BHP Billiton to build US$3.5 bln Chile water plant

BHP, the world's largest mining company, filed a request to build the plant and two 110-mile (180-kilometer) pipelines that would carry water from the Pacific Ocean to the mine in Chile's Atacama Desert, said Santiago-based BHP spokesman Mauro Valdes.

A secretary at the Regional Environmental Commission in the northern city of Antofagasta confirmed the agency had received BHP's request.

If the commission approves its request this year, BHP will begin building the plant in the latter half of 2009, creating 6,500 temporary jobs, Valdes said. The plant itself would open in 2012, permanently employing 50 people.

Mines require desalinated water to wash away sediment and process unearthed metals.

Melbourne-based BHP Billiton PLC owns 57.5 percent of the Escondida mine, while London-based Rio Tinto PLC holds 30 percent, and a Japanese consortium led by the Mitsubishi Corp. holds 10 percent.

The Escondida mine accounted for about 8 percent of world copper output in 2007, producing about 3.6 metric tons (4 tons) a day. Chile is the world's top copper exporter.