Copper mining group Antofagasta Minerals will start to extract molybdenum at its Centinela Mine in Chile from next year, with production ramping up to 2.000 tonnes in 2019, the company announced earlier this month.
The Centinela operation was formed in 2014 from the merger of the Esperanza and El Tesoro mining companies. Centinela mines sulfide and oxide deposits 1,350km north of Santiago in the Antofagasta region, one of Chile's most important mining areas.Construction work began on this project in 2015 with investment of $125 million. The molybdenum plant in Centinela has processing capacity for 2,700 tons per day, producing material with around 50% molybdenum content.Antofagasta Minerals already produces 10,500...