Caterpillar Inc Heavy Equipment CSR by GineersNow Engineering GineersNow Engineering Magazine November 2016 | Page 75

In the Chilean community of
Machali in Cachapoal Province,
in the Andes mountain
range, lies the world’s largest
underground mine. Called the El
Teniente, it holds underground
copper operations, which is the
sixth biggest in the world by
reserve size. Codelco, the state-
owned copper miner and the
world’s largest copper producer,
owns and operates El Teniente.
As of 2015, the underground
mine has more than 3,000
kilometers of tunnels and about
1,500 kilometers of underground
roads. It yields more than
400,000 metric tons of refined
copper per year – in 2013, they
managed to reach a 450,000-
tonne output; and in January
to November of 2014, about
423,100 tonnes of copper were
mined. It comprises six mining
blocks around the Braden Pipe
at different elevations including
the Esmeralda, Reservas Norte,
All Photos by CodelcoViaMining.com
Diablo Regimiento and Pipa
Norte.
The operations of Codelco are
divided into seven, namely
Chuquicamata,
Radomiro
Tomic, Ministro Hales, Andina, El
Teniente, Salvador, and Gabriela
Mistral.
Massive ores are hauled daily
through a railroad system,
leading to the surface. They are
crushed in plants and conveyed
to a concentrator where a
copper concentrate is produced.
This is sent to a nearby smelter.
This underground copper mine
boasts as one of the first mines
to deploy a semi-automated
load haul dumpers for ore
extraction. They did it in 2004.
El Teniente’s huge copper
deposit was discovered early in
the 19th century. It was in 1905
when U.S.-based Braden Copper
Company started operations on
the site, with block caving used
for extracting ore.
NOVEMBER 2016
Mining Engineering and Its Importance
75