The first haul truck carrying ore from the Cobre mining district crosses State Highway 152 headed for the Chino mine.

Silver City, NM, August 15, 2018 — A haul truck extended the life of Freeport-McMoRan’s Chino mine over State Highway 152 on August 8 when the first load of copper ore from Hanover Mountain was delivered to Chino operations.
That truck represented the culmination of a $60 million project to connect the historic mining district of Cobre to the concentrator and leach piles of the adjacent Chino mine, ensuring the near-term future of both properties.

“This project is important to not only the future of the Chino mine and allows us to contribute even longer to the economy of Grant County,” said Chad Fretz, General Manager-Chino. “We look forward to the Cobre mining district contributing to Chino’s safe production results for years to come.”

With Cobre so close to Chino, ore from Hanover Mountain can be efficiently and cost-effectively processed at the Chino SX/EW and the Chino mill.

Initial mining at Hanover Mountain is estimated to provide 364 million pounds of recoverable copper over a seven-year mine life.

In addition to constructing the haul road from Hanover, the team of company employees and contractors constructed two smaller bridges and 16 culverts, rerouted power lines and built a new electrical substation.