The local COREMA, a regional environmental commission, recently approved the plans submitted by CORPORACION DEL COBRE DE CHILE (CODELCO) regarding the development of its Gaby gold mine. The property, located south of the company's Chuquicamata copper operations, is said to contain proven reserves of 541 million tons grading an average of 0.44% copper.

Operating plans, subject to a final go-ahead, envision an open-pit mine in conjunction with solvent extraction- electrowinning (SX-EX) technology to produce copper cathodes.

The cost to complete the project has been estimated at $600,000,000. And, construction work is expected to ...