The first photovoltaic plant built on a closed tailings dam was recently inaugurated by Chilean copper miner Pucobre, within the framework of its commitment to sustainable mining. The inauguration ceremony was attended by the Minister of Mining, Marcela Hernando, the National Director of Sernageomin, David Montenegro, the Regional Governor of Atacama, Miguel Vargas, the Presidential Delegate Jorge Fernandez and representatives of various government departments of the Atacama Region.

Also participating were the Director of SONAMI, and Director of Pucobre, Pedro Hurtado Vicuna; the General Manager of Pucobre, Sebastian Rios, the Operations Manager of Guacolda Energia, Rene Opazo, as well as representatives of the Executive Committee, supervisors and workers of the mining company.

The solar park, which is located on a 4.5 ha plot near Tierra Amarilla, involved an investment of US$3 million and has a capacity of 3 MW, energy that will be used for the San Jose flotation plant. This is in addition to the 100% renewable energy contract that Pucobre has had since January 2021, and that supplies all of its production operations, “a project that will allow us to move towards a more sustainable mining, ensuring that energy consumption comes from clean sources.”

The Santa Jose plant is located a few kilometres from the town of Tierra Amarilla and was acquired by Pucobre in 1997. It processes copper sulphide ores from the Punta del Cobre, Mantos de Cobre and Granate Mine mines. It uses the flotation concentration process, obtaining a concentrate of 29% copper.