Chuquicamata
Sign in to saveChuquicamata ( ; referred to as Chuqui for short) is the largest open pit copper mine in terms of excavated volume in the world. It is located in the north of Chile, just outside Calama, at above sea level. It is northeast of Antofagasta and north of the capital, Santiago. Flotation and smelting facilities were installed in 1952, and expansion of the refining facilities in 1968 made 500,000 tons annual copper production possible in the late 1970s. Previously part of Anaconda Copper, the mine is now owned and operated by Codelco, a Chilean state enterprise, since the Chilean nationalization of
Key facts
- Mine.name
- Chuquicamata
- Mine.image
- Mina de Chuquicamata, Calama, Chile, 2016-02-01, DD 110-112 PAN.JPG
- Mine.width
- 250px
- Mine.caption
- The pit viewed from entrance
- Mine.pushpin_map
- Chile Antofagasta Region#Chile
- Mine.pushpin_label
- Chuquicamata
- Mine.pushpin_map_caption
- Location in Chile
- Mine.pushpin_mapsize
- 150
- Mine.subdivision_type
- Region
- Mine.state/province
- Antofagasta Region
- Mine.country
- Chile
- Mine.owner
- Codelco
- Mine.products
- Copper, gold
- Mine.financial year
- 2024
- Mine.amount
- 289 kTon copper
- Mine.opening year
- 1882
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
12 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- History
- Beginning of modern mine and Guggenheim era (1910–1923)
- Anaconda Copper era (1923–1971)
- Codelco era (1971–present)
- Geology
- Economic effects
- Climate
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
Chuquicamata ( ; referred to as Chuqui for short) is the largest open pit copper mine in terms of excavated volume in the world. It is located in the north of Chile, just outside Calama, at above sea level. It is northeast of Antofagasta and north of the capital, Santiago. Flotation and smelting facilities were installed in 1952, and expansion of the refining facilities in 1968 made 500,000 tons annual copper production possible in the late 1970s. Previously part of Anaconda Copper, the mine is now owned and operated by Codelco, a Chilean state enterprise, since the Chilean nationalization of copper in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Its depth of makes it the second deepest open-pit mine in the world, after Bingham Canyon Mine in Utah, United States.
For most of the 20th century Chuquicamata was the most productive copper mine in Chile until this position was overtaken by Escondida in 1996. Chuquicamata remained the 2nd most productive copper mine in Chile until 2011 when it was surpassed by Collahuasi and Radomiro Tomic. As of 2024 it was the fifth most productive copper mine in Chile with a produce that year of 289 kTon copper.