Los Bronces (Anglo American Sur S.A.)
Identity and ownership
- Operator
- Anglo American (Anglo American Sur S.A.)highAnglo American ORMR 2023 — as of 2023-12-31
- Jurisdiction
- Chile — Andes near Santiago (Los Bronces, ~3,500 m)highMining-Technology — as of 2023
- Primary commodity
- CopperhighAnglo American ORMR 2023 — as of 2023-12-31
- Deposit type
- Porphyry copper-molybdenum; primary chalcopyrite-bornite with an overlying chalcocite (supergene) blankethighMining-Technology — as of 2023
- First production
- Historic (>150 years); current large-scale expansion from Nov 2011moderateMining-Technology — as of 2011
- Years in operation
- not derivable
Disclosed interests
- Interest 1
- Anglo American plc — 50.1%highAnglo American ORMR 2023 / Mining-Technology — as of 2023-12-31
- Interest 2
- Mitsubishi Corporation — 20.4% (MC slide: 20.44%)highMitsubishi Corporation Mineral Resources Group — Copper Business briefing (13 April 2023) — as of 2023-04-13
- Interest 3
- Codelco–Mitsui JV — 29.5%moderateMining-Technology — as of 2023
Byproduct and co-product commodities
- Byproduct 1
- MolybdenumhighMining-Technology (Cu-Mo concentrates at Las Tortolas) — as of 2023
Reported production
| Metal | Quantity | Basis | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Copper | 221000 t | total | CY2024 (100% basis (Anglo American Sur)) | Mitsubishi Corporation portfolio slide 3high |
Public technical reporting
JORC (primary) — Anglo American Ore Reserves and Mineral Resources Report 2023, 2024, filed by Anglo American plc (LSE) on ASXhighAnglo American Ore Reserves and Mineral Resources Report 2023
Australia / Asia-Pacific (ASX) · expected language: Ore Reserves / Mineral Resources
Reported mineral resource and reserve
| Category | Tonnes | Grade | Contained | Cut-off | As of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proven+Probable | 1227.7 Mt (Sulphide (flotation); 100% basis; Reserve life stated 33 years.) | 0.53 % Cu | 6520 kt Cu | — | 2023-12-31 | Anglo American ORMR 2023 (pp.25-27), pp.25-27 |
| Proven+Probable | 426.3 Mt (Sulphide (dump leach); 100% basis; Low-grade dump-leach stream — the natural 'value left behind' candidate.) | 0.28 % Cu | 1204 kt Cu | — | 2023-12-31 | Anglo American ORMR 2023 (pp.25-27), pp.25-27 |
| Measured+Indicated | 2887.7 Mt (100% basis) | 0.45 % Cu | 13056 kt Cu | — | 2023-12-31 | Anglo American ORMR 2023 (pp.25-27), pp.25-27 |
| Inferred | 738.2 Mt (100% basis) | 0.43 % Cu | 3194 kt Cu | — | 2023-12-31 | Anglo American ORMR 2023 (pp.25-27), pp.25-27 |
Figures are quoted from the filing named beside each row and are not restated, converted or aggregated here.
Processing and metallurgy
- Process route
- flotation, bio oxidation, SX EW
- Reported recovery
- not stated
- Processing language used in the filing
- none of that family used
- Deleterious elements named
- none stated
High-grade ore: SAG + two ball mills, 52 km slurry pipeline to Las Tortolas flotation plant producing copper and molybdenum concentrates. Low-grade ore: dump leach + SX-EW to copper cathode. Copper recovery % not stated in the ORMR summary.
Mining-Technology- Process route
- flotation, bio oxidation, SX EW
- Reported recovery
- not stated
- Processing language used in the filing
- none of that family used
- Deleterious elements named
- none stated
Processing method: Open-pit; dual route — flotation (Cu+Mo concentrate at Las Tortolas) for higher-grade ore and dump-leach/SX-EW cathode for low-grade ore.
Mining-TechnologyAssessment
The 2023 JORC statement (effective 31 Dec 2023) reports 1,227.7 Mt of flotation reserve at 0.53% Cu plus 426.3 Mt of dump-leach reserve at 0.28% Cu at this porphyry Cu-Mo operation. The dump-leach stream is, by design, a low-recovery route where a large share of contained copper and any molybdenum or precious-metal association reports to residue. Public resource reporting characterises grade and processing route; it is not designed to resolve element deportment by mineral phase in the low-grade leach and residue streams. Whether recoverable value resists the conventional leach/flotation split is a testable question that a DETECT characterisation is built to answer. Element deportment by mineral phase is not resolved in the public reporting located, and the figures here are machine-extracted from the cited filings and not yet independently verified.
Screening signals
Each item below is something a cited source states. Nothing here asserts that unrecovered material is present.
Molybdenum is named as a byproduct or co-product commodity, and the resource statement located carries no grade or contained-metal figure for it.
Molybdenum
Mining-Technology (Cu-Mo concentrates at Las Tortolas)The deposit is described as Porphyry copper-molybdenum; primary chalcopyrite-bornite with an overlying chalcocite (supergene) blanket. Porphyry systems are documented as commonly carrying molybdenum, gold, silver, rhenium and tellurium as byproduct or unrecovered constituents.
Porphyry copper-molybdenum; primary chalcopyrite-bornite with an overlying chalcocite (supergene) blanket
Mining-TechnologyOpen technical questions
Public resource reporting characterises grade and tonnage to a code standard. It is not designed to resolve element deportment by mineral phase. These are the questions this operation’s public reporting was not built to answer.
The resource statement reports contained Copper but no deportment for the molybdenum carried in the concentrate; in which mineral phase that value resides is not resolved by the assays disclosed.
Grounded in: Molybdenum is named as a byproduct or co-product commodity, with no separate grade in the located resource statement. source
The deposit is described as Porphyry copper-molybdenum; public code-compliant reporting characterises grade and tonnage to a code standard but is not designed to resolve element deportment by mineral phase in this material.
Grounded in: The deposit type is reported as Porphyry copper-molybdenum; primary chalcopyrite-bornite with an overlying chalcocite (supergene) blanket. source
How those questions get answered
These are testable questions about element deportment by mineral phase, which code-compliant public reporting is not designed to resolve. A DETECT™ characterisation of a representative physical sample is the instrument built to answer them: it measures which phases host the value and how much is locked. It does not assume a result.
What was sought and not found
- Reserve/resource effective date is 31 Dec 2023 — refresh from Anglo American ORMR 2024. Note the 2025 Anglo–Codelco joint Los Bronces/Andina mine-plan announcement may change the picture.
- Molybdenum grades not in the ORMR summary tables.
- Copper recovery % not publicly stated in the summary; a gap, not a hidden number.
- El Soldado and Chagres smelter (also within Anglo American Sur) not profiled here.
- Figures machine-extracted, not hand-verified.
- Figures are machine-extracted from the cited filings and not yet independently verified by a qualified person (verification_status = machine_extracted_unreviewed). Confirm against the cited filing before external use.