Candelaria/Ojos del Salado

US copper miner Phelps Dodge plans to reach its 4,000t/d target rate by end-2005 for underground mining at its mainly open-pit Candelaria mine in Chile, a top executive told BNamericas.com. "We are in the neighborhood of 2,000 t/d. We should reach the 4,000 t/d rate at the end of the year," said Harry Conger, Phelps Dodge Mining senior mining operations and development VP in South America, in an interview in Santiago. Candelaria Norte and Candelaria Sur, another lesser-known potential underground target, jointly hold 14M short tons (12.7Mt) of mineralized material grading 2.07% copper.

An EIA submitted by the company involved the construction of an exploration underground ramp where current open pit operations take place. In the area some drill holes have been drilled from surface and results have permitted to presume the existence of a deep mineralized body at the south sector of Candelaria pit. With the purpose of dimensioning the body and follow up with an economic-technical study in order to determine the feasibility of an eventual mining of those resources, the company requires to develop the ramp. The investment cost of the project was estimated in US$2.0 million.

US miner Phelps Dodge, the world's second largest copper producer, posted a net profit of USD293 million in the third quarter of 2004, turning round a net loss of USD300,000 in same-quarter 2003, driven by higher copper prices, BNamericas.com reports the company as saying in a statement. Third quarter results also reflects an accounting procedure change that now reports Phelps Dodge's 51%-owned El Abra and 80%-owned Candelaria copper mines in Chile on a consolidated basis. Total sales came in at USD1.85 billion in the third quarter, up on USD1.03 billion in the year-ago period.