Sierra Gorda SCM is the project company operating the mine. They are a joint venture between KGHM International Ltd, subsidiary of
KGHM Polska Miedź (55%), and
South32 (45%). South32 had taken over the 45% stake from
Sumitomo Group in 2021 (previously 31.5% Suitomo Metal Mining and 13.5% Suitomo Corporation). Feasibilities studies were done on 2011 by
Fluor Corporation. Other major milestones of the Copper-Molybdenum mine includes EPCM contracts and respective loan agreements to finance the construction both done on 2012, followed by water pipeline construction in 2013 and finally mine production starting in October 2014. By 2017, when prices for copper were falling worldwide, KGHM announced it would not start a second expansion phase, which was supposed to raise production from 98,000 tonnes of copper (2016) to a projected 220,000 tonnes. For the year 2021, the mine was "expected to produce 180,000 t of copper, 5,000 t of molybdenum, 54,000 oz of gold and 1.6 Moz of silver". ==Geology==