ACCIONA Archives - International Mining

The mining company Compañía Minera Doña Inés de Collahuasi (CMDIC) has awarded ACCIONA the design and construction of a seawater desalination plant at Collahuasi’s Patache Port, 70 km south of the city of Iquique, in the Tarapacá region of Chile, ACCIONA says.

The project, which is part of the “Infrastructure Development and Productive Capacity Improvement Plan” for CMDIC’s operations in the Tarapacá region, also includes ACCIONA’s operation and maintenance of the plant for two years, with an option to extend for another three years.

The desalination plant at the Patache Port will have an initial capacity of 1,050 liters per second. The project includes the execution of maritime works and a pre-treatment system, as well as the development of reverse osmosis and post-treatment technology to guarantee the availability of water resources, the quality of which must be adjusted to the different operating conditions of the mining company.

CMDIC is one of the major Chilean mining companies engaged in the extraction and production of copper concentrate, as well as one of the largest in the world.

The construction of this new seawater desalination plant consolidates ACCIONA’s position as one of the leading companies in the water treatment business for mining operations in Chile, it says.

Having recently launched its I’MNOVATION open innovation program in Chile, ennomotive has attracted the support of Canada’s Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI) in furthering ACCIONA’s sustainable and renewable energy goals with the project.

ACCIONA has been present in Chile for over a decade and has more than 3,000 professionals that develop large infrastructure, water, industrial, and service projects.

The goal of the I’MNOVATION program is to transform the mining, energy, and construction industries to become more sustainable in Chile, according to CEMI. In this sense, eight challenges have been identified in areas with big potential for growth for ACCIONA, related to digital transformation and the fight against climate change in Chile, CEMI said.

One key area of this program is sustainable mining, where ACCIONA intends to provide solutions for Chile mining companies to make their operations safer and more environmental-friendly.

The second area is renewable energy where there are many ongoing projects in Chile and ACCIONA is one of the global leaders in this sector, according to CEMI. The company is looking for solutions to improve the efficiency of distributed generation grids, optimise the operation and maintenance of thermal solar plants and scale up renewables to isolated construction works to reduce the carbon footprint.

The third area focuses on Smart Cities and mobility, the use of electric vehicles in big cities and airports like the one in Santiago de Chile.

ACCIONA is looking for startups to provide technological solutions to solve these challenges. The best proposals will be awarded $25,000 to build a real-life pilot on site in Chile, with such pilots executed in collaboration with ACCIONA and going on for a three-month period.

Under the renewable energy challenges, ACCIONA is looking for management and network stability services through the control of consumption and renewable generation; energy sustainability in temporary, isolated construction works; and efficiency in operation and maintenance of a CSP and solar power plant using real-time weather and market data.

Its sustainable mining challenges include one around the efficiency and digitalisation of the copper leaching process; safety and health monitoring for on-site workers; and monitoring of piping systems for both tailings and copper concentrates.

The deadline to participate in the challenges is the October 28. See www.ennomotive.com/startup-competitions-mining/ for more details.

ACCIONA to build seawater desalination plant for Collahuasi in Chile

CEMI lends support to Chile I’MNOVATION open innovation program