Fundición Potrerillos

Fundicón Potrerillos seen in the background. In the foreground a Ferronor GR12U train climbing a grade.

Fundición Potrerillos is a copper smelter plant next to the town of Potrerillos in Chile's Atacama Region. The smelter is integrated with the copper mine of El Salvador, and both are owned by Codelco.[1][2] It has a capacity to produce 177 kTon yearly of cathode copper.[1] Fundición Potrerillos entered operations in 1927 under the ownership of Andes Copper Mining Company.[2][3] The smelter has sulphur capture efficiency of 95%.[4] The smelter operates with one Teniente Converter (TC), three Peirce Smith converter (PSC) and two rotary Slag Cleaning Furnaces (SCF).[4]

The smelter has for decades had an overcapacity and from 2011 to 2014 it processed ore concentrate from Escondida following an agreement between Minera Escondida and Codelco.[5][6]

In the mid-2020s Codelco has recognised limited automation and increased environmental regulations as challenges for the viability of Fundición Potrerillos.[7]

In 2025, and in particular after the collapse of a chimney in June that year, there have been calls within Codelco to close the smelter.[6][3][8]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Costabal M., Francisco (2015-06-10). Fundiciones de Cobre en Chile (PDF) (Report) (in Spanish). SONAMI. Retrieved 2025-03-23.
  2. ^ a b "Salvador: Fundición de Potrerillos cumplió 75 años de funcionamiento". Codelco. 2003-11-17. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
  3. ^ a b Ibarra, Valeria (2025-06-13). "Se derrumba chimenea de fundición Potrerillos de Codelco: No hay lesionados". Diario Financiero (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-08-10.
  4. ^ a b Devia, Manuel; Parra, Roberto; Queirolo, Claudio; Sánchez, Mario; Wilkomirsky, Igor (2019). "Copper smelting and converting: past and present Chilean developments". Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy. 128 (1–2): 108–116. Bibcode:2019MPEM..128..108D. doi:10.1080/25726641.2018.1542050.
  5. ^ Arellano, Alberto; Ramírez, Pedro (2016-10-27). "Las huellas de 4 mil toneladas de concentrado de cobre de Codelco que se esfumaron en el desierto". Ciper (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-07-01.
  6. ^ a b Attwood, James (2025-07-08). "Accidente en Potrerillos reaviva el debate sobre cierre de histórica fundición de Codelco". Bloomberg Línea (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-08-09.
  7. ^ "Codelco y trabajadores analizan presente y futuro de la Fundición Potrerillos". Portal Minero (in Spanish). 2024-12-30. Retrieved 2025-06-12.
  8. ^ Pizzoleo, Javiera (2025-06-13). "Colapsa chimenea de la Planta de Acido de la Fundición de Potrerillos". Reporte Minero & Energético (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-08-10.

26°26′10.49″S 69°28′46.05″W / 26.4362472°S 69.4794583°W / -26.4362472; -69.4794583

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