[miningmx.com] — Anglo America, the world’s fourth-largest diversified miner, will start construction on its $3bn Quellaveco copper mine next year, the company’s Peru chief said on Wednesday.
Quellaveco, one of Anglo American’s largest projects in Peru, is expected to produce some 220,000 tonnes of copper per year.
“We are thinking we’ll start construction next year, construction should take about 44 months,” said Luis Marchese, the company’s manager for Peru. The company had previously said the mine could be operating in 2014.
Anglo American also has the Michiquillay project in the pipeline in Peru, the world’s No. 2 copper producer. The mine has been delayed due to opposition in surrounding communities.
Speaking at the 30th biannual Perumin convention in Arequipa, Marchese did not give a figure for the total investment that would go into the project. He said it was expected to produce about 300,000 tonnes of the red metal but production would not start until after 2015.
Anglo American also operates in Chile, where it has a partnership with Xstrata at the Collahuasi copper mine. Collahuasi is the world’s third largest copper producer.
