Mitsui to Build Desalination Plant for BHP’s Spence Copper Mine in Chile

Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co. confirmed it has been selected to build a desalination plant for
BHP’s Spence copper mine in Chile, as part of a $2.5 billion mine expansion approved earlier this year and which will add another 50 years to the operation’s productive life.

Copper mine, representative image, Pixabay

Mitsui will build the plant at Mejillones port, about 60 km north of Antofagasta city, through a joint venture with Técnicas de Desalinazación de Aguas (Tedagua), a unit of Spain’s ACS Group with strengths in water-related business, it said.

The 50-50 joint venture, Caitan SpA, will build, own and operate a the seawater desalination plant and a water conveyance system for Spence mine.

Caitan will supply fresh water to Spence through a 150km-long pipeline, during a 20-year period, Mitsui said.

The project will be the Japanese company’s first desalination plant and it is estimated to require an investment of around $623 million (70 billion Yen).

Project location, Source: Mitsui

Water shortages have long been a concern for miners operating in Chile, so demand for projects that can open up new sources of it are expected to be in high demand, with the market increasing by 14% a year.

In 2013, BHP and Rio Tinto began building a $3.4bn desalination plant at Escondida mine, the largest copper operation in the world. The initiative was followed by Lundin Mining's plant at its Candelaria open pit mine. A year later,  Anglo American opened one to ensure enough water supply to its Mantoverde mine.

Most recently, Chilean state copper miner Codelco kicked off a tender process for a $1.2 billion plant and has since indicated it has received several expressions of interest.

Sources: Mining.com and Mitsui

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Taxonomy

• Treatment
• Treatment Plants
• Desalination
• Water Utility
• Infrastructure
• Utility Management
• Infrastructure Management
• water treatment
• Desalination