Antofagasta Share Discussion Threads

[grgkecer] 17/10/2008 12:14

REPORT SAYS LOS PELAMBRES MINE THREATENS CHILE'S GLACIERS
Thursday, 16 October 2008
A recent academic study accused Los Pelambres mine(MLP) of concealing important information about its knowledge of rocky glaciers near the mine and the damage the mining development has caused to the glaciers. MLP is located near Coquimbo in northern Chile and is owned by Chile's powerful Luksic family.
The University of Waterloo study reported that MLP development between 2000 and 2006 severely impacted 2.84 million square meters of permanent reservoirs of water. The mine's intervention in the underground water supplies was "not
announced in any of the environmental studies presented to authorities between 1998 and 2004," said the report.
Canadian geographer Alexander Brenning and Chilean Guillermo Azócar headed the study and both highlighted that a mine's "intervention in a high solar radiation zone with scarce rain makes no sense because water is so much more
valuable in these areas."
"The removal or alteration of rocky glaciers in semiarid zones implies the loss of important natural reservoirs of frozen fossil water," said the report, stressing that since the area where MLP is located does not have conventional or white glaciers, "the rocky glaciers and the permafrost of the mountains are the unique permanent reservoirs of ice in this zone, hence of critical importance to the hydrological system."
The report was based on satellite photos taken in 1997, 2000 and 2006,identifying 15 rocky glaciers close to where the mine is located. Four of the rocky glaciers "have disappeared almost completely because of the mine's advance" and another two "have been undermined by road construction," destroying an area that was between 40 and 60 percent ice.
The study also accused MLP of failing to announce its penetrating these small glaciers, even when "they knew the glaciers existed" because they had been told so by Geostudies (a Chilean NGO) in 1998. "For unknown reasons this
information was omitted in later studies, and therefore, in our view, MLP did not have the correct approval from the environmental authorities and other sectors," said the report. MLP denies all the allegations, citing a 2002 study by consultant Dissam Securité that "determined that there were no
rocky glaciers" in the mining area, "but only isolated ovules and caps of ice that correspond to old avalanche deposits."
MPL environmental affairs manager Oscar Leal said "the ice caps identified by MLP do not form part of the Glacier Provisional Register" that had previously been established by law. Leal also insisted that MPL had secured all necessary
permits for its work and had been completely transparent with authorities.
Giving these conflicting positions, the authors of the report - Brenning and Azócar –recommended creating an "independent scientific monitoring program that would be completely open and available to the public."
SOURCE: LA NACIÓN
By Rebecca Novell ([e-mail])

[swordfish7] 16/10/2008 10:36

Market cap is now less than 2x profit!! That is ridiculous.

[razzzzzer] 15/10/2008 19:55

SUB £2 OR MAYBE EVEN A PENNY STOCK.

[skarim] 15/10/2008 19:54

I can't believe what I am seeing is anto really below £3.?I've been on the sidelines for a few weeks and I'm glad I have wud have got my fingers burnt. What's Happening? NEXT is definitely going down the pan with it's management there is no wonder it's below £10 and by XMAS forecast is £5.oo as the CRUNCH bites......

[hectorp] 09/10/2008 15:22

Only if the Bank bail out thingy isnt working.
I suggest the UK did enough which will help trading WITHIN the UK and the pound to an extent. But not everywhere.
Buy gold however!

[roidstermuthafukk] 08/10/2008 09:21

\i have a feeling that the next week will be some sort of capitulation.........we are now near complete panic.........be careful people!

[little beaker] 07/10/2008 09:38

Copper falling more

[crontab] 06/10/2008 22:54

Picked some up today at 318. Let's see where we go with them.

[skarim] 19/9/2008 14:25

WOW This stock is a beauty.....purchased some b4 close of play at 4.30 and still cannot believe it's above £5.00...still holding on as I feel ANTO has been done by very badly & is worth over £5.50.

[skarim] 17/9/2008 16:53

WOW.... what a day had a lucky escape..sold anto's at 4.6550 and bought BARCLAYS THIS MORNING which also gave me a nice drink wihin 2 hours going to rest now for the month.Penycae I do agree with you because banks have got no cash and correct me if i'm wrong but people wihdrawing cash from ATM's say theres no cash in them....lol

[penycae] 17/9/2008 13:09

Miners ain't rebounding. Money going into financials atm. ANTO on year's low. Just bought a few.

[aalli] 17/9/2008 11:29

if all miners are rebounding and moving upwards.... can someone tell me why ANTO is not going anywhere?

[skarim] 16/9/2008 17:09

I've just come back on the seen after a few months of rest and see this a very good buying oppurtunity for ANTO. People will definitely hedge against precious metals in these horrid times and I'm going to keep mines whi ch purchased today @ 4.4750. You need to be brave and have patience!

[jibba_jabba] 16/9/2008 09:30

XD Tomorrow.....

[grgkecer] 12/9/2008 07:30

MINERS TO INVEST US$500 MILLION IN MOLY EXPLORATION
Friday, 12 September 2008
Copper is the dominant metal in Chile's mining sector, but that is not keeping a number of Chilean mining giants from investing US$500 million on several exploration projects to increase molybdenum production.

Chile's largest companies are expected to lead the increased molybdenum effort beginning this year and continuing through 2015. These include CODELCO, Escondida, Luksic, Pelambres, Collahuasi, and Antofagasta Minerals, according to Mining Studies Center director Juan Carlos Guajardo.

Currently, molybdenum is Chile's second-most exported mineral, next to copper, and its extraction nets over $1 billion annually.

Molybdenum is a naturally-occurring, white, lusterless metal with a high melting point, making it a suitable ingredient for strengthening steel. It is especially useful for manufacturing steel to make "earthquake-proof" structures.

Originally thought to be a worthless residue of copper, demand for molybdenum is rapidly increasing. Today a pound of molybdenum is worth over US$36 – up from US$4 just five years ago.

"Chile is an important player in the world of molybdenum production," said International Molybdenum Association President Víctor Peréz. "It has CODELCO, the world's second-largest molybdenum producer and Molymet, the world's principal molybdenum processor."

Despite greater revenues, Guajardo still finds Chile's lack of diversification in mining industry problematic. He believes increased molybdenum production should not be considered an effort to diversify because molybdenum is a simple copper mining byproduct, not requiring much specialization to extract.

With copper's higher production costs, companies have compensated by increasing molybdenum extraction. It was reported Thursday that CODELCO hopes to acquire a portion of Ecuador's Panantza-San Carlos copper mine. (ST, Sept. 11) In addition to the mine's abundant copper deposits, projections show over 1,270 tons of molybdenum could be mined there annually.

SOURCE: LA TERCERA, EL MERCURIO
By Jeff MacMullen ( [e-mail])

[aalli] 11/9/2008 13:14

Earthquake? wow! it wasnt documented much then?

Anyway is it done now? did it damage the mines badly? No wonder the share price got hammered...

[lundhousegreen] 11/9/2008 11:49

Going up after an earthquake in Northern Chile. May affect copper supplies
short term??

[aalli] 09/9/2008 12:36

ANTO is getting hammered.....

i needed this to shoot upwards!!!

[grgkecer] 09/9/2008 07:40

CHILE'S PRIVATE ESCONDIDA COPPER MINE TO INVEST IN WATER
Tuesday, 09 September 2008
Northern Chile's lack of water has made it difficult for water-hungry mining operators, who normally must compete with local towns or farming communities for scarce water resources.

But BHP Billiton's private copper-mining company Minera Escondida has come up with a new idea for getting water. Last weekend, the company submitted an Environmental Impact Study (EIA) to evaluate the impact of its proposed US$3.5 billion water transport project. The mining company plans to transport sea water from the coast to Chile's northern deserts to supply Escondida's copper mines.

"This project will require the construction of a desalination (filtration and reverse osmosis) plant, which will be connected to pipes that transport water to the mines," a Minera Escondida spokesperson told Chilean daily La Tercera.

Escondida already operates a small-scale desalination plant in Puerto Coloso (south of the Region II capital of Antofagasta). However, with this new plan, the company hopes to increase the plant to nearly six times its current size.

"We are hoping to increase desalinated water production to 3,200 liters per second (l/s)," a Minera Escondida communications representative told The Santiago Times. In order to fulfill this production goal, the plant would need to have an intake of 7,700 l/s of sea water, meaning that approximately 4,500 l/s of salt water would be left over and redistributed to the ocean through underwater emissary tubing.

Still, Escondida said the plans are tentative and that estimated production levels could be lower.

From the coastal desalination plant, Escondida plans to construct two parallel 180-kilometer aqueducts with the capacity to transport more than half a cubic meter of water per second to the mines.

"We are also contemplating the construction of a 2 million-cubic-meter reservoir at the mining site," the mining spokesperson told La Tercera. "This reservoir would have the capacity to store and regulate drinking water as well."

According to Minera Escondida, the construction of the project would create 6,500 jobs. Once construction was finished, 50 people would be required to operate the system.

If environmental officials approve the EIA, Minera Escondida will begin construction in 2009, with plans to end in 2012.

Minera Escondida is Chile's largest privately owned mining company and has mining projects some 170 km southeast of Antofagasta at 3,100 meters above sea level.

SOURCE: LA TERCERA
By Thomás Rothe ( [e-mail]

Last Updated ( Tuesday, 09 September 2008 )

[aalli] 03/9/2008 09:13

is now a good buy in time at circa 554 - 556?

or will ANTO tank further?

[grgkecer] 01/9/2008 15:03

CHILE'S IQUIQUE RAILWAY MAY BE REVIVED

[aspers] 26/8/2008 12:04

The Wood Group WG. posted cracking results today and they are now 3% down!!!!! In this market the best place to be prior to results is out!!! get back in once the market digests the results