BHP completes commissioning of $2.46B copper plant at Spence mine

BHP Group Ltd. completed commissioning of a $2.46 billion copper concentrator plant that will extend the mine life of its Spence operations in Chile by 50 years.

The plant produces copper and molybdenum concentrates with a daily throughput rate of 95,000 tonnes, the diversified mining company said May 13.

"We value the industry's efforts to responsibly increase Chilean copper production and I would like to recognize BHP for the great achievement of having completed the construction and commissioning of the Spence concentrator in such a complex context, as the one created by the pandemic," Chile's Mining Undersecretary Willy Kracht said at the opening of the plant.

The concentrator achieved initial production in late 2020. BHP expected the ramp-up to full capacity to take 12 months as of mid-February 2021, with Spence production estimated to increase to an average 300,000 tonnes per year during the initial four years of plant operations.

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