Collahuasi mine

Collahuasi mine
Location
Collahuasi mine
RegionTarapacá Region
CountryChile
Coordinates20°59′29.19″S 68°38′19″W / 20.9914417°S 68.63861°W / -20.9914417; -68.63861
Production
ProductsCopper
Molybdenum
Owner
CompanyAnglo American plc (44%)
Glencore (44%)
Mitsui & Co. (12%)

The Collahuasi/Ujina mine is a large copper mine located at 4,200 m (13,800 ft) altitude in the north of Chile in the Tarapaca Region. Collahuasi represents one of the largest copper reserves in Chile and in the world having estimated reserves of 3.93 billion tonnes of ore grading 0.66% copper.[1]

The mine produced 560,000 tonnes of copper in 2018, making it one of the world's largest copper mines.[2]

In the 2020s the mine has faced dificulties relating to water scarcity and decreasing ore grades.[3]

Climate

Climate data for Collahuasi, elevation 4,800 m (15,700 ft)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 12.2
(54.0)
8.3
(46.9)
9.3
(48.7)
9.3
(48.7)
5.9
(42.6)
1.9
(35.4)
3.0
(37.4)
3.9
(39.0)
4.0
(39.2)
7.7
(45.9)
9.6
(49.3)
10.3
(50.5)
7.1
(44.8)
Daily mean °C (°F) 3.5
(38.3)
1.7
(35.1)
1.3
(34.3)
0.6
(33.1)
−2.6
(27.3)
−5.9
(21.4)
−4.0
(24.8)
−3.3
(26.1)
−2.8
(27.0)
−0.9
(30.4)
0.0
(32.0)
2.5
(36.5)
−0.8
(30.5)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) −1.5
(29.3)
−1.4
(29.5)
−3.1
(26.4)
−4.4
(24.1)
−7.0
(19.4)
−10.4
(13.3)
−9.1
(15.6)
−8.3
(17.1)
−8.4
(16.9)
−6.3
(20.7)
−5.7
(21.7)
−2.7
(27.1)
−5.7
(21.8)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 5.5
(0.22)
5.1
(0.20)
2.5
(0.10)
0.0
(0.0)
0.0
(0.0)
4.5
(0.18)
0.0
(0.0)
0.0
(0.0)
10.0
(0.39)
2.5
(0.10)
0.0
(0.0)
5.0
(0.20)
35.1
(1.39)
Source: Bioclimatografia de Chile[4]

References

  1. ^ "Copper mines". angloamerican.com. 2011. Archived from the original on 2013-02-02. Retrieved 2013-07-06.
  2. ^ "Chile's Collahuasi copper mine expects to match 2018 record output this year – CEO". MINING.COM. 2021-05-12. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
  3. ^ "Collahuasi pierde 74 % de utilidades por escasez hídrica y menor ley del cobre". Chile País Minero (in Spanish). 2025-06-30. Retrieved 2025-07-01.
  4. ^ Hajek, Ernst; Castri, Francesco (1975). "Bioclimatografia de Chile" (PDF) (in Spanish). Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 November 2009. Retrieved 27 May 2024.