The Toquepala mine is a large

porphyry copper Porphyry copper deposits are copper ore bodies that are formed from hydrothermal fluids that originate from a voluminous magma chamber several kilometers below the deposit itself. Predating or associated with those fluids are vertical dikes of ...

mine in the Tacna Province, Tacna Department,

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

. The mine is an

open-pit Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique of extracting rock or minerals from the earth from an open-air pit, sometimes known as a borrow. This form of mining ...

mine producing

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

, molybdenum,

rhenium Rhenium is a chemical element with the symbol Re and atomic number 75. It is a silvery-gray, heavy, third-row transition metal in group 7 of the periodic table. With an estimated average concentration of 1 part per billion (ppb), rhenium is one ...

and

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

with minor

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

and

zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...

. The Toquepala mine and the Ilo smelter were opened in 1960 by

Southern Peru Copper Corporation Southern Copper Corporation is a mining company that was founded in 1952. The current incarnation of Southern Copper can be traced to the 2005 acquisition of Southern Peru Copper Corporation by the Mexican copper producer Minera México. 88.9 p ...

, then a subsidiary of

ASARCO Asarco LLC (American Smelting and Refining Company) is a mining, smelting, and refining company based in Tucson, Arizona, which mines and processes primarily copper. The company has been a subsidiary of Grupo México since 1999. Its three la ...

. A Solvent extraction/electrowinning (SX/EW) facility was added in 1995. ASARCO's stake in Southern Peru Copper, now 54.2%, passed to Grupo Mexico, when that company purchased ASARCO in 1999. The mine and smelter are now operated by

Southern Copper Corporation Southern Copper Corporation is a mining company that was founded in 1952. The current incarnation of Southern Copper can be traced to the 2005 acquisition of Southern Peru Copper Corporation by the Mexican copper producer Minera México. 88.9 pe ...

, a subsidiary of Grupo Mexico. In 2009, Toquepala produced about 127,000 tons of copper in sulfide concentrates, all smelted at Ilo, with a copper recovery of 97.4%. Toquepala also produced 38,000 tons of copper

cathode A cathode is the electrode from which a conventional current leaves a polarized electrical device. This definition can be recalled by using the mnemonic ''CCD'' for ''Cathode Current Departs''. A conventional current describes the direction in wh ...

s from the SX/EW plant. As of the end of 2009, Toquepala reported about 13 million tons of contained copper metal in proven and probable ore reserves, at an average grade of 0.47% Cu. This corresponds to 2.6 billion tons of ore at 0.47 % Cu + 0.04% Mo + 2.3 gpt Ag. The projected stripping ratio for this ore is about 2.6:1. In October 2000,

Ollanta Humala Lieutenant colonel Ollanta Moisés Humala Tasso (; born 27 June 1962) is a Peruvian politician and former military officer who served as President of Peru from 2011 to 2016. Originally a socialist and left-wing nationalist, he is considered ...

led an uprising with 50 mutineers who occupied Toquepala town for nine hours, taking four hostages. It was in protest at the corruption of

Alberto Fujimori Alberto Kenya Fujimori Inomoto ( or ; born 28 July 1938) is a Peruvian politician, professor and former engineer who was President of Peru from 28 July 1990 until 22 November 2000. Frequently described as a dictator, * * * * * * he remains a ...

and his advisor

Vladimiro Montesinos Vladimiro Lenin Ilich Montesinos Torres (born 20 May 1945) is a former long-standing head of Peru's intelligence service, National Intelligence Service (SIN), under President Alberto Fujimori. In the year 2000, the infamous "Vladi-videos" came ...

in their last days in power. Humala was left with just seven soldiers following a series of desertions. All hostages were freed, without bloodshed.

Geology

The

porphyry copper deposit Porphyry copper deposits are copper ore bodies that are formed from hydrothermal fluids that originate from a voluminous magma chamber several kilometers below the deposit itself. Predating or associated with those fluids are vertical dikes of ...

and

hypogene In ore deposit geology, hypogene processes occur deep below the earth's surface, and tend to form deposits of primary minerals, as opposed to supergene processes that occur at or near the surface, and tend to form secondary minerals. At great dept ...

mineralization occurred in the Early Eocene. Supergene sulfide enrichment began in the

Late Oligocene The Chattian is, in the geologic timescale, the younger of two ages or upper of two stages of the Oligocene Epoch/ Series. It spans the time between . The Chattian is preceded by the Rupelian and is followed by the Aquitanian (the lowest stage ...

and continued until the

Early Miocene The Early Miocene (also known as Lower Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), Epoch made up of two faunal stage, stages: the Aquitanian age, Aquitanian and Burdigalian stages. The sub-epoch lasted from 23.03 ± 0.05 annum, Ma to ...

Chalcocite Chalcocite (), copper(I) sulfide (Cu2S), is an important copper ore mineral. It is opaque and dark gray to black, with a metallic luster. It has a hardness of 2.5–3 on the Mohs scale. It is a sulfide with a monoclinic crystal system. ...

is the more common copper ore mineral as massive assemblages.

Expansion

Toquepala is expanding its concentrator capacity in order to increase annual production by 100,000 tonnes of copper and 3,100 tonnes of molybdenum at a total capital cost of approximately $US1.2 billion. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) studies for plant concentration and tailings deposit expansion were recently approved by Peruvian Ministry of Energy and Mining according to directorial resolution Nº611-2014-MEM/DGAAM given on 17 December 2014. In 2015

Geoservice Ingeniería Geoservice Ingeniería is a Peruvian firm founded in 1995 which provides engineering and consulting services. It work includes environmental impact assessment (EIA) studies, hydrological studies, construction management, and geotechnical stu ...

and Walsh received mandates from

, while the former is executing studies on surface, underground water resources and hydraulic infrastructure, the latest was in charge of executing the Environmental Impact Assessment studies for plant concentration and tailings deposit expansions.

References

External links

Toquepala mine and plant
at

SPCC company history
March 2009 {{coord, 17, 14, 42, S, 70, 36, 50, W, display=title Asarco Buildings and structures in Tacna Region Copper mines in Peru Geography of Tacna Region Open-pit mines

Geology

Expansion

See also

References

External links