Chuquicamata

Chuquicamata is one of the largest open pit copper mines in the world by excavated volume, a hole roughly four kilometres long, three wide and around a kilometre deep, worked since 1915 under American ownership and nationalised in 1971. Beside it stood a company town of some twenty thousand people with schools, a hospital, a stadium and a cinema; in 2007 it was evacuated entirely and the population moved to Calama, because the tailings and dust made living next to the pit unacceptable and the waste dumps needed the ground. The town was left in place, its streets and buildings intact and slowly being buried, and it can be seen on the tour.

History

Copper has been mined here for centuries: in 1899 miners found the "Copper Man", a body dated to about AD 550 and trapped by a rockfall in an ancient shaft, and the men of Diego de Almagro are said to have got copper horseshoes from the local people when he passed in 1536. After the War of the Pacific of 1879-1883 a "red gold fever" brought over 400 claims to the hill, worked by small miners and Chilean and English companies; in 1912 the Guggenheims organised the Chile Exploration Company to work the low-grade ore, production began on 18 May 1915, Anaconda Copper bought the mine in 1923, and in 1971 it was nationalised and passed to Codelco (Wikipedia, Chuquicamata).

What's there

• A pit about a kilometre deep - among the largest excavations on earth.
• Worked since 1915 - and nationalised in 1971.
• A town evacuated in 2007 - twenty thousand people moved to Calama.
• The empty town still standing - left in place beside the dumps.

When to go

Year round, on a booked tour. Half a day.

Things to know

There is no way to visit independently, and tours must be arranged ahead through the company and are sometimes suspended. Closed shoes, long trousers and sleeves are required. The tour is on a bus with limited stops. Dust and altitude are both factors.

Nearby

Calama is south; San Pedro de Atacama is an hour and a half east.

Key facts