Ausenco and Minera Esperanza have entered into an agreement to carry out $8m multi-disciplinary support and field supervision for the $1.9bn Esperanza copper project in Chile’s Antofagasta region.

The project, which will yield copper, silver, gold and molybdenum, is likely to run until the last quarter 2010.

Ausenco’s process infrastructure business, through Pipeline Systems Incorporated, is executing the services in the construction stage of the Esperanza project.

This follows comprehensive engineering services already carried out during 2007-08.

The project includes a seawater pipeline and a concentrate pipeline traversing 145km of the Atacama Desert from 2,300m above sea level.