Overview -
Minera Alumbrera is the biggest mine in Argentina. It is an open pit copper and gold mine in the northwestern province of Catamarca in the foothills of the Andes (2,600 m a.s.l.).
The mine facilities are the open cut mine, processing facilities and central administration offices at Alumbrera, Catamarca province; a 316 km concentrate slurry pipeline through Catamarca and Tucuman provinces; a 202 km, 220 kv power line from the project's substation at El Bracho, Tucuman; a filter plant and rail loading facilities at Cruz del Norte, Tucuman province; a port, handling facilities and train maintenance facilities at San Martin near Rosario, in Santa Fe province. Port facilities include a rail car unloading building and 50,000 t storage shed.
The pipeline from the mine crosses the Nevados del Aconquija mountains to the province of Tucuman where the copper/gold slurry is dewatered and shipped 830 km in trains owned by the company to the port at San Martin.
The lease encompasses all mineralized areas of the deposit. Immediate mine infrastructure and other mine facilities cover a permitted surface area of 5,200 hectares. The Alumbrera open pit mine is situated on a 600 hectare mining lease. The lease runs until 2017. The mining rights for the deposit are vested in Yacimientos Mineros de Agua de Dionisio (YMAD), a state-owned company that has an unincorporated joint venture agreement with Minera Alumbrera.
There are approximately 1,800 people working directly at the mine, either as mine employees or contractors. Mine site infrastructure includes offices, a warehouse, laboratory, medical center, a permanent camp, and workshops.
Annual production is 180,000 tonnes of copper in concentrate and 630,000 ounces of gold in concentrate and dore. More than 50% of the concentrate is sold on long-term contracts, while doré is refined in the USA. In 2007, a molybdenum processing facility was added with startup expected in 2008. Annual molybdenum concentrate production has been estimated at 4,400 tonnes of molybdenum.
The mine was developed over a two year period at a cost of US$1.2 billion and began production in 1998. It has a mine life of ten plus years. Xstrata Copper is the operator.
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