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.

What you actually see

• 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.

Honest expectations

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.