Epiroc Wins Large Mining Equipment And Service Order From Codelco In Chile

Epiroc's Minetruck MT65 is part of the order by Codelco

Stockholm, Sweden: Epiroc, a leading productivity partner for the mining and infrastructure industries, has won a large equipment and service order from Codelco for use at its Chuquicamata mine in northern Chile.

Codelco has ordered underground loaders, face drill rigs, rock bolting rigs and mine trucks, as well as several years of technical support and training, for use at the Chuquicamata underground mine project. The order is valued at more than MUSD 20 (MSEK 190) and was booked in April 2020.

Codelco, the world’s largest copper producer, opened the Chuquicamata underground mine in 2019. The company is transforming the century-old Chuquicamata copper and gold mine from being the world’s largest open-pit mine into a high-technological underground operation. The transformation will extend the useful mine life by 40 years, according to Codelco.

“We are proud to be a key partner of Codelco as it significantly extends the life of the Chuquicamata mine in the most productive, efficient and safe manner possible,” says Helena Hedblom, Epiroc’s President and CEO.

Juan Mariscal, Sourcing Category Manager at Codelco, says: “Epiroc was chosen because it complied with all the technical, safety and performance requirements that Codelco demanded for the Chuquicamata Underground Mine Project, while being the supplier that provided the best economic proposal for all its equipment as a whole.”

The order includes multiple units of the Scooptram ST1030 and ST18 loader, the Boomer S2 face drilling rig, the Boltec M bolting machine, and the Minetruck MT65, the highest payload capacity underground truck in the world. The machines will be equipped with 6th Sense solutions for automation, connectivity and information management. The solutions include Epiroc’s Rig Control System, RCS, which makes the equipment ready for automation and remote control, and Epiroc’s Certiq system, which allows for intelligent monitoring of machine performance and productivity in real-time. Delivery of the equipment will take place later this year.

This order from Codelco follows the signing last year of a large contract for service at Codelco’s Andina mine, and a large order for equipment used at its El Teniente mine.