Overview -
The Zaldívar Mine is an open pit heap leach copper mine located in Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The mine is approximately 1,400 kilometres north of Santiago and 175 kilometres southeast of the port city of Antofagasta. The property is within a 1,240-hectare claim area covered by 247 exploitation concessions.
The mine employs 712 people directly and also has approximately 560 contract workers. Commercial production started in 1995.
Zaldivar produces more than 300 million pounds of copper cathode each year. Production meets grade A standards for copper at the London Metals Exchange and has been recognized through the registration of the Zaldivar brand copper cathode. Zaldivar has also completed the process of registration of the "Zaldivar" brand with COMEX.
The Zaldivar mine produced 148,000 tonnes of copper in 2004 and accounts for 1% of the world's copper supply.
The proven and probable mineral reserves as of December 31, 2004 are estimated at 6,202 million pounds (2,813,000 tonnes) of copper. The projected mine life is approximately 20 years.
Barrick owns 100% of the Zaldívar mine.
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