Operated by Minsur, the Pucamarca Mine is an open pit gold and silver mine located southeast of Lima and northeast of the city of Tacna near Peru’s southern border with Chile. Situated at more than three miles (4.5 kilometres) above sea level, this high-altitude mine requires a new water source for the mining operations, to compensate for the lack of water resources in its location. The Peruvian mining corporation engaged us to help.
Since 2015, we’ve provided Minsur with various services related to hydrology, water treatment, feasibility, and detailed engineering, as well as water treatment plants and water supply for processes. For this project, we analyzed different methods to get high-quality water to the mine unit. Options included deep well exploration, transportation of water to the Pucamarca mine unit via pipelines or tanker trucks, and treatment of acidic waters from the Azufre River. We developed conceptual engineering for each solution option, considering the regulations of both Peru and Chile, as the project is located on the border of these two countries. After determining the conceptual costs of each option alternative using a multiple-criteria evaluation matrix, we determined the most viable alternative—technically, economically, and environmentally—and provided recommendations to our client.
With this trade-off study in hand, Minsur determined a suitable source of high-quality water source for the mining processes at the Pucamarca mining unit.
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