A subsidiary of Foster Wheeler’s Global Engineering and Construction Group won a contract for engineering, procurement and related services for a grassroots molybdenum refinery in Chile. The contract was awarded by MOLYB, an affiliate company of CODELCO, the Chilean Copper Corporation, which is among the world’s largest copper producing company and a leading molybdenum concentrate producer. The new facility, planned to be one of the largest of its kind, will be located near Mejillones in northern Chile.
Foster Wheeler will undertake the detailed engineering of the facility and provide procurement assistance and field-engineering services for the new refinery planned to process and refine 16,000t of molybdenum feedstock per annum, obtained from various CODELCO copper concentrator plants, expected to yield molybdenum as well as copper, rhenium and sulphuric acid as by-products. Molybdenum and rhenium are used in electronics, special steels, petroleum refineries and the aerospace industry. Foster Wheeler’s scope of work is scheduled to be completed during the second quarter of 2015.
“This latest award is a further important step in the extension of our Minerals and Metals track record and in the further development of our already excellent working relationship with CODELCO,” said Dave Lawson, president and global leader of Minerals and Metals, Foster Wheeler AG. “This award reflects CODELCO’s continued confidence in the quality of our technical expertise in minerals processing and our project execution.”