Codelco in Chile approves underground expansion of the mine in El Salvador

Codelco, Chile's national mining company, the world's largest copper producer, has approved an underground expansion of its Salvador mine with an investment of $1.
383 billion, which will extend the production life of time-sensitive operations by 40 years and increase production by 30%.

Codelco said the cost of the Rajo Inca project was 33 percent
lower than the initial estimate in 2014, thanks to optimization of existing infrastructure and processes.
The expansion project will convert Salvador (which has been operating since 1959) from an underground mine to an open-pit mine
.

Construction is expected to begin
later this year.
The initial divestment of the rock covering the deposit is expected to take 22 months, with commissioning
scheduled to commence in the second half of 2022.

The San Diego-based miner hopes the mine will produce 90,000 tons of copper
by the first half of 2023.
Currently, El Salvador has the lowest productivity of any mine in Codelco, producing about 50,600 tons of copper last year, just 3%
of the company's total production.

Rajo Inca is one of
six major projects undertaken by Chilean mining companies to increase production at their barren mines.

The company's new underground operation in Chuquicamata has been put into production in 2019, while a new mine at the El Teniente underground mine will begin
in 2023.

Gerhard von Borries, vice president of projects at Codelco, said last month that the coronavirus pandemic would have a $210 million economic impact
on the company.
Of that amount, $138 million was due to business continuity and production, while the rest was for
logistics, transportation, new facilities and procurement of supplies.

Codelco has significant copper deposits, representing 10% of the world's known proven and probable reserves, and approximately 11% of global annual copper production, with 1.
6 million tonnes
produced in 2019.