Vinci mobilises on tunnels at the El Teniente mine in Chile

Following the award of a US$400 million tunnel construction contract by Codelco, Chile’s national copper company, in early September, Vinci is currently mobilising on site at the world’s biggest underground copper mine, El Teniente.
Through its subsidiaries, Vinci Construction Grands Projets (60%) and Soletanche Bachy (40%), Vinci was announced winner of the design-build contract for the Túneles de Acceso Principales del Proyecto Nuevo Nivel de Mina El Teniente, which includes drilling and blasting two 9km (5.6-mile) tunnels, each with an average cross section of 65m2, together with two intermediate access tunnels totalling 6km (3.7-miles). The tunnels will enable a new mine level to be created with the first of the main tunnels used for transporting personnel; and the other for ore.
El Teniente is located at an altitude of between 1,500m and 1,900m, 80km (50-miles) to the south of Santiago, in the Libertador General Bernardo O’Higgins region of the Andes. The works are scheduled to take 40 months to complete.
Vinci Construction Grands Projets is a major player in underground works, as illustrated by its current contracts, which include the Hallandsås rail tunnels in Sweden, Liefkenshoek rail tunnel in Belgium and the Cairo metro in Egypt. Soletanche Bachy has been operating in Chile’s mining sector for many years.