At a time when Australian miner Orion plans to reopen Prieska Copper Mine, defunct since the 1990s, and Namibia sashays into position to leverage off increased bulk logistics traffic from copper mined in the DRC and Zambia, South African raw minerals stalwart Anglo American is digging in not locally but in Peru.
Its new $5.3-billion copper mine in western South America, Quellaveco, aims to begin output from 2022 and its cash-generative capacity is tipped to last for decades.
According to estimations it will herald 300 000 tonnes of copper in its first five years.
With plans to start additional copper operations nearby, Anglo foresees pushing output to more than one million tonnes of copper by the time Quellaveco, situated in the southern Peruvian desert, comes on line.
Currently, Anglo’s copper interests yield around 600 000 tonnes per annum.
Tom McCulley, Anglo’s Peru CEO, told journalists recently the mine would be the largest copper-producing facility in the world, the likes of which will probably not be seen again.
