BHP Billiton has increased its annual exploration spending by 29%, allocating almost all of a US$900 million budget to finding new copper and oil deposits. The company has singled out these resources as being the key to support its future growth.

WITH the copper market expected to post a moderate surplus this year, copper prices are expected to remain under pressure. In its fifth edition of GFMS Copper Survey, Thomson Reuters says the annual average price is expected to fall below $7000/tonne for the first time since 2009, with a test of the $6000/tonne level likely during the second half of the year.

Troubled mining major Glencore has started the sale process for its copper mine at Cobar in western New South Wales, Australia, and the Lomas Bayas copper mine in the Atacama Desert in Chile.

A MAJOR multi-national mining company has chosen to integrate an Immersive Technologies’ fully staffed on-site training solution at one of its copper mines near Santiago, Chile. Over this three year engagement, Immersive Technologies specialists will carry out operator risk assessments, training and drive continuous improvement projects targeted at specific mine operational performance gaps.