Capstone Copper Corp says it has committed to the Copper Mark at its Mantos Blancos and Mantoverde operations in Chile. The Copper Mark is an assurance framework to promote responsible production practices and demonstrate the industry’s commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Within one year, Mantos Blancos and Mantoverde will be assessed and independently verified against the Copper Mark’s 32 responsible production criteria, including environmental management, greenhouse gas emissions, human rights, community health, safety and development, and governance.
John MacKenzie, CEO of Capstone commented: “I am proud to share that our Mantos Blancos and Mantoverde operations have joined the Copper Mark framework, reaffirming our commitment to continually pursue best practices based on international standards for responsible mining. Copper is essential to a low-carbon future, and so it is incumbent upon us to ensure that we supply this critical natural resource in as sustainable manner as possible.”
Michèle Brülhart, Executive Director of the Copper Mark said: “As the world’s leading copper producing country, it is vital that production in Chile is conducted responsibly. That is why we are pleased to welcome Capstone Copper’s Mantos Blancos and Mantoverde operations in Chile to the Copper Mark. We will be working with these sites through the Copper Mark framework to support their commitment to provide responsibly produced copper and accelerate the clean energy transition.” Joining the Copper Mark is one of the ways Capstone says it is embedding sustainability into its growth strategy.
At Mantoverde, the Mantoverde Development Project (MVDP), a brownfield sulphide project where Ausenco has the EPC contract, remains fully financed and on-track. Assembly was recently completed on the first of three Komatsu Mining P&H 4100XPC electric rope shovels; the mine electrical loop was set to be available in mid-August for operational commissioning. The shovels will load a fleet of Komatsu Mining 830E haul trucks, the first 13 of which arrived in the March 2022 quarter. Foundations for the primary crusher, stockpile reclaim, mills and flotation circuit are advancing well with earthworks on the truck shop and thickeners near completion. Procurement, contracts an engineering are over 99% complete, with manufacturing and fabrication approximately 95% complete. Overall project completion was 60% as of the end of July 2022.
At Mantos Blancos, the Phase II project is analysing the potential to increase throughput of MB’s sulpide concentrator plant from 7.3 Mt/y to 10 Mt/y by using existing and unused or underutilised ball mills and process equipment. A PFS was completed in Q2 2022 and will be incorporated into an Advanced Basic Engineering Study to be completed in Q4 2022.
