Anglo American is withdrawing its 10 000-strong construction workforce at the Quellaveco project, in Peru.
Diversified major Anglo American has withdrawn the majority of employees and contractors from its $5.3-billion Quellaveco copper project, in Peru, to comply with a 15-day national quarantine announced by the government of the South American country to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease, or Covid-19.
The 10 000-strong construction workforce is being demobilised and work on the project will be slowed, with only critical areas of the project continuing until workers can safely return.
“The health and safety of everyone must come first, ever more so at times such as these,” said CEO Mark Cutifani.
He noted that the development of the project had progressed ahead of schedule and within budget and that it would be able to accommodate the slowdown within its market guidance.
The Quellaveco copper project is expected to begin production in 2022, with an expected capital cost ranging from $5-billion to $5.3-billion. During the first ten years of full production, Quellaveco is expected to produce about 300 000 t/y at a cash cost of $1.05/lb.
This month, President Martin Vizcarra declared a national state of emergency and called on citizens to self-quarantine for 15 days. The country had closed its borders to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
At the time of writing, Peru had 89 confirmed cases of Covid-19, which is now classified as a panademic, owing to the speed and scale of transmission.
Mining companies are stepping up precautions as the virus spreads across the globe, with many countries now reporting cases. Diversified major Rio Tinto has also announced a slowdown in the construction of the Oyu Tolgoi copper/gold project, in Mongolia, to comply with that country’s measures around Covid-19.
Globally, there were more than 200 000 confirmed cases, which caused over 8 000 deaths at the time of writing.