Take a moment to view this exciting compilation of Landsat 4, 5 and 8 true colour images of the giant Collahuasi copper mine in Chile, recently shared on Twitter.
User @sentinel_hub has compressed 21 years of satellite imaging into a time-lapse of only 21 seconds, showing how the world’s second-largest open-pit copper mine grew over the years.
The deposit was first outlined in 1991 after exploration by Shell, Chevron and Falconbridge in the late 1980s. The mine was commissioned in April 1999 at the cost of $1.76 billion.
During 2004, the project partners completed a $584 million expansion program of the mine, giving it a long-term capacity of 500,000 tonnes per year of copper.
According to the latest life-of-mine plan, the Collahuasi mine has a current mine life from 2020 to 2070.
The mine was estimated to contain total measured and indicated resources of 5,391Mt grading at 0.81% of copper as of December 2019. The proved and probable reserves totalled 3,055Mt grading at 0.92% copper.
Mitsui & Co. owns a 12% interest in the world’s second-largest copper mine, located in northern Chile. Anglo American and Glencore each hold a 44% stake in the operation.
