The new mine level, located 300 meters deeper than the current one, will enter production phase in 2017, said the company in a statement (available only in Spanish).

The miner added that the expansion project of El Teniente includes the construction of a mining town and the essential infrastructure Codelco needs to access the new mineral reserves – about 2,020 million tonnes with an average grade of 0.86% and important molybdenum content.

Thanks to this project, El Teniente will produce about 430,000 tons of copper a year, said the division general manager, Octavio Araneda.

The expansion of this copper mine is only one of Codelco’s five major structural projects announced recently. Together, they will require an investment of $20 billion in the next four years, but will allow the Chilean mining company to remain the world’s #1 copper producer, with a current production close to 1.6 million tons of fine copper per year.

Image: Construction at El Teniente, courtesy of Codelco (via Flickr)