the total mine production of the company. Alongside the open pit visit, the Governor was taken to some extraction points in the Papomono underground mine, which is close to starting development work in its “Masivo” sector. By using Inclined Block Caving as the exploitation method, there is a major advantage in cost optimization.
Leaching in chloride media, which was first studied by Minera Tres Valles’ Research & Development team and then confirmed by external engineering companies, is the third structural project currently being implemented by the company. This project consists of adding salt to the agglomeration stage, which will increase the metallurgical recovery, reduce the leaching cycle, and therefore decrease the sulfuric acid consumption.
At the end of the visit, Juan Pablo Gálvez said that he was “grateful for the site visit to Minera Tres Valles, which is a company that has gone through a tough situation and it is rewarding to see that, thanks to innovation, it has come back to life through important projects at both mining and processing levels. These initiatives are not often seen in other places and we hope they are hugely successful.”
For Sebastián Cortés, Sustainability Manager at Minera Tres Valles, the visit was considered to be “an important opportunity to enhance our relationship with the public authority. Minera Tres Valles is a company that is concerned about the development of the region and it is of great help when the local authorities know our working standards and development plans. As a company, we firmly believe that maintaining constant dialogue with public organisms generates great benefits, especially for local development.