Chuquicamata

The Chuquicamata mine is an open pit copper, gold and molybdenum mine. It is located 15 km north of Calama and at an altitude of 2,870 meters, in the Antofagasta region, Chile. It was considered the largest mine of its kind in the world and the largest producer of copper.^{[citation needed]}

The mine, formally part of the Chuquicamata Division, is managed by the state company Codelco, after Chile nationalized copper extraction in 1971. Mined since pre-Columbian times, industrial copper production began in 1915 and until 2007 it had a camp or mining town of the same name, intended to house the workers and their families.

The pit is elliptical in shape, with a surface area of about 950 hectares. Although it is not the largest open pit mine in the world (that distinction falls to Bingham Canyon, Utah), at 5 kilometers long, 3 wide and 1 deep, it is the one with the largest volume removed. Currently, it is the 13th largest copper mine in the world and the 6th nationally, with an estimated production of 350,000 metric tons of copper in 2017. It has the 3rd largest smelter and 7th largest refinery in the world, each with a capacity of 450,000 metric tons of copper.

History

Chuquicamata was originally exploited by the indigenous peoples of the area. Its name is of Aymara origin and is related to the Chucos or Chuquis indigenous people who worked copper to make tools and weapons.

The first miners of the Loa

The first people who worked in Chuquicamata, as far as records exist, were the Atacameños or likan-antai. The archaeological remains locate the first exploitations of copper and other minerals in the Chilean north, around 500 to 450 BC. c.

They used wooden tools and semi-carved stones, augers and rustic chisels. With these tools they made small shafts on the slopes of the hills, mainly extracting the copper "charqui" or the native copper found among the rocks at low depths.

There are signs of mining extraction in what is now the northwestern sector of the ore. Curiously, the mineral processing took place several kilometers from Chuquicamata, on the banks of the Río Salado (Loa) and Grande rivers. Historians deduce that the Atacameños chose this place to smelt the metal because of its proximity to the Inca Trail, a commercial route where it was possible to trade elaborated products. Another curious detail is that this ancient people was able to temper some copper pieces, that is, harden the metal to prolong its useful life.

Before 1879, the Chilean invasion of the territories of Bolivia, a country that became independent in 1825, the territories of Chuquicamata in the Atacama desert, belonged to the prefecture of Potosí during the colony, as part of the Royal Audience of Charcas, currently the department of Potosí belonging to Bolivia.

The story tells that Diego de Almagro, upon his return to Cuzco in 1536 after the conquest expedition to central Chile, obtained copper horseshoes for his horses from the kilns of Kamac-Mayu (Río Grande).

Beginnings of industrial mining

The region was colonized by the Spanish and came to depend on the Royal Court of Charcas. With the independence of Bolivia, it was part of the Department of the Coast until 1879 when Chile occupied the territory. In 1904, the peace treaty determined the cession of the entire region to Chile in perpetuity.

In 1882, the first industrial work in the sector was installed in the Chuquicamata sector. The Guggenheim Bros. company, of the United States, produced the first bar of fine copper on May 18, 1915, which was followed by a period during which the company received successive names such as Chile Copper Co., Anaconda Co. and Chile Exploration Co..

Thousands of miners came looking for opportunities when the first massive copper extractions began. The company owned by the Guggenheim brothers acquired the rights to the former partnership and renamed the firm the Chile Exploration Company.

Mina Chuquicamata in 1925.

In 1923, the Anaconda Copper Company bought American Brass with its enormous production capacity. This production required a large amount of copper, which exceeded that produced by the Anaconda mines located in Montana, even though they produced about a million pounds of copper per day.

Firm executives considered it essential to secure additional copper resources. They first began negotiations with the Utah Copper Company, which failed because one of the majority shareholders, Kennecott Copper, failed to reach an agreement. No other alternative explored in the United States was successful.

The company then turned its sights to Unión Minera del Alto Katanga's open pit operation in the Belgian Congo. A purchase agreement could not be reached here due to the close relationship between Katanga and the Belgian government.

Full view of the mine cut.

Conversations were held in Brussels with Fernand Pisart, an executive from Katanga, to see the possibility of a joint sale operation, an action that did not materialize either. In the long run, the failure of these negotiations ended with the attempt to buy Chuquicamata.

In March 1923, Anaconda acquired Chile Copper for $77 million, the largest known transaction on Wall Street up to that time. 51% of Chile Copper was sold at $35 a share. Chile Copper's capitalization was 5.4 million shares at a par value of $25 per share. Southward, the star of the Anaconda empire, had set its course.

In the fall of 1928, the copper market was rising and negotiations with the Guggenheim brothers continued. Anaconda shares were up and it seemed like a good time to acquire the rest of the shares of the Chile Copper Company.

Finally in January 1929 and after a few weeks of discussion, a conversion basis was announced for the acquisition of the remaining 2.2 million shares of the Chile Copper Company at 73/100 of an Anaconda share for one of the chili.

This conversion was agreed upon with Daniel Guggenheim, while other family members were aiming for an 80% conversion.

Meanwhile, Anaconda shares were hovering around $150. Subscription rights were then offered to shareholders at $55 for the new issue of Anaconda. Finally, the Guggenheim family accepted the conversion and the offer was officially formulated on January 23, 1929. For this, 2,073,003 shares of Chile were delivered for conversion, granting Anaconda 98.41% of the property.

By June 30, 1940, this had risen to 98.50 and then reached 99.50%. Thus concluded the gigantic transaction.

Nationalization and administration of Codelco

In 1971 a constitutional reform was promulgated through which the large copper mining in Chile was nationalized, which meant the total ownership of this mine by the Chilean State. It currently belongs to Codelco Chile, one of the hundred largest companies in the world and one of the main companies in metal mining.

Truck (Caex) of the Komatsu company.