Chilean state-run copper producer Codelco has decided to halt all of its construction projects in the north of the country, including the underground phase of Chuquicamata, while the Covid-19 pandemic spreads across the region, the company said on Saturday June 20.
The current operations of the open pit at Chuquicamata will be maintained, however, with workers from the city of Calama, 20km to the south, remaining on site. Codelco said that it will make all necessary efforts to keep production rates stable at Chuquicamata.The unit is gradually moving away from a 100-year-old open-pit operation to an underground asset called Chuquicamata Subterr??nea, intending to increase mine...