The South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy

International Symposium on Stability of Rock Slopes in Open Pit Mining and Civil Engineering
Sergio Olavarría

TRANSITION FROM OPEN PIT TO UNDERGROUND MINING

AT CHUQUICAMATA, ANTOFAGASTA, CHILE

Mr Sergio Olavarría
Director, Chuquicamata Underground Mining Project, CODELCO
Dr Patricio Adriasola
Manager, Chuquicamata Underground Mining Project, CODELCO
Mr Antonio Karzulovic
Geotechnical Consultant, A. Karzulovic & Assoc. Ltd.

ABSTRACT

The economical analyses of different Chuquicamata open pit mine planning scenarios,
indicate that the pit closure should occur at latest in the year of 2017. However, about
60,000 m of drill holes have demonstrated that below the pit bottom there is a potential
of 2.3 billion tons of ore. Hence, Division Codelco Norte developed the scoping
engineering for a large underground panel caving operation, similar to El Teniente
mine. This project considers the exploitation of a 2500 m 300 m footprint, with three
250 m lifts. The plan considers to initiate the construction in the year 2009, to begin the
production in the year 2015 and achieve a production rate of 45 million tons per year in
the year 2021.
A large-scale transition from open pit to underground mining like this one presents
three main challenges: (1) to include the geotechnical aspects relevant for mine design
and mine planning, (2) to define the proper surface and underground infrastructure, and
(3) to fulfil the project deadlines and to achieve the production targets. This paper
summarizes this transition project and discusses these three main challenges.

INTRODUCTION

Chuquicamata mine began open pit mining in the year 1915 and at the end of the year
2005 it had mined out about 2.6 billion tons of copper ore with a mean grade of 1.53%,
reaching a pit depth of 850 m. The current mine plan considers to extract about 700
million tons in the period 2006-2014. At the end of the year 2014 the final pit condition
will be reached with a depth of 1,100 m. The geological data from drill holes indicate
that below the final pit bottom there are about 2.3 billion tons of ore with a mean copper
grade of 0.81%, reaching a depth of 1,800 m, as shown in Figure 1.
Hence, Division Codelco Norte developed the scoping engineering for a large
underground panel caving operation, similar to El Teniente mine. This project considers
the exploitation of a 2500 m 300 m footprint, with three 250 m lifts. The plan considers
to initiate the construction in the year 2009, to begin the production in the year 2014
and achieve a production rate of 45 million tons per year in the year 2020.

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The South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy
International Symposium on Stability of Rock Slopes in Open Pit Mining and Civil Engineering
Sergio Olavarría

Original Landscape (1915)

Ore mined out by open pit mining (1915-2005)

(2.6 billion tons, average grade 1.53% Cu)

West Wall West Fault

East Wall

W
as 850 m
te
ro
ck
Current pit (2005)

Reserves to be mined 250 m

by open pit (2006 -2014)
Final pit (2014)
(700 million tons, 0,80% Cu)

Resources to be mined out

by panel caving
(2.300 billion tons, 0.81% Cu)

Figure 1: Reserves and geological resources of the Chuquicamata ore body.

A large-scale transition from open pit to underground mining at Chuquicamata presents

three main challenges: (1) to include the geotechnical aspects relevant for mine design
and mine planning, (2) to define the proper surface and underground infrastructure, and
(3) to fulfil the project deadlines and to achieve the production targets.

GEOLOGICAL AND GEOTECHNICAL SETTING AT CHUQUICAMATA

The Chuquicamata porphyry copper ore body is rectangular in plan, and dips vertically.
The mineralization was controlled by the West Fault which is located at the toe of the
West wall. From the fault to the West is waste and from the fault to the East is ore, as
illustrated in Figure 1. About 2.6 billion tons of ore, averaging 1.53% Cu, have been
mined out from the Chuquicamata ore body since 1915, and 700 million tons will be
mined out from 2006 to 2014 (final pit). However, the ore body is open at depth, with
geological resources estimated to be 2.3 billion tons with an average grade of 0.81% of
Cu for the underground mine, as shown in Figure 1.
At Chuquicamata the predominant rock types are granodiorites and porphyries, whose
western contact is defined by the West fault, a large regional fault with a NS trend, 4 to
6 m thick, and defining a 150 to 200 m wide shear zone on its western side. This shear
zone has a poor to very poor geotechnical quality, and is located in the lower third part
of the West Wall’s slopes. In the upper part of these slopes the rock is Fortuna
granodiorite. On the eastern side of the West fault appears a massive quartz-sericitic
rock, and beyond that porphyries with different types of alteration. Hence, from West to
East the main rock mass types at Chuquicamata are:

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The South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy
International Symposium on Stability of Rock Slopes in Open Pit Mining and Civil Engineering
Sergio Olavarría

WEST

FORTUNE GRANODIORITE

WASTE
GRANODIORITES MODERATELY SHEARED ZONE

HIGHLY SHEARED ZONE

SOUTH ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ WEST FAULT ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ NORTH

⎯ INCREASING GRADE →

QUARTZ-SERICITIC ROCK

EAST PORPHYRY WITH SERICITIC ALTERATION

PORPHYRIES
EAST PORPHYRY WITH CHLORITIC ALTERATION

EAST PORPHYRY WITH POTASSIC ALTERATION

EAST

The engineering geology at Chuquicamata is such that twelve geotechnical units have
been defined (Torres et al 2003), as shown in the plan view of Figure 2. The
characteristics of the main geotechnical units in the sector of interest to the transition
project are summarized in Table 1 (Flores et al 2004b).

Table 1
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE GEOTECHNICAL UNITS
Geotechnical Unit UCS (MPa) FF (fract./m) RMRL GSI

Quartz-sericitic rock 20 1 to 5 55 to 65 70 to 85

Highly sericitic rock 10 > 10 35 to 45 25 to 40

East porphyry with sericitic alteration 31 1 to 5 60 to 70 55 to 70

East porphyry with chloritic alteration 84 1 to 10 55 to 65 55 to 65

East porphyry with potassic alteration 85 1 to 10 55 to 70 55 to 75

UCS Uniaxial compressive strength of the intact rock
FF Fracture frequency (including weak veinlets)
RMRL Laubscher’s rock mass rating
GSI Geological strength index

The stress field at Chuquicamata has been measured using a hydrofracturing technique
in deep vertical down holes. The in situ stress field is defined by a vertical stress
proportional to the depth, with a magnitude ranging from 35 to 40 MPa at the elevation
of a future undercut level (UCL). The horizontal stresses are defined by minimum and
maximum stress ratios, KMIN and KMAX, respectively. KMIN ranges from 0.5 to 1.0, with
a direction of N20ºE and KMAX varies from 1.0 to 1.7, with a direction of N70ºW
(Torres et al 2003).

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The South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy
International Symposium on Stability of Rock Slopes in Open Pit Mining and Civil Engineering
Sergio Olavarría

Figure 2: Geological units present in Chuquicamata (Torres et al 2003).

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The South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy
International Symposium on Stability of Rock Slopes in Open Pit Mining and Civil Engineering
Sergio Olavarría

These values will be verified using the CSIRO hollow inclusion technique to perform
stress measurements from the exploration tunnels which will be available below the
final open pit shell at the beginning of the year 2006.

SCOPING ENGINEERING OUTCOME

The scoping engineering study carried out recently by Codelco Norte Division indicates
that it is feasible to exploit the ore below the final open pit envelope using panel caving.
Based on a combination of a series of preliminary analyses and other Codelco panel
cave experiences, supplemented by a world benchmark on transition (Flores et al
2004a), the initial design proposed for the Chuquicamata panel cave are the ones
summarized in Table 2 (from Arancibia & Flores (2004) and Adriasola & Olavarria
(2005)).

PRE-FEASIBILITY ENGINEERING

Currently, the studies for the pre-feasibility engineering stage are being developed.
These studies include the results of the scoping engineering and the new information
from the last geological-geotechnical drilling campaigns (36,000 m), and also from the
mapping of the exploration decline (3,250 m) and drainage drifts (2,500 m)
The goal of this pre-feasibility engineering stage is to analyze and compare the different
options, considering technical and economical aspects, in order to select the best one for
underground mining at Chuquicamata.
It is important to note that the mine plan must consider the following issues:

Optimization of the open pit.

Open pit closure.

Possible interaction between the open pit and underground mining.

Underground mining.
Also, during the development of the pre-feasibility engineering studies (20 months) the
geological-geotechnical exploration will continue. The exploration decline will be
extended (about 6,460 m, including exploration drifts and a ventilation shaft) and
additional boreholes will be drilled (57,000 m), as shown in Figure 3. The core drill
samples will be used for additional laboratory testing, and some in situ testing will be
done (direct shear tests and in situ stress measurements).

CHALLENGE 1: GEOTECHNICAL ISSUES

The planned transition from a large scale and deep open pit to underground cave mining
at Chuquicamata is expected to face a number of unique geotechnical challenges, as
illustrated in Figure 4. Given their potential impact to the transition project these need
to be addressed during the early and subsequent design stages of the project. These
main geotechnical challenges are:

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The South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy
International Symposium on Stability of Rock Slopes in Open Pit Mining and Civil Engineering
Sergio Olavarría

Table 2
PROJECT PARAMETERS (SCOPING ENGINEERING)
Parameter Scoping Engineering Outcome
2,300 million tonnes, with average grades of 0.810%, copper and 0.040%,
Geological resources
molybdenum (see Figure 1)
1,276 million tonnes, with average grades of 0.790%, copper and 0.051%,
Mining reserves
molybdenum (see Figure 1)
Mining method Panel caving
2 declines (11.4 km, 12% gradient, 6 m 5 m cross section), 1 service shaft and 4
Main accesses
ventilation shafts (1,800 m depth, 8 m diameter).
UCL depth from surface 1,300 m (Lift 1), 1,550 m (lift 2), and 1,800 m (Lift 3) (see Figure 5)
Block height 250 m (average)
Rib pillar
60 m (minimum)
(respect to West Fault)
Crown pillar UCL-EXL 18 m
Measure(s) to facilitate the
Slot
initiation of caving
Area for caving initiation 15,000 m2 (with an square or rectangular shape)
Footprint 2,500 m (NS) 300 m (EW) (average)
The first lift initiates the undercutting just below the toe of the Northern and
Southern pit slopes, then the undercutting will progress towards the North and the
South, leaving a central pillar. One year later, the undercutting of the second lift
will begin below the centre of the pit, 250 m below the first lift, then it will progress
Mining sequence
towards the North and the South. After the first lift mined out the undercutting of
the third lift will begin below the centre of the pit, 250 m below the second lift, then
it will progress towards the North and the South. This sequence allows maintaining
always four production sectors (see Figures 5 and 6).
Cave front orientation N85ºE
Undercutting rate 3,000 m2/month
Extraction layout El Teniente, 208 m2 (first lift) and 267 m2 (second and third lifts) (see Figure 7)
Draw rate 0.17 t/m2day (year 1), 0.33 t/m2day (year 2), 0.66 t/m2day (year 3, 4, 5 … )
Production rate increment 5,000 TPD (per year, per sector)
Maximum production rate 40,000 TPD (per sector)
Total production rate 125,000 TPD (45 million tonnes per year, whole mine) (see Figure 8)
Ramp-up period 7 years (see Figure 8)
LHD Diesel 9 and 11 yd3, Jumbo and picking hammers, jaw crushers 47” 63” (up
Mining equipment
to 2 m fragment sizes)
Angle of break: 60o (East) to 50o (West). Zone of influence: 125 m (East) to 250 m
Subsidence
(West)
Construction From year 2009 to year 2014.
Operation Undercutting will begin the year 2015
Capital cost: 1200 MUS$, operational cots: 3 to 4 US$/tonne, NPV: 1,500 to 1,700
Economical indicators
MUS$, IRR: 20%to 26%.

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The South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy
International Symposium on Stability of Rock Slopes in Open Pit Mining and Civil Engineering
Sergio Olavarría

Current
Exploration
Decline
Lift 1
(Level 1900)

Lift 2 Lift 3
(Level 1700) (Level 1400)

Proposed Extension of the

Exploration Decline

ADDITONAL EXPLORATION
BOREHOLES: UNDERGROUND:
- Geotechnical 9,000 m - Decline 3,130 m
- Deep Geological-Geotechnical 38,000 m - Exploration Drifts 2,330 m
- Infrastructure 10,000 m - Ventilation Shaft 1,000 m

Figure 3: Additional geological-geotechnical exploration to be done during the pre-

feasibility engineering stage (from Adriasola & Olavarría, 2005).

Final pit
(2014)
Current pit
(2006)
GWL Stress concentrations
≈ at the slope toes
GWL
850 m West Fault
≈
1100 m

Crown
Primary/secondary contact pillar Induced seismicity

Inrushes
Caving propagation & subsidence

Shear zone (soft, weak and waste) Underground mine

Rib
pillar

Figure 4: Geotechnical challenges associated with a transition project at Chuquicamata.

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The South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy
International Symposium on Stability of Rock Slopes in Open Pit Mining and Civil Engineering
Sergio Olavarría

Final Pit

Lift 1 (Level 1900)

Lift 2 (Level 1700)

Lift 3 (Level 1400)

WEST FAULT

Figure 5: Lifts considered for underground mining at Chuquicamata (from Adriasola &
Olavarría, 2005).
E2800

E3000

E3200

E3400

E3600

E2800

E3000

E3200

E3400

E3600

E3800

E2800

E3000

E3200

E3400

E3600
N5000 N5000 N5000

N4800 N4800 N4800

AÑO 24 AÑO 28
AÑO 23
AÑO 27
N4600 N4600 AÑO 26 N4600
AÑO 22 AÑO 41
AÑO 25 AÑO 40
AÑO 39
AÑO 21 AÑO 24
AÑO 20 AÑO 38
AÑO 23
AÑO 19 AÑO 37
AÑO 18 AÑO 22 AÑO 36
N4400 N4400 N4400
AÑO 21
AÑO 17 AÑO 35
AÑO 16 AÑO 20
AÑO 15 AÑO 19 AÑO 34
AÑO 14
AÑO 33
AÑO 13 AÑO 32
AÑO 12
N4200 N4200 AÑO 11 N4200 AÑO 31
AÑO 10
AÑO 9 AÑO 30
AÑO 29
AÑO 8 AÑO 28
AÑO 7 AÑO 27
N4000 AÑO 6 AÑO 26
N4000 N4000
AÑO 6 AÑO 17
AÑO 7
AÑO 18
AÑO 8
AÑO 19
AÑO 9
N3800 N3800 AÑO 10 N3800 AÑO 20
AÑO 11
AÑO 21
AÑO 12
AÑO 22
AÑO 13 AÑO 23
AÑO 14
AÑO 24
AÑO 15
N3600 N3600 AÑO 16 N3600 AÑO 25
AÑO 17 AÑO 26
AÑO 18 AÑO 27

AÑO 19 AÑO 28

N3400 N3400 AÑO 20 N3400 AÑO 29

AÑO 21 AÑO 30

AÑO 31
AÑO 22
N3200 N3200 N3200 AÑO 32
AÑO 23

AÑO 24
AÑO 33
AÑO 25
N3000 N3000 N3000
AÑO 34
AÑO 26

AÑO 27

N2800
Lift 3 (Level 1400)
N2800 AÑO 28 N2800

AÑO 29

N2600 Lift 1 (Level 1900) N2600

Lift 2 (Level 1700)

Figure 6: Underground mining sequence at Chuquicamata. The Northern and Southern

sectors of Lift 1 (Level 1900) will advance to the North and South, respectively,
leaving a central pillar. Lifts 2 (Level 1700) and 3 (Level 1400) will initiate the
caving below the central part, then the mining will progress towards the North
and the South (from Adriasola & Olavarría, 2005).

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The South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy
International Symposium on Stability of Rock Slopes in Open Pit Mining and Civil Engineering
Sergio Olavarría

N
Rib Pillar

Decline
to UCL

DETAIL
West Fault

Figure 7: El Teniente type extraction layout considered for the underground mine at
Chuquicamata (from Adriasola & Olavarría, 2005).

Ramp-up
7 years

50
45 125 KTPD
40
35
MILLONS TON

30
25
20
15
10
5
0
2013

2015

2017

2019

2021

2023

2025

2027

2029

2031

2033

2035

2037

2039

2041

2043

2045

2047

2049

2051

Draw Rates YEARS

Lift 1 (Level 1900)
Year 1: 0,17 ton/m2-day
Lift 2 (Level 1700)
Year 2: 0,33 ton/m2-day
Lift 3 (Level 1400)
Year 3: 0,66 ton/m2-day

Figure 8: Production target (125 KTPD), production plan and ramp-up period for the
underground mining at Chuquicamata (from Adriasola & Olavarría, 2005).

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The South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy
International Symposium on Stability of Rock Slopes in Open Pit Mining and Civil Engineering
Sergio Olavarría

(1) PRESENCE OF A LARGE DEEP OPEN PIT. The presence of the pit produces
zones of stress concentrations and zones of low confinement. These induced stresses
will likely affect the propagation of caving and must therefore be considered in
evaluating the likelihood of caving propagation through the whole ore column to be
caved.
(1) PRESENCE OF THE WEST FAULT AND SHEAR ZONES. The West fault
forms an abrupt contact between the ore and the waste. The waste is a soft, weak
and highly fractured rock mass which potentially could become a source of early
dilution of the ore if the cavity reaches the West fault before connecting with the
pit bottom. Hence, a rib pillar is required between the West fault and the undercut
area as illustrated in Figure 4. If this rib pillar is too thin it could fail and early
dilution may occur. On the other hand, if it is too wide some high grade ore would
not be mined.
(2) INDUCED SEISMICITY. When the final pit is reached in 2014, with a depth of
1,100 m, the undercut level of Lift 1 will be located at a depth of 1,350 m from
surface. Therefore, the induced stresses are likely to be high and induced
seismicity will be expected during underground mining, which eventually could
generate rockbursts. Due to this, a seismic monitoring system is considered an
absolute need, and it should be implemented when the initial developments of the
underground mine begin.
(3) CAVE INITIATION AND PROPAGATION. The initial stage of the under-
ground mining will be in a hard and massive rock mass, where cave initiation and
propagation may be difficult. As the cave propagation approaches the pit bottom
the rock mass above the cave back would be affected by the higher stresses
associated with the presence of the open pit, which may affect the rate of the
caving propagation by either accelerating or arresting the process. It also becomes
important to define and implement an instrumentation system to monitor the
development of the cave. Considering the experience at El Teniente (Rojas et al
2000) and Palabora mines (Glazer & Hepworth 2004), this system would include
seismic instrumentation, TDR´s and borehole camera observations.
(4) SUBSIDENCE. Once the caving connects to the pit bottom the pit will become a
subsidence crater with a zone of influence extending beyond the pit perimeter. Of
course, this condition will evolve through time; and due to slope failures and the
extension of the undercut area, this crater will grow. The geometry of a
subsidence crater at Chuquicamata will be defined by the crater depth, H, and the
angle of break, α, which is the angle between the edge of the undercut level and
the start of discontinuous deformations (large tension cracks). The influence zone
adjacent to the crater perimeter is defined in terms of the influence width, dIZ.
The α and dIZ terms depend on the rock mass quality and the presence of major
geological structures. The relevance of these parameters is due to the requirement
to determine the location of the main accesses to the underground mining and the
location of the underground infrastructure which must be outside of the influence
zone. In addition, it is necessary to know if this subsidence will affect the current
surface infrastructure related to the open pit operations.

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The South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy
International Symposium on Stability of Rock Slopes in Open Pit Mining and Civil Engineering
Sergio Olavarría
(5) SIMULTANEOUS OPEN PIT AND UNDERGROUND MINE OPERATIONS.
The economic and business requirements of Chuquicamata are such that a period
of simultaneous open pit and underground mining would be required. Hence, at
least for a certain period, a stable crown pillar must be maintained between the
cave back and the pit bottom. This period must be defined considering the
stability of the crown pillar and the fact that its thickness is reducing due to the
ore draw from the underground mine. A longer period of simultaneity requires a
larger block height. A low block height would lead to a very short period of
simultaneous operation, which could be non practical. Once the period of
simultaneity has been established it is possible to define when the underground
mining should begin.

CHALLENGE 2: SURFACE AND UNDERGROUND INFRASTRUCTURE

A deep underground mining by panel caving at Chuquicamata requires an important

amount of surface and underground infrastructure. Here the main issues are:
(1) MAIN ACCESSES. There are three options to access a deep mine: shafts,
declines, or a combination of both. Currently, as a result of the scoping
engineering studies, the project considers one access decline (11.4 km, 12%
gradient, 6 m 5 m cross section), and one service shaft (1,600 m initial depth
(Lifts 1 and 2) and 1,800 m final depth (Lift 3), and 8 m diameter).
(2) VENTILATION SYSTEMS. Currently, as a result of the scoping engineering
studies, the project considers the construction of eight ventilation shafts (each
with a 1,600 m initial depth (Lifts 1 and 2) and 1,800 m final depth (Lift 3), and 8
m diameter).
(3) MAIN MATERIAL HANDLING SYSTEM. Currently, as a result of the scoping
engineering studies, the project considers the construction of one conveyor
decline (11.4 km, 12% gradient, 6 m 5 m cross section). However, this is being
reviewed and compared with a hoisting system.
(4) UNDERGROUND INFRASTRUCTURE. A large underground mine requires
underground infrastructure: crusher chambers, silos, magazines, workshops,
refuelling stations, refuge bays, offices, ablution facilities, etc. The location and
geometry of this infrastructure must be adequately defined in order to allow an
efficient operation and, at the same time, not to interfere with the mining.
(5) UNDERGROUND SERVICES. A large underground mine requires several
services: electrical distribution and stations, control and communication systems,
fire detection and suppression systems, water supply, compressed air supply,
mine dewatering systems, etc. These services must be reliable and efficient to
allow an efficient operation.
(6) SURFACE INFRASTRUCTURE. Also some surface infrastructure is needed:
offices, workshops, change houses, roads and parking areas, etc.

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The South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy
International Symposium on Stability of Rock Slopes in Open Pit Mining and Civil Engineering
Sergio Olavarría

All these issues are being reviewed and they will be definitively defined at the end of
the pre-feasibility engineering stage. Indeed, in a case like Chuquicamata’s transition
from open pit to underground mining, where the limits of technology and mining
practice are being reached due to the depth and production targets for a panel cave
mining in massive rock, a high quality pre-feasibility engineering is of fundamental
importance to achieve a successful project outcome in terms of safety, cost,
performance and timing.

CHALLENGE 3: DEADLINES FULFILMENT AND GOALS ACHIEVEMENT

The decision to make the transition from open pit to an underground operation is often
based on a simple determination of the net present value (NPV) of the next feasible
open pit pushback. Underground mining is only considered when a further pushback
proves to be uneconomic. However, any decision to go underground also requires
consideration of a wide range of technical factors, and careful planning, which means a
significant amount of time for achieving underground mining (up to 20 years has been
suggested by Stacey & Terbrugge, 2000). This is in addition to the thorough assessment
of the potential geotechnical hazards associated underground mining by caving
methods, and its interaction with the open pit and the surrounding infrastructure.
The milestones of the current plan are the following:
DEADLINES:

Pre-feasibility engineering studies: January 2006 to December 2007

Pit optimization: January 2008 to December 2014

Feasibility engineering studies: January 2008 to December 2008

Construction initiation: January 2009

Construction period: January 2009 to December 2014

Pit closure: December 2014

Production initiation: January 2015

Ramp-up period: January 2015 to December 2021

Full production stage: December 2021 to December 2051
PRODUCTION TARGETS:

Initiation Sectors North and South, Lift 1: January 2015

Initiation Sectors North and South, Lift 2: January 2016

Production increment: 5,000 TPD per year per sector

Full production: 125,000 TPD (45 million tons per year)
This program is summarized in the chronogram of Figure 9. The fulfilment of these
deadlines is very important for the mine business, because any delay will affect the
production plan and the economical indicators of the project.

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The South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy
International Symposium on Stability of Rock Slopes in Open Pit Mining and Civil Engineering
Sergio Olavarría
ACTIVITIES AND DEADLINES FOR CHUQUICAMATA'S TRANSTION PROJECT

Activity 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

Initial Exploration
Pre-Scoping Engineering Studies
Exploration for Scoping Engineering
Scoping Engineering Studies
Exploration for Pre-Feasibility Engng.
Pre-Feasibility Engineering Studies
Open Pit Optimization
Decline Construction
Additional Exploration
Feasibility Engineering Studies
Underground Mine Construction
Open Pit Closure
UG Production Initiation - Lift 1
Ramp-Up Period Lift 1
UG Production Initiation - Lift 2
Ramp-Up Period Lift 2
Full Production Stage

ACTIVITY TYPES:

EXPLORATION UNDERGROUND CONSTRUCTION

ENGINEERING STUDIES UNDERGROUND MINING

OPEN PIT MINING

Figure 9: Chronogram of activities and deadlines considered by the transition from open pit
to underground mining at Chuquicamata.

CONCLUSIONS

Chuquicamata’s transition from open pit to underground mining will be a major

challenge for the Chilean mining engineering due to its magnitude and characteristics:
panel caving in a massive rock mass, at depths of 1,300 m to 1,800 m, and high
production rates.
There are important geotechnical aspects to be considered: the presence of a large and
deep open pit, the presence of a major regional fault and a shear zone defining the
boundary between ore and waste rock, potential for induced seismicity, potential
problems associated with cave propagation, unavoidable subsidence and a possible
simultaneous operation of the open pit and underground mine.
Important infrastructure requirements must be satisfied, including the accesses, material
handling and ventilation systems. The right location and design of this infrastructure is
of paramount importance to achieve a safe and efficient mine operation.
All these issues are being reviewed and they will be definitively defined at the end of
the pre-feasibility engineering stage. Indeed, in a case like Chuquicamata’s transition
from open pit to underground mining, where the limits of technology and mining
practice are being reached due to the depth and production targets for a panel cave
mining in massive rock, a high quality pre-feasibility engineering is of fundamental
importance to achieve a successful project outcome in terms of safety, cost,
performance and timing.

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The South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy
International Symposium on Stability of Rock Slopes in Open Pit Mining and Civil Engineering
Sergio Olavarría

Also this project has deadlines that must be fulfilled, and production targets that must
be achieved.
Hence, a successful transition from open pit to underground mining at Chuquicamata
requires high quality engineering, which allows a successful project outcome in terms
of safety, cost, performance and timing.

REFERENCES

ADRIASOLA, P & OLAVARRIA, S. Proyecto Chuquicamata Subterráneo.

Proceeding 56th IIMCh Conference, Chilean Institute of Mining Engineers, Santiago,
Chile, 2005.
ARANCIBIA, E & FLORES, G. Design for underground mining at Chuquicamata
orebody. Scoping engineering stage. MassMin 2004: Proud to be Miners, A Karzulovic
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