Capstone Copper’s Mantoverde mine faces a four-week production slowdown after ball mill motor failures, cutting copper output by 3,000–4,000 tonnes.
Capstone Copper Corp. has announced a temporary disruption in sulphide copper production at its Mantoverde mining operation in Chile. The interruption stems from technical difficulties related to the ball mill motors that are critical to the site’s processing circuit.
On August 24, operations at Mantoverde were affected when one of the two electrical drive motors powering the ball mill experienced a mechanical failure. The operations team promptly initiated corrective measures by replacing the malfunctioning motor with a spare unit that was available on site. This allowed the mine to swiftly resume production at its full processing capacity.
However, the situation escalated only days later. On August 30, the site suffered another setback when the second ball mill drive motor also failed. Unlike the earlier incident, no additional spare motor was available at the location. As a result, Mantoverde’s production capacity was once again reduced, triggering a period of operational limitations.
According to Capstone Copper, the repair of the damaged ball mill motor is expected to take roughly four weeks. In the meantime, the mine will continue running at approximately half of its normal output. This will be achieved by utilizing an alternate operating mode, bypassing the ball mill. The circuit is already designed to allow this method of operation, and the company’s team has successfully implemented it in past scenarios, ensuring a certain level of continuity despite the equipment setback.
To minimize the impact of this production shortfall, Capstone Copper has identified an opportunity to reschedule some of the maintenance work originally planned for later in September. By carrying out these activities during the ball mill downtime, the company expects to reduce additional future interruptions.
The company emphasized that its operational team remains focused on several key priorities: investigating the underlying causes of the motor failures, implementing immediate mitigation strategies, and advancing both short-term repair and long-term replacement solutions. These efforts are aimed at restoring Mantoverde’s processing operations to full capacity as quickly and reliably as possible.
Based on current assessments, Capstone Copper estimates that copper concentrate output at Mantoverde will decline by approximately 3,000 to 4,000 tonnes during the four-week repair period. While this represents a temporary reduction, the company reiterated its commitment to updating stakeholders regularly as the situation progresses and as new operational plans are executed.
Capstone Copper reassured its stakeholders that although the motor failures are an operational challenge, the company has experience in managing such disruptions. Its focus remains on ensuring safety, maintaining operational resilience, and returning to optimal production capacity at the earliest opportunity.
