Expected impacts

• Mitigate climate change by reducing the use of inland water to process ore (inland waters are permanent freshwater bodies that lie above or below the surface and removed from coastal areas - except for rivermouths and other waterways).
• Decrease water stress in Northern District (this occurs when the demand for water is higher than the amount available during a given period of time or when its use is restricted due to inferior quality).

• Avoid potential inconveniences in nearby communities due to water use. 

Proposed solutions

• Conduct an international tender process for the Northern District Desalination Plant. The project will be conducted through a “Build, Own, Operate and Transfer” (BOOT) concession, through which an external supplier is contracted to build, operate and, finally, transfer the system to Codelco. 

Progress

DESALINATION PLANT

In 2022 Codelco awarded the construction of a desalination plant located south of Tocopilla (in the Caleta Viuda sector) to provide desalinated water to the Chuquicamata, Ministro Hales and Radomiro Tomic divisions of the Northern District. The project will be a state-of-the-art, sustainable technology solution that will operate by reversing osmosis, with an initial capacity of 840 liters per second, which is due to be launched by 2026. It will have the potential to expand to a maximum capacity of 1,956 liters per second.