September 1, 2025
Capstone Copper has reported a temporary production interruption at its Mantoverde sulphide operation in Chile. The disruption follows the failure of both ball mill drive motors within a week. The first motor failed on August 24 and was replaced with a spare, but the second motor broke down six days later, leaving no spares available. As a result, the plant will operate at half capacity by bypassing the mill, a method previously used by the Mantoverde team. The company plans to mitigate the impact by advancing scheduled maintenance work. Repairs are expected to take about four weeks, with an estimated loss of 3,000 to 4,000 tonnes of copper concentrate production. An investigation into the cause of the motor failures is underway.
Capstone Copper also operates the Mantos Blancos copper-silver mine in Chile, the Pinto Valley copper mine in Arizona, and the Cozamin copper-silver mine in Mexico. In July, the company received environmental approval for its $150 million Mantoverde Optimized project, extending the mine's life from 19 to 25 years. Once operational, the project is expected to increase annual copper equivalent output to 125,000–135,000 tonnes, up from the current 97,000–112,000 tonnes. The first saleable copper concentrate was produced in June 2024, with commercial production starting three months later. In January, the plant exceeded nameplate capacity with an average throughput of 33,409 tonnes per day.
