The Quebrada Blanca mine is located in Tarapacá Region of northern Chile at an elevation of 4,400 metres, approximately 240 kilometres southeast of the city of Iquique and 1,500 kilometres from Santiago.

Teck owns a 90% interest in the mine. The remaining 10% interest is owned by Empresa Nacional de Minería.

Quebrada Blanca is an open pit operation, which leaches the ore to produce copper cathodes via processing in an SX-EW plant. Copper cathode is trucked to Iquique for shipment to purchasers. Mine personnel live in a camp facility, and the majority commute from large population centres, including Iquique, Arica and Santiago.

Cathode production is currently anticipated to continue until mid-2019, though at reduced production rates as Quebrada Blanca’s supergene deposit is exhausted, and will be dependent on copper prices and cost reduction efforts.