Copper mining in Chile#Geology

{{see also|Geology of Chile}}

File:Copper mines in Chile - 3.PNG

File:Copper mines in Chile - 2.PNG

File:Copper mines in Chile - 1.PNG and El Teniente copper mines.]]

Mining of copper in Chile is done chiefly on giant low-grade porphyry copper deposits. Copper deposits of similar age in Chile occur in elongated geographical patterns which are termed metallogenic belts. Five metallogenic copper belts have been identified by geologists in Chile. The main two of these are the Late Eocene-Oligocene belt in the far north and the Middle Miocene-Early Pliocene belt in north-central Chile.{{Cite journal |title=A Special Issue Devoted to Porphyry Copper Deposits of Northern Chile: preface |journal=Economic Geology |last1=Camus |first1=Francisco |volume=96 |issue=2 |pages=233–237 |last2=Dilles |first2=John H.|year=2001|doi=10.2113/gsecongeo.96.2.233 }}{{Cite journal |title=A new model for the optimal structural context for giant porphyry copper deposit formation |journal=Geology |last1=Piquer |first1=José |url= |volume=49 |issue=5 |pages=597–601 |last2=Sanchez-Alfaro |first2=Pablo |last3=Pérez-Flores |first3=Pamela |year=2021 |doi=10.1130/G48287.1|doi-access=free |bibcode=2021Geo....49..597P }} Collahuasi, El Abra, Chuquicamata, Escondida and Radomiro Tomic lie in the Late Eocene-Oligocene belt and Los Pelambres, Los Bronces and El Teniente in the Middle Miocene-Early Pliocene belt.{{efn-ua|When not considering the other three belts, these two belts are sometimes referred to as the Paleogene belt and the Neogene belt.}} Other metallogenic belts containing porphyry copper deposits are a discontinous Cretaceous belt and the Early-Middle Miocene belt, both of which are located in northern Chile. All these ores formed episodically during the span of the Andean orogeny except for the Jurassic when the orogeny was not contractional but extensional. The Late Eocene-Oligocene belt is the one hosting most copper resources. Within this belt the copper deposits of Chuquicamata, Collahuasi, El Abra, El Salvador, Escondida and Potrerillos are aligned on top of the Domeyko Fault.{{cite book|last=Robb |first=Laurence |title=Introduction to Ore-Forming Processes |edition=4th |year=2007 |publisher=Blackwell Science Ltd |location=Malden, MA, United States |isbn=978-0-632-06378-9 |page=104 }} It has been proposed that the giant porphyry deposits of the Eocene-Oligocene belt formed in a context of oblique subduction that had an associated magmatism of adakitic character, scant volcanism and attenuated escape of SO₂. Ore forming magmatism has in this context been termed "closed porphyry systems" that had limited degassing that would have led to the formation of highly oxidized deposits rich in sulphur. In contrast, deposits of the Paleocene–Early Eocene belt such as Lomas Bayas and Spence are smaller and associated to more orthogonal subduction and more ordinary calc-alkaline non-adakitic magmatism that included plenty of volcanism.{{Cite journal |title=Giant versus small porphyry copper deposits of Cenozoic age in northern Chile: adakitic versus normal calc-alkaline magmatism |journal=Mineralium Deposita |last=Oyarzún |first=Roberto |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s001260100205 |volume=36 |pages=94±798 |last2=Márrquez |first2=Alvaro |last3=Lillo |first3=Javier |last4=López |first4=Ivan |last5=Rivera |first5=Sergio |year=2001 |doi=10.1007/s001260100205}}

Various authors have indicated that the occurrence of intersections between continent-scale traverse fault zones and arc-parallel structures are associated with porphyry formation.Sillitoe, R.H., "Porphyry Copper Systems". Economic Geology, 2010. 105: pp. 3–41. In Chile this has been pointed out to be the case of Escondida, Los Bronces and El Teniente porphyry copper deposits each of which lies at the intersection of two fault systems.{{Cite journal |title=Geologic Evolution of the Escondida Area, Northern Chile: A Model for Spatial and Temporal Localization of Porphyry Cu Mineralization |journal=Economic Geology |last1=Richards |first1=Jeremy P. |volume=96 |pages=271–305 |last2=Boyce |first2=Adrian J. |last3=Pringle |first3=Malcolm S.|year=2001|issue=2 |doi=10.2113/gsecongeo.96.2.271 |bibcode=2001EcGeo..96..271R }}{{cite journal |last1=Piquer Romo |first1=José Meulen |last2=Yáñez |first2=Gonzálo |last3=Rivera |first3=Orlando |last4=Cooke |first4=David |date=2019 |title=Long-lived crustal damage zones associated with fault intersections in the high Andes of Central Chile |url=http://www.andeangeology.cl/index.php/revista1/article/view/V46n2-3106/pdf |journal=Andean Geology |volume=46 |issue=2 |pages=223–239 |doi=10.5027/andgeoV46n2-3108 |access-date=June 9, 2019|doi-access=free }}

A few copper deposits in Chile are labelled "exotic" as they originate from kilometer-scale lateral migration of copper-rich fluids originating in porphyry copper deposits.{{Cite journal |title=Emplazamiento del yacimiento Exótica |journal=Revista Chilena de Geología |last1=Mortimer B. |first1=Credic |volume=6 |pages=41–51 |last2=Munchmeyer F. |first2=Carlos |last3=Urqueta D. |first3=Igor|language=es|year=1978}}{{Cite journal |title=Supergene Oxidized and Enrioched Porphyry Copper and Related Deposits |journal=Economic Geology |doi=10.5382/AV100.22 |last=Sillitoe |first=Richard H. |volume= |issue= |pages=723–768 |year=2005|isbn=978-1-887483-01-8 }}

{{see also|List of copper smelters in Chile}}

File:20150125110716_Caletones_smelter_-_cropped.jpg Caletones smelter as of 2015 that serves El Teniente mine.]]

The main product of Chilean copper mining is copper concentrate (i.e. the stage of the ore before smelting). In 2024, this represented 50.9% of the value of Chilean mining products exports, while refined copper made up 33%,{{Cite news |title=Concentrados vuelven a superar exportación de cobre refinado en Chile |last=Becerra |first=Mauricio |date=2025-02-19 |url=https://www.elciudadano.com/especiales/mineria-y-energia/concentrados-vuelven-a-superar-exportacion-de-cobre-refinado-en-chile/02/19/ |work=El Ciudadano |language=es}} down from 34.9% in 2023. This reduction follows a long-term trend of diminishing smelting capacity in Chile.{{Cite web |title=La compleja discusión sobre una nueva fundición en Chile |url=https://www.mch.cl/columnas/la-compleja-discusion-sobre-una-nueva-fundicion-en-chile/ |last=Pedrals |first=Jorge |date=2023-06-17 |access-date=2025-04-22|language=es |website=Minería Chilena}}{{efn-ua|In the 2013-2023 period the copper smelting capacity in China and Zambia has increased while the capacity in Chile and the United States has decreased. China has by far the largest capacity of copper smelting with over half of the world's total. Besides the previously mentioned countries, other countries with a significant installed cathode production capacity as of 2023 were (as percentages of the world total) Japan (8%), Russia (5%), Poland (3-4%) and Bulgaria (3-4%).}}

Processing is done in a number of copper smelters, some of which rank among the world's largest in term of capacity. Large copper mines have their own smelters, but there are also the custom copper smelters{{efn-ua|A custom copper smelter is one receiving or open to receive ores from multiple mines. Thus, these smelters tend to be less fine-tuned{{clarify|date=April 2025}} than smelters integrated with specific mines. Custom smelters tend also to be located at strategic locations, such as near port faciilities or at important crossroads in mining districts.}} of Altonorte in La Negra and Paipote near Copiapó, operated by Glencore and ENAMI respectively.{{Cite report |title=Fundiciones de Cobre en Chile |date=2015-06-10 |url=https://www.sonami.cl/v2/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/FCM-20150610-Com-Miner%C3%ADa-y-Energia-Senado-Fundiciones.pdf |last=Costabal M. |first=Francisco |access-date=2025-03-23 |publisher=SONAMI |language=es}}

Since the 1990s no new copper smelters have been built in Chile.{{Cite web |title=Una nueva fundición para Chile. Posible y necesaria |url=https://cesco.cl/una-nueva-fundicion-para-chile-posible-y-necesaria/ |date=2023-07-17 |access-date=2025-04-22 |website=CESCO |language=es}} Following the closure of Codelco's Fundición Ventanas in central Chile in 2022, there have been public discussions on building a large new copper smelter in Chile. The building of a new smelter is supported by the Ministry of Mining which aims for a capacity to produce 800,000 tonnes of copper.{{Cite news |title=Chilean govt to press ahead with plans to build copper smelters, increase state role in lithium production – minister |last=McKeigue |first=James |date=2024-04-30 |url=https://www.fastmarkets.com/insights/chilean-govt-to-press-ahead-with-plans-to-build-copper-smelters/ |access-date=2025-06-12 |work=Fastmarkets}} Antofagasta Region and Atacama Region have been proposed by Chilean industry experts as viable replacement sites.{{Cite news |title=Cierre de fundición Ventanas: El intrincado debate por dónde instalar una nueva planta y los costos asociados |url=https://www.emol.com/noticias/Nacional/2022/06/24/1064886/codelco-ventanas-instalar-nueva-fundicion.html |last1=Toro |first1=Daniela |date=2022-06-25 |access-date=2022-06-26 |work=Emol |last2=Munita |first2=Ignacia |language=Spanish}} Others have argued for keeping smelting in the Valparaíso Region, given the existence of nearby mines. While some argue the replacement plant should be near the coast, the inland sites of Chuquicamata and El Salvador have also been proposed as alternatives. The president of the National Mining Society (Sonami), Diego Hernández, estimates the construction period for a new smelter plant to be 5 to 7 years. A 2024 study identified Antofagasta Region as the best place for a new copper smelter, due to logistical advantages and an existing and expandable supply of copper concentrate from nearby mines.{{Cite thesis |title=Nueva Fundición de Cobre en Chile |last=Pacheco Zamora |first=Sebastián Patricio |access-date=2025-04-21 |degree=Industrial Engineering |publisher=University of Chile |url=https://repositorio.uchile.cl/bitstream/handle/2250/204037/Nueva-fundicion-de-cobre-en-Chile.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |language=es}}

There is a strong competition for water resources among mining companies and local communities in Atacama Desert.{{sfn|COCHILCO|2024|p=3}} For mines that are high in the Andes there are logistical difficulties in the use of sea water, in addition to increased probabilities of extreme weather events that may disrupt water supply.{{sfn|COCHILCO|2024|p=3}}{{sfn|COCHILCO|2024|p=2}} By the mid-2010s mining stood for 66% of the freshwater consumption in Antofagasta Region and 10% of it in Atacama Region which is a region with significant agriculture.{{Cite book |title=La Gran Minería en Chile |last=Pérez Vidal |first=Vicente |publisher=Ocho Libros |year=2014 |isbn=9789563351927 |pages=209–210, 218–221|language=Spanish |trans-title=Large Scale Mining in Chile |chapter=Agua y energía: El soplo de la vida para la minería |trans-chapter=Water and energy: The life-breath of mining}} In the more southern and less arid Coquimbo and Valparaíso regions mining stand for 5 and 6.5% of freshwater consumption.

Copper mining in Chile consumed an average of 73 m³/s in 2023, a 58% increase since ten years prior. Most water used in copper mining is reported to be recycled, while the remaining is freshwater and sea water.{{sfn|COCHILCO|2024|p=7}} As of 2023, 69% of sea water used in mining is desalinated.{{sfn|COCHILCO|2024|p=ii}} In copper mining freshwater consumption is derived on roughly equal parts from aquifers and surface waters as of 2023.{{sfn|COCHILCO|2024|p=6}}

The Cerro Colorado mine closed in 2023 in face of the non-renewal of its water extraction licence from the Pampa Lagunillas Aquifer.{{Cite news |title=Mina Cerro Colorado de BHP cierra este 2023 mientras sigue buscando solución al problema acuífero |last=Cobo |first=Stephanie |date=2023-02-09 |url=https://www.reporteminero.cl/noticia/noticias/2023/02/cerro-colorado-bhp-cierra-2023-buscando-solucion-problema-acuifero |access-date=2025-05-19 |work=Reporte Minero & Energético |language=es}}{{Cite news |title=BHP pone fecha a reapertura de Cerro Colorado: “usará agua de mar” y extenderá su vida por 20 años |last=Cárdenas |first=Leonardo |date=2024-08-08 |url=https://www.latercera.com/pulso-pm/noticia/bhp-pone-fecha-a-reapertura-de-cerro-colorado-usara-agua-de-mar-y-extendera-su-vida-por-20-anos/XYIYMRZQNNASRL2EUIUDFVMMT4/ |access-date=2025-05-26 |work=La Tercera |language=es}} The water extraction of Cerro Colorado mine impacted bofedal-type wetlands on the surface of the aquifer leading to shrinking of the vegetated areas.{{Cite journal |title=Local climate change induced by groundwater overexploitation in a high Andean arid watershed, Laguna Lagunillas basin, northern Chile |journal=Hydrogeological Journal |last=Scheihing |first=Konstantin |url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Konstantin-Scheihing/publication/319111103_Local_climate_change_induced_by_groundwater_overexploitation_in_a_high_Andean_arid_watershed_Laguna_Lagunillas_basin_northern_Chile/links/645a12ce809a5350215ac25a/Local-climate-change-induced-by-groundwater-overexploitation-in-a-high-Andean-arid-watershed-Laguna-Lagunillas-basin-northern-Chile.pdf |volume=26 |pages=705–719 |last2=Tröger |first2=Uwe |doi=10.1007/s10040-017-1647-4|year=2018}} This was reportedly the largest mine closure in Chile since the 2002 closure of El Indio mine.

The concentration process and the disposal of tailings are together stand together for about {{frac|3|4}} of the water consumed by mining.{{sfn|COCHILCO|2024|p=19}} Hydrometallurgy uses 11%, and dust control and mine water stand together for 7% of the water use.{{sfn|COCHILCO|2024|p=19}}

In the 2001–2015 period mill plant concentrators have become more efficient in requiring less water for the same amount of processed mineral. However the over-all increasingly lower ore grades processed have led to more ore being processed in order to maintain production levels which have hence raised water demand in the flotation facilities.{{sfn|COCHILCO|2024|p=9}}

Material that is discarded from the concentration process of copper in Chile, and worldwide, usually ends up in tailings dams. The discarded material is made up of fine particles slushed away in a mix with usually 70% of water and 30% of solids.{{cite report |last=Lagos |first=Gustavo |author-link=Gustavo Lagos |title=Descripción básica del procesamiento del cobre de mina |trans-title=Basic description of the processing of copper from mines |url=http://www.gustavolagos.cl/uploads/1/2/4/2/12428079/descripcion_procesamiento_del_cobre_g._lagos__20-4-22.pdf |language=es |website=Gustavo Lagos Cruz-Coke |publisher=Gustavo Lagos|date=2022-04-20 |access-date=2025-05-03 }} Some more modern techniques can manage to deposit tailings with only 15% of water. Medium-scale mining in Chile has been suggested to be in favourable conditions to apply environmental techniques such as dry tailings relative to large-scale mining.{{sfn|Ulloa Urrutia|Contreras Biekert|Gana Aravena|Miranda Toledo|2017|p=188}}

{{see also|History of mining in Chile}}

Copper has been mined for centuries at Chuquicamata, as evidenced by the 1899 discovery of the "Copper Man," a mummy dated to {{circa}} 550 A.D. The mummy was found in an ancient mine shaft, apparently trapped by a rockfall.{{cite journal | url=https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs11837-004-0256-6 | doi=10.1007/s11837-004-0256-6 | title=The production of copper in 6th century Chile's chuquicamata mine | year=2004 | last1=Fuller | first1=David R. | journal=JOM | volume=56 | issue=11 | pages=62–66 | bibcode=2004JOM....56k..62F | s2cid=137666853 | url-access=subscription }} About 74 km northeast of Copiapó in Viña del Cerro the Incas had one of their largest mining and metallurgy centres at Qullasuyu.{{Cite book|title=Chañarcillo, cuando de las montañas brotó la plata|last=Cortés Lutz|first=Guillermo|publisher=Museo Regional de Atacama|series=Cuadernos de Historia |year=2017|volume=II|language=es|url=https://www.museodeatacama.gob.cl/sites/www.museodeatacama.gob.cl/files/images/articles-88574_archivo_01.pdf|edition=|page=4}} There is evidence of gold, silver and copper metallurgy at the site, including the production of bronze.

File:Schmidtmeyer, Peter & Scharf, G - Silver & Copper Works -JCB Library f1.1.jpg and George Johann Scharf of the processing of Chilean copper and silver in 1820–1821.]]

Chilean copper mining of high-grade oxidized copper minerals and melting with charcoal produced 80,000 to 85,000 tons of copper in the 1541–1810 period.{{cite book |last1=Maksaev |first1=Víctor|last2=Townley |first2=Brian |last3=Palacios |first3=Carlos |last4=Camus |first4=Francisco |editor-last=Moreno |editor-first=Teresa |editor-last2=Gibbons |editor-first2=Wes |title=Geology of Chile |publisher=Geological Society of London |date=2006 |pages=179–180 |chapter=6. Metallic ore deposits |isbn=9781862392199}}

The introduction of reverberatory furnaces to Chile around 1830 by Charles Saint Lambert{{cite book|title=Mining in Chile's Norte Chico: Journal of Charles Lambert, 1825-1830 (Dellplain Latin American Studies)| author1=John Mayo |author2=Simon Collier | date=3 September 1998 | publisher=Westview Press Inc|isbn=978-0-813-33584-1}} revolutionized Chilean copper mining.{{sfn|Sagredo|2005|p=277}} The use of mineral coal instead charcoal in the reverberatory furnances introduced by Saint Lambert also meant there was not longer a dependency on the scarce firewood to be found on Atacama Desert and its sorrounding semi-arid areas as was the case with earlier smelting technology.{{Cite journal |title=Sistema constructivo de una fundición de cobre del siglo XIX en Atacama, Chile|volume=33 |journal=Obras y proyectos |last=Nazer |first=Amin |url=https://www.scielo.cl/article_plus.php?pid=S0718-28132023000100064&tlng=es&lng=es |last2=Oavez |first2=Osvaldo |trans-title=Construction system of a nineteenth-century copper smelter in Atacama, Chile|year=2023 |language=es |doi=10.21703/0718-281320233307}} The expansion of copper mining also benefited from improvements of transport caused by the development of railroads and steam navigation.{{sfn|Camus|2005|p=282}} In 1851, Copiapó –a city in the middle of a copper and silver district– was connected by railroad to Caldera, its principal port of export.{{Cite web

| url = http://www.memoriachilena.cl/602/w3-article-727.html

| title = Los Ciclos Mineros del Cobre y la Plata (1820–1880)

|trans-title=Mining Cycles of Copper and Silver

| website = Memoria Chilena

| publisher = Biblioteca Nacional de Chile

| language = es

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131231053749/http://www.memoriachilena.cl/602/w3-article-727.html

| archive-date = 31 December 2013

| url-status = live

}} The expansion of railroads continued and all the main mining districts of copper were connected by railroad by the 1870s.{{Cite web |title=Modernización de las faenas productivas |url=https://www.memoriachilena.gob.cl/602/w3-article-96160.html |access-date=2025-05-14 |website=Memoria Chilena |language=es}}

Prospector José Tomás Urmeneta discovered rich orebodies in Tamaya in 1850, and this became one of Chile's main copper mines.{{sfn|Sagredo|2005|p=277}} All of this enabled Chile to supply 18% of the copper produced worldwide in the 19th century, and from the 1850s to the 1870s the country was the world's top producer.{{sfn|Sutulov|1975|p=3}}{{sfn|Camus|2005|p=233}} In some years Chile's copper production made up about 60% of the world's output ,and its export tariffs made up more than half the state's income.{{sfn|Sagredo|2005|p=280}}

File:Sewell Chile.JPG, a town created to serve El Teniente during the early days of the large-scale copper mining.]]

File:World- Copper Production, 1946 - DPLA - 1e25affd63262ebf6f714b859fa37ae6.jpg

File:Chuquicamata-003.jpg in 1983. For most of the 20th century this was the most productive copper mine in Chile.]]

By the late 19th century the Chilean mining industry once again lagged behind technological developments elsewhere{{efn-ua|e.g. flotation, leaching, mechanization and large-scale open-pit mining.{{sfn|Camus|2005|p=236}}}} contributing to the drop of its share of the world production to 5–6% in the 1890s. Similar shares continued in the 1900s and 1910s, reaching a low of 4.3% in 1914.{{sfn|Sutulov|1975|p=3}}{{sfn|Sagredo|2005|p=290}}{{sfn|Camus|2005|p=236}} Concurrent with technological changes was also a 49% decline in the price of copper between 1873 and 1895.{{Cite journal |title=La crisis de la minería del Norte Chico, Chile en la primera mitad del siglo XX y la decadencia de la Región de Coquimbo |journal=Nuevo Mundo |last=Ortega Martinez |first=Luis |url=https://journals.openedition.org/nuevomundo/67244 |language=es |doi=10.4000/nuevomundo.67244|year=2014}} The decline in mining empoverished communities in the provinces of Coquimbo and Atacama.

Up to the 1940s and 1950s there was also a notable lack of major copper exploration efforts by large mining companies that relied on purchasing prospects already known from the activity of small-scale miners and pirquineros.{{sfn|Camus|2005|p=241}}

Chuquicamata, which was to become Chiles largest copper mine in the 20th century, had some mining activity in this downturn period. In this locality Chilean and English companies mined brochantite veins from 1879 to 1912.{{cite journal|last1=Ossandon|first1=Guillermo|last2=Freraut|first2=Roberto|last3=Gustafson|first3=Lewis|last4=Lindsay|first4=Darryl|last5=Zentilli|first5=Marcos|s2cid=128812977|title=Geology of the Chuquicamata Mine: A Progress Report|journal=Economic Geology|date=2001|volume=96|issue=2|pages=249–270|doi=10.2113/gsecongeo.96.2.249|bibcode=2001EcGeo..96..249O }}

Modern large-scale copper mining in Chile emerged though technological transfer and capital investment from the United States in three mines: El Teniente (1904), Chuquicamata (1912), and Potrerillos (1920).{{sfn|Sutulov|1975|p=31}}{{sfn|Salazar|Pinto|2002|pp=124-125}} The Guggenheims that owned El Teniente sold 95% of the shares of this mine to Kennecot Copper in 1915, and then in 1923 sold 51% of their share in Chuquicamata to Anaconda Copper.{{sfn|Sutulov|1975|p=33}} With the onset of the Great Depression in 1929 copper prices plummeted and unemployment among miners in Chile became rife.{{sfn|Sutulov|1975|p=35}} An earthquake and tsunami in 1922 destroyed much mining and metallurgical infrastructure in the provinces of Coquimbo and Atacama but spared the emergent Chuquicamata and El Teniente mines which lay to far north, respectively south, of the epicenter.

After the United States entered the Second World War in 1941 a cap was imposed on copper prices, impacting mining and generating large revenue losses for Chile.{{sfn|Sutulov|1975|p=36}} During the Korean War (1950–1953) copper mining in Chile was again affected by price caps imposed by the United States.{{sfn|Sutulov|1975|p=37}} The Chilean state overhauled its relationship to foreign large-scale copper mining with its Ley de Nuevo Trato law of 1955.{{sfn|Sutulov|1975|p=39}} This new law sought to reward investments in copper mining by offering decreasing taxes if production increased.{{sfn|Sutulov|1975|p=39}} Despite this overhaul, new mining taxes were added in 1961.{{sfn|Sutulov|1975|p=40}}

On June 19, 1945, The Smoke Tragedy left 355 workers dead in the underground copper mine of El Teniente.Emol, June 20, 2005, [http://www.emol.com/noticias/nacional/detalle/detallenoticias.asp?idnoticia=186030 "La Tragedia del Humo": A 60 años del peor accidente minero en Chile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181207103025/https://www.emol.com/noticias/nacional/detalle/detallenoticias.asp?idnoticia=186030 |date=2018-12-07 }} (in Spanish)

The existing institutions supporting small-scale mining —Empresa Nacional de Fundiciones and Caja de Crédito Minero— were reorganized in 1960 into the new state-owned company ENAMI.{{sfn|Sutulov|1975|p=42}} This new company came to own to two custom smelters, Paipote which it inherited and Ventanas which it inaugurated in 1964.{{sfn|Sutulov|1975|p=42}}

In 1969 Chile negotiated for the state-owned company Codelco the purchase of a 51% stake of each of the subsidary companies of Anaconda Copper operating in the mines Chuquicamata and El Salvador.{{sfn|Sagredo|2005|p=291}} In the same negotiation Chile was promised the purchase of the remaining 49% of the stakes on December 1972.{{sfn|Sagredo|2005|p=291}}

International investments in copper mining concentrated in Chile in the 1980s and 1990s, as copper mining in other countries faced problems like political instability (Peru), increased environmental requirements (developed countries) and overall disinterest in foreign investment in a nationalized mining industry (Zaire, Zambia).{{Cite book |title=La Gran Minería en Chile |last=Valenzuela Rabí |first=Iván |publisher=Ocho Libros |year=2014 |isbn=9789563351927 |pages=135–152 |language=Spanish |trans-title=Large Scale Mining in Chile |chapter=El boom minero de los 90 |trans-chapter=The mining boom of the 90s}} After Mitsubishi Corporation's 1985 investment in Minera Escondida investments of Japanese capital became common in Chilean copper mining.{{Cite thesis |title=Rol estratégico de la inversión Japonesa, en el desarrollo de la industria minera chilena |last=García Aubert |first=Rodrígo de Jesús |access-date=2025-04-21 |degree=M.Sc. in business administration |year=2021 |publisher=University of Chile |url=https://repositorio.uchile.cl/bitstream/handle/2250/180046/Rol-estrategico-de-la-inversion-japonesa-en-el-desarrollo-de-la-industria-minera-chilena.pdf |language=es}}

On March 1991 Escondida –which was to become the world's most productive copper mine– is officially inaugurated.{{Cite news |title=Escondida – BHP: Tres décadas de éxito y desarrollo en Chile |date=2021-03-26 |url=https://www.nuevamineria.com/revista/escondida-bhp-tres-decadas-de-exito-y-desarrollo-en-chile/ |access-date=2025-05-28 |work=Revista Nueva Minería y Energía |language=es}}

File:Chilean_Miners.jpg

In 1987 Chile introduced the Copper Stabilization Fund, a fund aimed to stabilize the income of Codelco given the volatility of copper prices.{{sfn|Ceballos|Tilton|2005|p=295}}

While since at least 2004 the production levels of copper of Codelco have stagnated or declined{{Cite report |title=Anuario de estadisticas del cobre y otros minerales |year=2024 |publisher=Comisión Chilena del Cobre |trans-title=Yearbook: Copper and Other Mineral Statistics: 2004 2023}}{{Cite report |title=A look at Codelco |date=2023-11-22 |url=http://www.gustavolagos.cl/uploads/1/2/4/2/12428079/una_mirada_a_codelco_g._lagos_v8_22-11-23_ingles.pdf |last=Lagos |first=Gustavo |author-link=Gustavo Lagos}} the company made large gains during the 2000s commodities boom.{{Cite journal |title=Chile, copper and resource revenue: A holistic approach to assessing commodity dependence|year=2015 |journal=Resources Policy |last=Ebert |first=Laura |volume=43 |pages=101-111 |last2=La Menza |first2=Tania}} Hence, from 2001 to 2014 Codelco alone stood for 10% of the state's income, while in 2020 it stood for 2.6% of the state income. Artisan miners known as pirquineros also made considerable profits albeit some found it difficult to reskill to gold mining after copper prices fell in 2008.{{Cite news |title=Brilla el precio del oro: pirquineros del cobre se reconvierten |last=El Mercurio |date=2009-06-22 |url=https://www.mch.cl/negocios-industria/brilla-el-precio-del-oro-pirquineros-del-cobre-se-reconvierten/ |work=Minería Chilena |language=es}}{{Cite journal|language=es|title=Minería popular y estrategias de supervivencia: Pirquineros y pallacos en el Norte Chico, Chile, 1780-1950|journal=Cuadernos de Historia|url=https://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0719-12432016000200002|last=Godoy Orellana|first=Milton|doi=10.4067/S0719-12432016000200002|number=45|year=2016}}

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• {{cite book |last=Camus |first=Francisco |date=2005|chapter=La minería y la evolución de la exploración en Chile |title=Minería y desarrollo |editor-last=Lagos |editor-first=Gustavo|editor-link=Gustavo Lagos |language=es |location=Santiago, Chile |publisher=Ediciones Universidad Católica de Chile |pages=229–270 |isbn=956-14-0844-9}}
• {{cite book |last1=Ceballos |first1=Juan Ignacio |last2=Tilton|first2=John |date=2005|chapter=Análisis del Fondo de Compensación del Cobre Chile |title=Minería y desarrollo |editor-last=Lagos |editor-first=Gustavo|editor-link=Gustavo Lagos |language=es |location=Santiago, Chile |publisher=Ediciones Universidad Católica de Chile |pages=295–318 |isbn=956-14-0844-9}}
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• {{cite book | last1 = Salazar | first1 = Gabriel | author1-link = Gabriel Salazar | last2 = Pinto | first2 = Julio | author2-link = Julio Pinto | year = 2002 | title = Historia contemporánea de Chile III. La economía: mercados empresarios y trabajadores. | publisher = LOM Ediciones | isbn = 956-282-172-2}}
• {{Cite book |title=El Cobre Chileno |last=Sutulov |first=Alexander |publisher=Corporación Nacional del Cobre de Chile |year=1975 |pages=1–62 |language=es |url=https://www.memoriachilena.gob.cl/602/w3-article-98262.html |editor-last=Sutulov |editor-first=Alexander |chapter=Antecedentes históricos de la producción de cobre en Chile|author-link=Alexander Sutulov}}
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