State-owned Codelco struggles to maintain output

In October, the wheels started turning on one of the world’s largest conveyor systems. Once in full operation, 14 km of belts will bring 140,000 tonnes of ore a day to surface from huge tunnels carved out beneath Codelco’s giant Chuquicamata pit in northern Chile. The operation represents the future of Chile’s mining industry, Chilean President Sebastian Piñera said at its inauguration in August. “This is a leap forward, not just in terms of the 140,000 tonnes a day, but how it is produced,” Pinera said. Continue reading at The Northern Miner.