VINCI wins contract to build two tunnels in the El Teniente mine, Chile

The "Túneles de Acceso Principales del Proyecto Nuevo Nivel de Mina El Teniente" covers drilling and blasting two 9 km tunnels, each with an average cross section of 65 sq. metres, together with two intermediate access tunnels totalling 6 km. The first of the main tunnels is for transporting personnel; the other is for the ore. The tunnels will enable a new mine level to be created in El Teniente, the world’s biggest underground copper mine.

 

El Teniente is located at an altitude of between 1,500 and 1,900 metres, 80 km to the south of Santiago, in the Libertador General Bernardo O’Higgins region in the Andes. The works, which are scheduled to start in October 2011, will 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 is one of the world leaders in ground technologies and has been operating in Chile’s mining sector for many years.