Chilean iron ore miner CMP – Compañía Minera del Pacífico has reported a major milestone for the company and for national mining in Chile. In the presence of the Minister of Mining, Aurora Williams, a 2 km exploratory tunnel of Minas El Romeral CMP was inaugurated, a strategic development that marks the beginning of the Romeral Underground project, which will turn this deposit into the first underground iron mine in the country.
Together with regional authorities, union leaders and representatives of the local ecosystem, CMP says it celebrates a key advance for El Romeral, “an essential site for the development of the Coquimbo Region, as it will ensure the operational continuity of the deposit, promote local employment and provide high strategic value for both the company and the territory.”
This project, now underground environmental assessment, will extend the mine’s useful life until 2034, improve the evaluation of its resources and optimise the planning of its future underground exploitation, which projects 14 Mt of magnetite ore with a grade of 42% iron.
“This is a unique milestone. Our exploration tunnel at Minas El Romeral will open the way to the deposit and pave the way for the future of underground iron ore mining in Chile. The medium- and long-term potential of this mine is very high, and we want to capitalise on these reserves, but with the imprint that CMP has brought throughout its history, and particularly in recent years: the sustainable development of each of our operations. We are very excited that this will be the beginning of our future development for the Elqui Valley, and also a significant milestone for our company,” said Francisco Carvajal, General Manager of CMP.
“Chile not only has copper, lithium, iodine, and nitrate, but we also have iron, which we are capable of producing responsibly. What we see here in Romeral is a significant effort not only from a technical perspective, but also in terms of the investment required to plan an operation and become the first underground iron mine in our country. This technical effort is also supported by the talent behind this project,” said the Minister of Mining, Aurora Williams.