Southern Copper Corporation presented seven measures of technological improvement and innovation that will be applied in the development of the 'Tía María' copper project (Arequipa).
The director of environmental services of Southern Copper Peru, Dario Oviedo, said that the points to optimize are related to the use of seawater; Performing work to avoid generating dust discharge and dust containment measures.
The adoption of measures to avoid generating dust impacts with the population is also considered; the possibility of building a railway to carry the raw material and that this transport of minerals does not interfere with the area of influence in the populated area.
“A monitoring committee is being created to continue complying with environmental standards. A railway will be made connecting Matarani with the mine, and will send inputs of 2,400 tons per day by rail. There will also be a direct road to the area, ”he said in the framework of the 34 Perumin Mining Convention.
He added that in the case of ore processing, mineral leaching work will be done, in which the project's floors will be protected with four layers of protection, and sensors will be used.
He noted that in the extraction stage the dust will be minimized and the floors will be moistened.
It should be noted that the 'Tía María' project is an initiative with an investment commitment of US $ 1,400 million and that, if it starts operating, it is expected to produce about 120,000 tons per year.
After receiving - in July - the approval of the construction license, now the project is in a review stage by the Ministry of Energy and Mines after the observations made by the Regional Government of Arequipa.
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The executive said that, in the almost 60 years of operation, the company increased sales 38 times, ranging from US $ 62 million, to US $ 2,800 million registered in the last year.
Other technological innovation works that the company has carried out in recent years is the modernization of the Ilo refinery, remediation systems and tailings management in Tacna, in the area corresponding to the Ite Bay.
