Press release

Lantania to expand water treatment plant at Cobre Las Cruces mining complex

  • It has been awarded a 5.2 million euro First Quantum Minerals project to increase the processing capacity of the mining and metallurgical complex

Madrid, 30 May 2023. Lantania strengthens its position as a leading company in industrial water treatment. The Infrastructure, Water and Energy Group will carry out the expansion of the permanent water treatment plant (PWTP) of the Cobre Las Cruces mining complex, located in the municipalities of Gerena, Guillena and Salteras, in the province of Seville, and owned by First Quantum Minerals. The company has been awarded the contract for the drafting of the project, the design of the treatment lines, construction and start-up of the development of this infrastructure for 5.2 million euros.

The PWTP expansion is part of the preliminary work for the start-up of the company’s new mining and metallurgical project, which will allow it to increase its activity. With the expansion of the treatment plant, the volumes to be treated have increased by more than 50%, which represents an important reinforcement of Cobre Las Cruce’s water management.

The water will be treated in a process line consisting of a physical-chemical pretreatment by decantation, filtration, ultrafiltration and finally reverse osmosis with minimum recovery yields of 90%, achieving in all cases water with a quality similar to that of drinking water.

Lantania has been responsible for the operation of the mining complex’s water treatment plant since its construction in 2010. The company has more than 40 employees.

Cobre Las Cruces is a worldwide mining complex for the implementation of technological innovations in metal mining. The company is wholly owned by the Canadian multinational First Quantum Minerals, one of the world leaders in the sector. Production at Cobre Las Cruces began in 2009 for the extraction and processing of copper. It has one of the most advanced and sustainable hydrometallurgical plants in the world, producing copper cathodes of the highest quality (99.999% purity, Grade “A” by the London Metal Exchange).

Exploitation of the current secondary copper sulfide resources will be completed during 2023, but work is underway to continue mining additional polymetallic primary sulfide mineral resources containing copper, zinc, lead and silver. This new underground mine and polymetallic refinery project is called PMR (Poly Metallurgical Refinery). This refinery will produce four metals (copper, zinc, lead and silver) through the application of an innovative technology created and patented by Cobre Las Cruces.

About Lantania

Lantania Group builds large transport, water and energy infrastructures. It develops sustainable solutions to improve quality of life and promote a cleaner and healthier world. The company currently has a work portfolio of more than 650 million euros and assets of more than 200 million. The maintenance of the runways at Adolfo Suárez-Madrid Barajas Airport, the electrification of the first section of the high-speed train to Extremadura, the urbanisation of the Central Breakwater of the Port of Bilbao expansion or the construction of a solar farm in La Ciudad de la Justicia in Valencia are some of Lantania’s standout projects. The company is present in Colombia, the United States, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Morocco, Poland, Slovakia and Bulgaria.