Anglo American, through its subsidiary Minera Quellaveco, planned to develop the Quellaveco Mine Project in the Asana River Valley in southern Peru.
Ausenco assessed the transport options for the movement of 30 to 35 Mt/y of copper ore by railway and by conveyor from the proposed mine to a proposed concentrator located at Pampa Tolar, Peru.
The scope of work included the pre-screening of rail and conveyor options through a number of potential corridors, the development of criteria and alignments for the preferred rail route and for the preferred conveyor route including preparation of capital and operating costs, and an economic comparison of the rail and conveyor options.
Recommendations were based on the trade-off studies after considering safety and environmental issues, reliability, proven technology and efficiency, and costs.
Feasibility studies for the copper mine are expected to be completed in 2015.