Chuquicamata Copper Mine

by Thomas Lohr

The Chuquicamata Copper Mine belongs to a very important branch of industry in Chile. Mining, processing, and export of copper are of utmost importance for the country's economy. Copper mining is in fact so important that entire towns of several thousands inhabitants have formed around the mines. The town of Chuquicamata was abandoned in 2005-2007 and since then represents a ghost town.

The Chuquicamata Copper Mine

In Chuquicamata, copper has been mined for approx. 100 years through open pit mining. Thereby, a huge hole has been excavated, reaching a diameter of 3-4 kilometres and a depth of more than one kilometre. In the future, it is planned to shift to deep mining. The enormous dimensions of the mine become imaginable for visitors when the huge, 600-ton dump trucks on the opposite slopes appear as small dots only.

This German-language movie shall convey some impressions of the mine and the ghost town.

Movie: Thomas Lohr

Wikipedia article on Chuquicamata [Access source]

This contribution was revised, extended, and translated from German by Martin Mergili.