Hatch’s work at Codelco’s Ministro Hales mine (formerly Mansa Mina) in Chile is nearly complete. Hatch’s job scope spanned the issuing of drawings through to current on-site engineering support for the project that at its peak in June 2012, reached 30 on-site personnel. The project has involved detailed engineering design for the copper concentrator; design of peripheral services installations for roasting plant (by others); detailed engineering of the crusher, overland conveyor, stockpile, milling, flotation and thickening areas.The last major construction milestone was completion of the mechanical stabilised earth (MSE) wall. Installation of the last row of plates on the upper side of the wall concluded in May 2012 and the foundations of the primary crusher and ancillary concrete in the area of the primary crusher were also completed.

Other noteworthy activities include:

• Mounting of the overland conveyor structure has started, as well as installation of the foundation for the drive system and the belt structure platforms (2 km complete so far of the total 3 km)
• Foundation concreting continues in the stockpile area for the vault and overland conveyor, which will feed the SAG mill, and foundations for the stockpile facility are also in progress
• Concrete works for the foundations of ball and SAG mills are under development, and massive earth movements are nearly complete in the thickening, flotation and main electrical substations areas
• The largest pre-stripping works ever carried out continue on schedule, with operations involving three cable shovels, a hydraulic excavator and 15 trucks with 363 t capacity each, the largest in the industry.

With work progressing well, the first concentrate throughput is expected in October 2013 when the mine will have an average annual output equivalent to 170,000 t/y of fine copper and 300 t of silver.