Water | Chapada Mine case study

Wholly owned and operated by Lundin Mining, Chapada is an open pit copper and gold mine producing high-quality copper concentrate. The mine is located in Goiás State, Brazil, just 4km from nearby community, Alto Horizonte. First commissioned in 2007 and currently producing between 43,000 and 48,000 t of copper and 55,000 and 60,000 oz of gold per year, the mine currently has three open pits which they plan to ultimately combine into a large single pit.

Chapada Mine needed to mitigate the risk of water impacting on their production and as such the site urgently required a water management solution that could deliver both dewatering for their central pit and effluent management for their Tailings Storage Facility (TSF). The need was a direct result of Goiás’ tropical climate and subsequent high rainfall totaling on average 1500mm (59.1 inches) annually.