Lomas Bayas is in the Atacama Desert, 120 kilometres east of the port of Antofagasta in northern Chile.
The oxide copper ores of Lomas Bayas are low grade, fast leaching and require low acid consumption. Higher grade ore is crushed and leached in heaps. The lowest grade ore is sent directly from the mine to dump leach. Copper is recovered from solution by solvent extraction and electro-plated like high quality cathodes. Cathodes are transported by truck to Antofagasta and shipped to final customers.