Mining in Chile

The mining sector in Chile has historically been and continues to be one of the pillars of the Chilean economy.^[1] Copper exports alone stands for more than one third of government income. Mining in Chile is concentrated in the northern half of the country and in particular in the Norte Grande region spanning most of the Atacama Desert.

1947 map of mines in Chile

Chile was, in 2024, the world's largest producer of copper,^[2][3] iodine^[4] and rhenium,^[5] the second largest producer of lithium,^[6] the third largest producer of molybdenum,^[3] the seventh largest producer of silver,^[3] and salt,^[7] the eighth largest producer of potash,^[8] the thirteenth producer of sulfur^[9] and the fourteenth producer of iron ore^[10] in the world. In the production of gold, between 2006 and 2017, the country produced annual quantities ranging from 35.9 tons in 2017 to 51.3 tons in 2013.^[11]

In 2021 mining taxes stood for 19% of the Chilean state's incomes.^[12] Mining stood for about 14% of gross domestic product (GDP) but by estimates including economic activity linked to mining it stood for 20% of GDP.^[12] About 3% of Chile's workforce work in mines and quarries but in a wider sense about 10% of the country's employment is linked to mining.^[12]

Historically, coal mining had some importance in the southern half of country from the 1850s to the 1990s^[13][14] with a brief revival in Invierno mine from 2013 to 2020.^[15][16] In the 19th century Chile was a major producer of silver (1830s to 1850s)^{[citation needed]} and copper (1850s to 1870s).^[17][18] From the 1870s to the 1930s nitrate mining was an important employment and income source for Chile.^{[citation needed]} Modern copper mining in Chile begun in the 1900s and 1910s with the arrival of companies from the United States which were fully nationalized in 1971 under the state-owned copper company Codelco.^[19][20][21]

The governance of mining in Chile is done by non-overlapping bodies; COCHILCO, ENAMI, the National Geology and Mining Service (SERNAGEOMIN) and the Ministry of Mining.^[22] SONAMI and Consejo Minero are guilds associations grouping corporate mining interests in Chile.^[23]

Copper

Main article: Copper mining in Chile

El Teniente, an underground copper mine in the commune of Machalí in the Cachapoal Province (2005)

Although the relative importance of copper declined in the 1970s and 1980s, it was still the Chilean economy's most important product in 1992. The mining sector represented 6.7 percent of GDP in 1992, as compared with 8.9 percent in 1985. In 1991, copper exports represented 30 percent of the total value of exports, a substantial decline with respect to the 1960s, when it represented almost 80 percent of total exports. Mining exports in general accounted for about 48 percent of total exports in 1991.

Two developments in the copper sector were noteworthy. First, in the 1987–91 period, there was a substantial increase in the output of refined copper, as well as a relative decline in the production of blister copper. Second, state-owned Codelco, the world's largest copper producer, still had an overwhelmingly dominant role (accounting for 60 percent of Chile's copper output in 1991).

The so-called Codelco Law of April 1992 authorized Codelco for the first time to form joint ventures with the private sector to work unexploited deposits. Thus, in a major step for Codelco, in 1995, it invited domestic and foreign mining firms to participate in four joint explorations in northern Chile. Foreign owned private firms were to become increasingly important as new investment projects got underway.

Chilean copper miners

The heightened importance of these foreign private firms in large-scale copper mining also resulted from the international business community's improved perception of Chile and from a mining law enacted during the Pinochet regime that clearly established compensation rules in the case of nationalization and otherwise encouraged investment in this sector.

Given this more favourable context, Phelps Dodge, a United States mining company and the Sumitomo Metal Mining Company, a Japanese firm, signed a US$1.5 billion contract in 1992 with the Chilean government to develop Candelaria, a copper and gold mine south of Copiapó. The mine's potential production of refined copper was equivalent to about 10 percent of Codelco's entire production.

Copper Stabilization Fund

Despite the decline in copper's importance, Chile continued to be affected by the vagaries of the international copper market. The fund received 0.2–0.5% of GDP, depending on the size of the budget surplus each year. In 2006, a one-off sum of $600 million United States dollars was added to the fund. The fund was replaced with the Economic and Social Stabilization Fund in 2007. The new fund received fiscal surpluses in excess of 1% of GDP.^[24] The high variability of copper prices affected the Chilean economy, particularly the external accounts and the availability of foreign exchange, in several ways. In the 1987-91 period, the international copper market was very favorable; for example, copper prices in 1989 were 50 percent higher than in 1980. By May 1992, however, the price of copper had declined to about its 1980 level.

The government decided to counteract the effect of the variability of copper prices by creating the Copper Stabilization Fund, which worked as follows: whenever the price of copper increased, the government would direct a proportion of the increased revenues into the fund; these resources would then be used during those years when the price of copper fell below its "normal" level. This institutional development helped Chile at least partially free itself from the volatility of the copper market. The Copper Stabilization Fund is occasionally tapped into if there is a major need for more money. Part of the fund will be used to help pay for reconstruction after the devastating 2010 Chile earthquake.

Lithium

Northern Chile forms part of the Lithium Triangle with substantial reserves in the form of brine. The explosive growth in electric vehicles since 2015 has triggered increased demand.

Chile is the main producer of lithium from brine.^[25] Until 2017, when it was surpassed by Australia, Chile was the over-all main producer of lithium.^[26] By one estimate Chile will be surpassed also by Argentina and China in lithium production by 2030.^[26]

Most of Chile's lithium reserves are in Salar de Atacama and Salar de Maricunga,^[25] and all lithium extracted in Chile as of 2023 comes from Salar de Atacama.^[27] The only two lithium-extracting companies currently operating in Chile, SQM and Albemarle, have licences to extract lithium until 2030 and 2043 respectively.^[27][28] In April 2023 Chilean government announced plans for nationalizing its lithium industry.^[29] The state-owned copper company Codelco was commissioned by the government to negotiate nationalization with SQM.^[28]

A 2023 estimate by lithium-expert Gustavo Lagos suggests that lithium production in Chile will by 2030 represent about 8% of the world's total production and that it will be the fourth largest producer of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) by then after Argentina, China and Australia.^[30] Chile has the world's cheapest production costs for lithium and could be an advantage for minign in Chile once recycled lithium enters the market competing with costly mining operations in the future.^[31]

Gold

The amount of gold mined in Chile has fluctuated in the 2010–2023 period from a high of 50.852 kg in 2013 to a low of 30,907 kg in 2022.^[32] Also in the same period 36% to 72% of the gold produced annualy in Chile was a by-product of copper mining.^[32] The share of medium and small-scale mining in gold production in Chile has dropped from an average of 45% for the 2003–2005 period to 9% in 2023.^[32]

Most of the economically viable gold deposits in Chile belong to two two types of deposits; high-sulfidation epithermal and porphyry type.^[33] Most of these deposits formed in the last 66 millions years (Cenozoic) in connection to magmatic activity in the Andes.^[33] Gold from iron oxide copper gold ore deposits (IOCG), from mesothermal deposits, or of Mesozoic age (formed 66 to 252 million years ago) may in some cases be recurrent geological features but lack often large concentrations to make them profitable.^[33] Almost all valuable non-placer gold in Chile occur in the northern half of the country and some deposits are grouped into belts like the Maricunga Gold Belt and El Indio Gold Belt.^[33]

Almost no mining of placer gold occurs today.^[34] The placer deposits of some areas of difficult access in Patagonia are subject to sporadic small-scale illegal gold mining.^[22] A 2019 study found that seven of Chile's ten best placer gold prospects lie around Cordillera de Nahuelbuta.^[34]

Nitrate

Mining nitrate in the North of Chile defined the country's history from the late 19th century to the mid 20th. Indeed, the period 1873–1914 is referred to as the Saltpetre Republic.^{[citation needed]}

Other minerals

See also: Coal mining in Chile and Chilean silver rush

Gold mine in Andacollo

Since the late 1970s, the production of gold and silver has increased greatly.^{[citation needed]} The lead, iron and petroleum industries have shrunk since the mid-1970s, the result of both adverse international market conditions and declines in the availability of some of these resources. With a combined total value of about US$4 billion, two of the largest investments planned in Chile in the early 1990s were designated for an aluminium smelters projects in the Puerto Aisén^[35] and Strait of Magellan areas.^{[citation needed]}

SQM is also a significant iodine producer.

Medium-scale mining

The state-owned enterpise ENAMI has among it goals supporting medium-scale mining.^[23] Medium-scale mining has a larger share of mining properties in the country as whole, and in Atacama Region in particular, relative to large-scale mining that is dominant in the regions of Tarapacá and Antofagasta.^[36]

The amount and share of the gold mined by small and medium scale mining in Chile has declined significantly from 2003 to 2023.^[32]

Small-scale mining

The number of artisan miners in Chile, often known as pirquineros, has varied widely over the years.^[22] Since 2000 in some years with high metal prices have had up to c. 14,000 small-scale miners active. On average 95% of small-scale miners work in copper mining.^[22] These miners are supported by ENAMI which processes copper ore it purchases at stabilized prices.^[22][37] The levels of illegal mining in Chile are low relative to neighbouring countries.^[38]

See also

• Geology of Chile
• Law on Mining Concessions
• Nitratine or Chile saltpeter, the naturally occurring form of sodium nitrate
  • List of Saltpeter works in Tarapacá and Antofagasta