| Mining in Chile | |
|---|---|
| Authority | National Geology and Mining Service Ministry of Mining |
| Production | |
| Commodity | |
| Year | 2023 |
The mining sector inChile has historically been and continues to be one of the pillars of theChilean economy.[1]Mining in Chile is concentrated in 14 mining districts, all of them in the northern half of the country and in particular in theNorte Grande region spanning most of theAtacama Desert.[2]
Chile was, in 2024, the world's largest producer of copper,[3][4]iodine[5] andrhenium,[6] the second largest producer oflithium,[7] the third largest producer ofmolybdenum,[4] the seventh largest producer ofsilver,[4] andsalt,[8] the eighth largest producer ofpotash,[9] the thirteenth producer ofsulfur[10] and the fourteenth producer ofiron ore[11] in the world. In the production ofgold, between 2006 and 2017, the country produced annual quantities ranging from 35.9 tons in 2017 to 51.3 tons in 2013.[12]
In 2021mining taxes stood for 19% of the Chilean state's incomes.[13] Mining stood for about 14% ofgross domestic product (GDP) but by estimates including economic activity linked to mining it stood for 20% of GDP.[13] About 3% of Chile's workforce work in mines and quarries but in a wider sense about 10% of the country's employment is linked to mining.[13]
The governance of mining in Chile is done by non-overlapping bodies; theChilean Copper Commission,ENAMI, theNational Geology and Mining Service (SERNAGEOMIN) and theMinistry of Mining.[14]SONAMI andConsejo Minero are guilds associations grouping corporate mining interests in Chile.[15] Chile'sNational Statistics Institute reports on the state of the mining industry through the montly publication of theMining Production Index.[16]
Some challenges of the Chilean mining industry come from overallmine aging, remoteness and harsh climatic conditions of mining in the highAndes,[A] and increased water demand coupled with water scarcity.[B] Other challenges are related to increasingly complex legal frameworks or the fact that important mineral deposits lie below or next to glaciers along theArgentina–Chile border and have thus both issues relating to the bi-nationality and ofenvironmental impacts on glaciers and rock glaciers.[21]
Chile is the world's largest producer ofcopper[3] and has been so uninterruptedly since 1983. This activity provides a substantial part of the Chilean state's revenue: slightly less than 6% in 2020, with state-owned copper companyCodelco alone generating 2.6% of state revenue.[22]
Mining of copper in Chile is done chiefly on giantlow-gradeporphyry copper deposits. As of 2023 the most productive copper mine isEscondida owned byBHP,Rio Tinto and two other private companies and located in inlandAntofagasta Region.[23]
Part of the state's income from copper mining goes to theEconomic and Social Stabilization Fund which is since 207 the successor to theCopper Stabilization Fund established in 1987.[24] This fund allows for more precise annual government budget planning given thatcopper prices can exhibitstrong fluctuations.[25]
Northern Chile forms part of theLithium Triangle with substantialreserves in the form of brine. The explosive growth in electric vehicles since 2015 has triggered increased demand.
Chile is the main producer of lithium frombrine.[26] Until 2017, when it wassurpassed by Australia, Chile was the over-all main producer of lithium.[27] Estimates show that Chile is expected to be surpassed also by Argentina and China in lithium production by 2030.[27] Lithium-expertGustavo Lagos suggests that lithium production in Chile will by 2030 represent be about 8% of the world's total production.[28] Chile has the world's cheapest production costs for lithium and this could be an advantage for mining in Chile oncerecycled lithium enters the market competing with costly mining operations in the future.[29]
Most of Chile's lithium reserves are inSalar de Atacama andSalar de Maricunga,[26] and all lithium extracted in Chile as of 2023 comes from Salar de Atacama.[30] The only two lithium-extracting companies currently operating in Chile,SQM andAlbemarle, have licences to extract lithium until 2030 and 2043 respectively.[30][31] In April 2023 Chilean government announced plans for nationalizing its lithium industry.[32] The state-owned copper companyCodelco was commissioned by the government to negotiate nationalization with SQM.[31]
The amount of gold mined in Chile has fluctuated in the 2010–2023 period from a high of 50.852 kg in 2013 to a low of 30,907 kg in 2022.[33] Also in the same period 36% to 72% of the gold produced annually in Chile was aby-product of copper mining.[33] The share ofmedium and small-scale mining in gold production in Chile has dropped from an average of 45% for the 2003–2005 period to 9% in 2023.[33]
Most of the economically viable gold deposits in Chile belong to two types of deposits; high-sulfidation epithermal and porphyry type.[34] Most of these deposits formed in the last 66 millions years (Cenozoic) in connection to magmatic activity in the Andes.[34] Gold fromiron oxide copper gold ore deposits (IOCG), frommesothermal deposits, or of Mesozoic age (formed 66 to 252 million years ago) may in some cases be recurrent geological features but lack often large concentrations to make them profitable.[34] Almost all valuable non-placer gold in Chile occur in the northern half of the country and some deposits are grouped into belts like theMaricunga Gold Belt andEl Indio Gold Belt.[34]
Almost no mining ofplacer gold occurs today.[35] The placer deposits of some areas of difficult access inPatagonia are subject to sporadic small-scaleillegal gold mining.[14] A 2019 study found that seven of Chile's ten best placer gold prospects lie aroundCordillera de Nahuelbuta.[35]
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Since at least 2010 Chile's has each year produced 0.6% to 0.7% of all iron mined in the world.[4] Production has risen from 6.8 million metric tonnes in 2010 to more than 10 million metric tonnes each year beginning 2021.[4] Mining of iron ore deposits along theChilean Iron Belt have been facilitated by their proximity to the ports of export at the coast, and this had in particular had an impact for the economic viability of small iron ore deposits.[36]Compañía Minera del Pacífico (CMP) is largest iron mining company in Chile.[37] Is through its parent companyCompañía de Acero del Pacífico (CAP) a member ofConsejo Minero, a guild of large mining companies in the country.[38] Compañia Minera del Pacífico has three main mines each with its own port for export.[39] NearCopiapó the company ownsCerro Negro Norte mine which uses the port ofPunta Totoralillo, further south the company is in ownership ofLos Colorados mine which uses the port of Guacolda II, and near the city ofLa SerenaEl Romeral mine is operated using the port ofGuayacán inCoquimbo.[39]
Inmedium-scale iron mining in Chile the mines and deposits ofEl Carmen,Huantemé,Cerro Imán andEl Dorado have been important in the second half of the 20th century.[40]
TheDominga project led byAndes Iron seeks to establish a new iron and copper mine near the coast of northern Coquimbo Region.[41] This project has proved controversial for political and environmental reasons.[41]
In theAtacama Desert in northernChile there are vast superficial deposits ofcaliche, a mixture ofgypsum,sodium chloride and other salts, and sand. It is associated to the mineralnitratine also known as "Chile saltpeter" (Spanish:salitre). The deposits contain an average of 7.5% sodium nitrate, as well assodium sulfate (18.87%),sodium chloride (4.8%), and smaller amounts ofpotassium,calcium,magnesium,borate,iodine, andperchlorate. About two-thirds of the deposits are insolublegangue minerals. The caliche beds are from 2 cm to several meters thick inalluvial deposits, where the soluble minerals form a cement in unconsolidatedregolith. Nitrate-bearing caliche is also found permeating bedrock to form bedrock deposits.[42]
Nitratine is a composite ofsodium nitrate (NaNO3) andpotassium nitrate (KNO3). Nitratine was an important source of export revenue for Chile untilWorld War I, when Europe began to produce both nitratesindustrially in large quantities.[42] Mining nitrate in theFar North of Chile was arguably the main economic activity of the country from 1880 to 1930.[43]
Caliche is the mainiodine ore in Chile and the country is the world's prime producer of this element in addition to hosting over half of the worldsreserves of iodine.[44][5]SQM andCosayach are Chile's first and second largest iodine producers.[44][45] Iodine at SQM is extracted fromcaliche ore and requires also the consumablessulphur,ammonium nitrate,sulfuric acid, kerosene, water, electricity and fossil fuel, mainly diesel.[44]
Since the late 1970s, the production ofgold andsilver has increased greatly.[citation needed] The lead, iron and petroleum industries have shrunk since the mid-1970s, the result of both adverse international market conditions and declines in the availability of some of these resources. With a combined total value of about US$4 billion, two of the largest investments planned in Chile in the early 1990s were designated for analuminium smelters projects in thePuerto Aisén[46] andStrait of Magellan areas.[citation needed]
In the 2005–2024 period more than half of the silver produced annually in Chile was aby-product of copper mining.[4]
There is no primary mining ofcobalt in Chile with the last activity ending in 1944.[47] Cobalt resources are known from theChilean Iron Belt near the coast ofCoquimbo andAtacama regions and in the site of El Volcán inCajón del Maipo in the Andes near Santiago.[47] Cobalt is a potential by-product of iron and copper mining along the iron belt.[47] It is known to be found in considerable concentrations among discarded material –mainlytailings– of copper, iron and gold mining in Chile.[48]Capstone Copper's mines ofMantoverde andSanto Domingo are thought to be able to produce battery-gradecobalt.[49]
There is nomanganese mining in Chile since 2009 when Empresa Manganeso Atacama ceased operations.[50] Until then about half of the Chilean manganese had been exported toArgentina, and mining was mainly done in underground mines.[50] HistoricallyCorral Quemado and other areas ofCoquimbo Region have produced most manganese in Chile.[51] Manganese mining in Chile and Corral Quemado had a strong peak in 1943 when it came to produce more of what was being purchased leading to largestockpiles accumulating in ports and railway stations and ultimately to a halt in mining and thus mass unemployment.[51] Transport costs have been acomparative disadvantage for the commercialization of manganese mined in Chile.[51] The area aroundTaltal was second to Corral Quemado in importance in manganese mining in the 1940s.[51] Known manganese deposits are scattered along the length of Chile fromArica (18.5° S) toValdivia (39.5° S).[51] In detail, the known manganese deposits concentrate in three areas; theAltiplano in northernmost Chile, the Coquimbo andAtacama regions and themetasedimentary rocks of the provinces ofCautín andValdivia.[52] In the regions of Coquimbo and Atacama manganese appear as stratabound layers in theCretaceous volcanic and sedimentary formations ofArqueros andQuebrada Marquesa.[53] In Arqueros Formation it occurs in some locations together with stratabound copper.[53] By 1964 87% of the magnesium mined in Chile came from these formations in Coquimbo Region.[53]
Historically,coal mining had some importance in the southern half of the country from the 1850s to the 1990s[54][55] with a brief revival inInvierno mine from 2013 to 2020.[56][57]
Mostmedium-scale mining is concentrated near roads or other pre-existing infrastructure, and lie thus away from the high Andes where nearly all mines belong to the large-scale mining category.[58] The mining districts ofChañaral,Copiapó,Huasco andAndacollo have most of their mining done by medium-scale mining companies.[58] The state-owned enterpriseENAMI has among its goals supporting medium-scale mining.[15] Medium-scale mining has a larger share of mining properties in the country as whole, and inAtacama Region in particular, relative to large-scale mining that is dominant in the regions ofTarapacá andAntofagasta.[59]
Medium-scale mining in Chile tends to focus on copper and produced about 4.5% of the copper mined in the country from 2017 to 2021.[60] In that period the copper extracted by medium-scale mining increased each year starting from 256kt in 2017 ato 313 kt in 2021.[60] Besides copper other medium-scale mining activity in Chile involve gold, iron,zinc andlead.[61] The amount and share of the gold mined by small and medium scale mining in Chile has declined significantly from 2003 to 2023.[33] In iron miningEl Carmen mine nearChañaral is a leading medium-scale producer.[61] According to figures from 2013 all zinc and lead mining in Chile was done by medium and small-scale miners.[61]
Most mineral exploration efforts by medium-scale mining are done near established mines (brownfield exploration), and as of 2023 about three quartes of these exploration projects are for copper and the remaining for gold.[62]
Some medium-scale mining companies in Chile areGrupo Minero Las Cenizas (copper),Sierra Atacama (copper),[C]Haldeman Mining (copper and gold),[D]Cosayach (iodine) andSanta Fe Mining (iron).
As with medium-scale mining, small scale mining concentrates in lowlands and the lower elevations of the Andes, usually near roads or other relevant infrastructure.[66] The number of artisan miners in Chile, often known aspirquineros, has varied widely over the years.[14] Since 2000 in some years with high metal prices have had up to c. 14,000 small-scale miners active. On average 95% of small-scale miners work in copper mining.[14] These miners are supported byENAMI which processes copper ore it purchases at stabilized prices.[14][67] The levels ofillegal mining in Chile are low relative to neighbouring countries.[68]
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding missing information.(September 2025) |
TheChilean Copper Commission projects that by 2033 the water supply to mining in Chile industry will consist of 71% of sea water and 29% from continental waters.[69]
| This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding missing information.(September 2025) |
Chile hosts as of 2025 836tailings deposits of which 627 are inactive and 53 are abandoned.[70] The remaining is ctailings, 129 are actively used by mines.[70] Some companies like Minera Valle Central andCompañía Minera del Pacífico processes the tailings of third parties. Minera Valle Central processes the tailings ofEl Teniente and recovers molybdenum and copper.Planta Magnetita of Compañía Minera del Pacífico processes tailings fromCandelaria copper mine and someore ofLos Colorados iron mine.[71][72][73][74]
From 1978 to 2010Planta de Pellets inHuasco disposed its tailings legally in the sea, being the only marine disposal of tailings in Chile.[75]
Thehistory of mining in Chile spans more than thousand years, with early copper mining inChiquicamata dating to the 6th century[76] and cultures and groups such as theEl Molle,Diaguita andMapuche mining or using gold adornments well before theInca invasion in the 15th century.[77][21] The successive establishment ofInca andSpanish rule in the northern half of Chile intensified mining and brought new techniques to the industry. In the early Spanish period (1542–1600) there was significant mining ofgold placers which fueledSpanish–Mapuche conflict climaxing witha collapse of Spanish rule inthe foremost gold district and a reorentation of Spanish economy towards agriculture.[78][35][79] Gold, silver and copper mining had a resurgence in the late colonial period (18th century).[80] Exports of silver and copper were instrumental to finance theChilean War of Independence (1810–1826)[81] and then to prevent Chiledefaulting in itsindependence debt the 1830s and 1840s.[82] In the 19th century Chile wasa major producer of silver (1830s to 1850s) and copper (1850s to 1870s),[83][84] but towards the end of the century mining of gold, silver and copper were in decline.[85] An exception to this was theTierra del Fuego gold rush (1883–1906) in southernmost Chile.Coal andiron mining in Chile took off in the mid-19th century and early 20th century respectively. From 1870 to the 1930 nitrate mining in the far north was an immerse source of wealth and employment in Chile.[43][86][87] Moderncopper mining in Chile begun in the 1900s and 1910s with the arrival of companies from the United States which werefully nationalized by 1971 under the state-owned copper companyCodelco.[88][89][90] A new wave of foreign investment of mining begun following theDecreto Ley 600 law of 1974 and by the 1990s the country was experiencing a new mining boom.[91][92]
Between 1880 and 1890 the production of nitrate more than tripled, and within that same ten-year period Chilean national revenues jumped from fifteen million to sixty million pesos. Chile actually felt four times as rich as she had been before the war began.
