The El Morro mine is one of the largest gold mines in Chile and in the world.[1] The mine is located in the north of the country in the Atacama Region.[1] The mine has estimated reserves of 6.7 million oz of gold. The mine also holds reserves amounting to 449.5 million tonnes of ore grading 0.49% copper.[1]
Contractors who have worked in this mine are Hatch, AMEC, Fluor Corporation, Bechtel. Siemens was awarded to do electrical engineering. [2]
A 70% ownership stake was sold by Xstrata to Barrick Gold for $465 million USD in 2009, with the remaining 30% owned by New Gold Inc.[3]
Development of the mine was initially halted in 2012 due to a lack of consultation with the local indigenous Diaguita community, but in 2014 a Chilean appeals ruled the project could proceed.[4] This was then overturned by the Supreme Court of Chile later that year.[5][6]
In 2015, the mine was combined with the nearby Relincho project to a single venture called NuevaUnión split 50-50 between Goldcorp and Teck.[7] Goldcorp was merged with Newmont in 2019.
See also
- El Alto mining project
- Huascoaltinos
- Pascua Lama
References
- El Morro - Overview & Operating Highlights goldcorp.com, 2013, retrieved 2013-06-18^
- El Morro Project digiscend.com, retrieved 21 June 2015^
- Xstrata Agree $465m Sale of Chilean El Morro Project to Barrick Gold Proactiveinvestors NA, 2009-10-12, retrieved 2022-07-23^
- Big win for Goldcorp’s $3.9 billion El Morro mine in Chile MINING.COM, 2014-04-30, retrieved 2022-07-23^
- Chile suspends Goldcorp’s El Morro mine - Environment News Al Jazeera, 2014-10-08, retrieved 2022-07-23^
- Update 1-Goldcorp's El Morro mine halted by Chile Supreme Court Reuters, 2014-10-07, retrieved 2022-07-23^
- Newmont, Teck to invest $152m in Chilean copper-gold project mining.com, 2020-02-20, retrieved 2022-07-23^