Anglo American Quellaveco

PCS Start-Up and Operation Support

Project Overview

In May 2022, we were engaged by Anglo American’s Quellaveco operations team to support the start-up of its concentrator. We were chosen to complete this work due to our expertise with the PCS7 system and our copper concentration process knowledge.

Working together with Quellaveco operations team, both concentrator production lines were started smoothly and reached full capacity in short time. Commissioning of the moly plant started in March 2023 and the first bag of moly was produced on the 5th of April 2023. Commissioning of the Coarse Particle Flotation (CPF) commenced on in January 2024. This project remains ongoing (as at March 2024).

Quellaveco control room
Quellaveco control room
The Quellaveco site, 3,500m above sea level
The Quellaveco site, 3,500m above sea level

Background

The Quellaveco copper mine is located 37km northeast of the city of Moquegua in South Peru, in the bed of the Asana River, 3,500 meters above sea level.

A USD5.5 billion investment, this mine is expected to have a mine life of 36 years and produce 100,000 tons of copper each year over the first 10 years.

Construction started in 2018 and in July 2022 Quellaveco announced its first production of copper concentrate.

Project Scope

Some key items in the scope of work included:

Quellaveco site
Quellaveco site

Project Challenges

The project team has encountered a number of challenges over the course of the project. These include:

Results

The Mipac site team was able to compile some comprehensive handover checklists in a very short time which included:

These checklists ironed out most of the system/configuration issues and reenforced the configuration consistency across the plant. 

The first production line (Line 2) started production in July 2022 and the second production line (Line 1) started production in September 2022. Both production lines reached full capacity in October 2022. 

The moly plant started production in April 2023 and reached full capacity within the same month. 

The CPF plant started ramp up in January 2024 and is undergoing optimisation.

Unique aspects of this project

This project was covered by the site team during the day and by a Brisbane-based remote support team during the night.

Thanks to the depth and breadth of experience and resources within the Mipac team – including in virtualisation systems, PCS7 systems, process knowledge, Fieldbus configuration etc. – the project team was also able to rapidly find solutions for the various challenges which arose throughout the project.

Finally, the fact that Mipac was able to form an experienced support team in which most members can speak fluent Spanish made big difference to the support work.

Quellaveco control room
Quellaveco control room
“Mipac has played a key role in commissioning Anglo American’s newest digital mine. Their expertise in control systems (PCS7), copper concentrator process knowledge and also the ability to assess and evaluate our most modern virtual OT infrastructure and digital field networks was unique.”
Juan Cahuana
Process Manager, Quellaveco

Want to know more about how we can work with your operation?

From control systems with robust software and engineering foundations to the latest innovative advancements in digital technology, Mipac delivers high-quality, intelligent solutions that drive performance.

We can help with building new operations, optimising existing operations, modernising existing operations and main automation contracting. Find out more from Mipac.

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