Cerro Verde IPCC PROJECT

Heavy-duty Lorbrand idlers and pulleys for the In-Pit Crushing and Conveying expansion at one of the world's largest copper-molybdenum operations, thirty years after the first supply here.

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PROJECT REFERENCE

Cerro Verde In-Pit Crushing & Conveying System

Cerro Verde is one of Peru's flagship copper operations and the country's second-largest copper mine by contained reserves. The IPCC (In-Pit Crushing & Conveying) expansion replaces part of the diesel truck haulage cycle with electrically driven conveyors fed by in-pit crushers. For a deep open pit moving around 300,000 tonnes of ore and waste per day, this cuts fuel consumption, reduces CO₂ emissions, removes trucks from congested haul roads, and lowers unit transport cost. Lorbrand supplied the heavy-duty idlers and pulleys for the main conveying flights, building on a three-decade supply relationship that began with the 1995/96 Cyprus Amax leach expansion.
Location Arequipa, Peru
Operator Freeport-McMoRan
Lorbrand supply 2025
Industry Copper and molybdenum mining
Cerro Verde frame production
CV 96.webp
PROJECT DATA

Scale of the operation.

300,000 t/d
Pit Material Moved
108,000+ t/d
Concentrator Throughput
15.8°
Maximum Belt Incline
30 years
Lorbrand Supply
PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS

What sets Cerro Verde IPCC apart.

IPCC at Reference Scale

IPCC at Reference Scale

IPCC installations of this size are still relatively rare in South American copper. Cerro Verde is now a reference project for the technology, replacing diesel truck haulage with electrically driven conveyors on a pit moving 300,000 tonnes per day.

Composite and Steel Rollers

Composite and Steel Rollers

Composite rollers run where roller change-out is difficult and steel rollers everywhere else. Centrifugal self-cleaning seals handle the dry, dusty Andean environment, and unidirectional rollers are fitted in all critical areas on inclines up to 15.8° for safety.

A Thirty-Year Reference

A Thirty-Year Reference

Lorbrand first supplied Cerro Verde in 1995/96 through Fluor for the Cyprus Amax leach expansion, and was selected again in 2025 for the IPCC system. Few conveyor component suppliers can point to a three-decade track record at a single South American copper operation.

COMPARISON

Why Cerro Verde IPCC took a different route.

✕ Previous

Diesel Truck Haulage

Diesel trucks moving ore and waste up congested haul roads, with high fuel consumption and significant CO₂ emissions on a pit moving around 300,000 tonnes a day.

✓ Now

Electrically Driven IPCC

In-pit crushers feeding electrically driven conveyors, which cut fuel consumption, reduce CO₂, take trucks off the haul roads and lower unit transport cost on a pit moving 300,000 tonnes per day.

Cerro Verde's sulphide concentrator is rated at 108,000+ t/d and was home to the first high-pressure grinding roll installation in the copper industry. Alongside it sits a solvent-extraction / electrowinning operation that has produced cathode at Cerro Verde since the 1970s. The new IPCC system replaces part of the diesel truck haulage cycle on a pit moving around 300,000 tonnes of ore and waste a day, using electrically driven conveyors fed by in-pit crushers, with the operational case made on fuel consumption, CO₂ emissions, haul-road congestion, and unit transport cost.
Lorbrand's involvement covers the heavy-duty idlers and pulleys for the main conveying flights. Composite rollers run where roller change-out is difficult and steel rollers everywhere else. Belt inclines reach 15.8°, and unidirectional rollers were fitted in all critical areas for safety. The dry, dusty Andean environment makes the centrifugal self-cleaning seals on the Lorbrand idlers particularly valuable in continuous 24/7 operation.
Lorbrand's relationship with Cerro Verde stretches back three decades. In 1995/96, when Cyprus Amax (now Freeport-McMoRan) acquired the mine from the Peruvian state and launched the leach expansion that scaled up cathode production, Lorbrand supplied idler rollers for the project through Fluor. Reselection in 2025 for the IPCC system, a much larger installation, is the kind of long-cycle reference few conveyor component suppliers can point to at a single South American copper operation.
LORBRAND SCOPE

Engineered for Cerro Verde IPCC.

Lorbrand supplied heavy-duty idlers and pulleys for the IPCC overland and stockpile conveyors. Composite rollers run where roller change-out is difficult and steel rollers everywhere else. Centrifugal self-cleaning seals handle the dry, dusty Andean environment, and unidirectional rollers are fitted in all critical areas on the steepest inclines for safety. The rollers combine low rolling resistance with the reliability that continuous 24/7 operation demands.
Cerro Verde Roller
PROJECT OUTCOME

Reselection for the 2025 IPCC system, three decades after the original 1995/96 Cyprus Amax supply, extends a long-cycle reference at one of Peru's flagship copper operations. The new conveying flights take a significant portion of the diesel truck haulage cycle off the road, cutting fuel consumption, reducing CO₂ emissions, and lowering unit transport cost on a pit moving around 300,000 tonnes a day.

— Cerro Verde IPCC · 2025
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