Ausenco has been awarded design engineering study work for two new pipelines and the port marine facilities for the Quebrada Blanca Phase 2 Project in Chile.The project, which is majority owned by Teck Resources, involves evaluating the construction of a new copper concentrator with a provisional annual production capacity of 200,000 t of copper, tailings management facility and pumping and pipeline installations for transporting copper concentrate and water to and from the port.

Ausenco CEO Zimi Meka said the new Evaluate and Innovate phase work was a pleasing win for the Process Infrastructure business and built on the prefeasibility study work the company completed last year. “Our businesses combined to work on the early stage study of the Quebrada Blanca project previously, giving us a strong understanding of the project and clients’ requirements,” he said. “Our involvement in this project is a clear demonstration of the collaborative efforts of our highly skilled teams. This win is amongst a number of recent Evaluate and Innovate phase awards that are providing our Process Infrastructure business with early momentum into 2011.

“In addition, this win further builds our profile in the high growth region of South America, which is a key target area for our future growth.”