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Chuquicamata Copper Mine

By Daniel Lins - 2009-09-28

Chuquicamata

When the dictator Pinochet privatized Chile’s mines, it was arguably one of the best things for Chile’s economy at the time. Granted, Pinochet was a horrible murderer, but he did manage to get Chile’s economy back on track. The Atacama Desert in the North of Chile is one of the richest mineral deposits in South America. And the mineral riches there are Chile’s primary export, propelling its economy into the world stage and soon to first-world status.

Chuquicamata, one of the world’s largest open-pit mines, is a prime player in that drama. We had the chance to visit "Chuqui", which means "the point of the spear" in the native tongue, and see the grand mammoth of a mine for ourselves.

Chuqui employs more than 40,000 private employees and contractors. It is a veritable City, with its own hospital, fire department, and security forces. It is more than half a mile deep, and more than 2.6 miles wide. From satellites, you can see how huge it is! Check it out at the links below.

As the years go by, it just keeps getting bigger and bigger. So far, the pit has already swallowed one town and is predicted to extend to the city of Calama where we are staying in less than a few years.

It has changed the face of northern Chile from a land of desert and barenness into a land of riches and value.

No need to talk about the huge scale of operations. You can see from the pictures.

Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuquicamata

Google Maps -copy and paste this into google maps to see it by satellite -22.283333, -68.9