Chuquicamata
| Chuquicamata | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| General information about the mine | |||
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| Mining technology | Open pit mine on 13 km² | ||
| Funding / year | 528377/2010 t | ||
| Funding / total | 3,000,000,000 t of ore | ||
| Rare minerals |
Type locality : Bellingerit , Betpakdalite-NaNa , Cuprocopiapit , Klinoatacamit , Kröhnkit , Leightonit , Libethenit , Lindgrenit , Mendozavilit-K Ca , Metahohmannit , Natrochalcit , Obradovicit-KCu , Obradovicit-Nacu , Obradovicit-NaNa , Parabutlerit , Salesit , Sampleit and Ungemachit . Atacamit , brochantite , Coquimbit , Devillin , enargite , Fibroferrit , galena ( galena ), Halotrichit , ilmenite , jarosite , Kalinite , Lavendulan , mirabilite , niter , Olivenit , Powellit , quartz , Römerit , sphalerite , thenardite , ulexite , Voltait , Wulfenit and Zoisit . |
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| Information about the mining company | |||
| Operating company | CODELCO | ||
| Employees | 7569 (December 31, 2010) | ||
| Start of operation | 1915 | ||
| Funded raw materials | |||
| Degradation of | copper | ||
| Raw material content | 1 % | ||
| Greatest depth | 1100 m | ||
| overall length | 4300 m | ||
| Geographical location | |||
| Coordinates | 22 ° 17 '26 " S , 68 ° 54' 7" W | ||
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| Location | Calama | ||
| local community | Calama | ||
| region | Antofagasta region | ||
| Country | Chile | ||
Chuquicamata is an open pit copper mine in the northern Chilean Atacama Desert in the Región de Antofagasta . It is one of the largest open cast copper mines in the world .
geography
Geographical location
Chuquicamata is about 15 km from the city of Calama . The open pit is around 4,300 m long, 3,000 m wide and up to 1,000 meters deep. The multiplication of these maximum dimensions results in 13 km² rectangular area and 11 km³ cuboid volume; The actual volume of the hollow can be roughly estimated at 17% (cone on half the base) to 52% (inscribed ellipsoid ) of this. In 2014 the open pit mine should reach its greatest depth of 1,100 m.
geology
The Chuquicamata deposit is a porphyry copper deposit .
history
The area was already in use by the inhabitants before the arrival of the Spaniards. The word Chuquicamata comes from the Aymara language and probably comes from the first inhabitants of the country. Chile only received official control of the territory with the Saltpeter War and the subsequent treaties, the copper deposits were only discovered later.
In 1912, the US company Guggenheim Bros. took possession of the deposit . The first work started a year later and in the spring of 1915 the production of electrolytically extracted copper began in Chuquicamata . In 1923 Guggenheim Bros. transferred the mine to the Anaconda Copper Mining Company . With the Chilean constitutional reform on July 11, 1971, copper production was nationalized . Since then, Chuquicamata has been owned by the state-owned Codelco .
The town of Chuquicamata, founded in 1912 as a miners' settlement, is located immediately south of the opencast mine. In 2004 (according to other statements in 2007 or 2008) the residents of Chuquicamata were resettled because copper was also discovered under the city . You now live in a new, purpose-built residential area in Calama . Chuquicamata has been a ghost town ever since .
Mine
[obsolete] Chuquicamata is one of the most important copper producers in the world. From 1915 to 2005 the mine produced 2.3 billion tons of ore with an average copper content of 1.53% by weight. A further 700 million tons were planned for the period 2006–2014. According to different scenarios of the Codelco Norte division, which operates the mine, mining in the opencast mine should end in 2017 at the latest. An intensive exploration program has identified additional resources amounting to 2.3 billion tons of ore with a copper content of 0.81% by weight down to a depth of 1,800 m below the open pit. A feasibility study provides for the underground mining of this part of the deposit and a ramp is currently being driven for further exploration measures . According to the study, underground production should start in 2014 and reach its full capacity of 45 million tons of ore per year in 2020.
Mineral finds
Chuquicamata is a well-known locality of various minerals and their varieties . A total of 130 minerals and 8 varieties recognized by the IMA have been detected here (as of 2013).
Web links
- CODELCO - Corporación Nacional del Cobre, Chile -. In: codelco.com. Retrieved March 25, 2015 .
- Image of the German radar satellite "TerraSAR-X"
- Daniela Focke: Chuquicamata, the world's greatest copper orebody. (Pdf, 560 kb) TU Bergakademie Freiberg, accessed on March 25, 2015 (English).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Type locality Chuquicamata Mine at Mineralienatlas (accessed August 4, 2013)
- ^ Mindat - Locality Chuquicamata Mine, Chuquicamata District, Calama, El Loa Province, Antofagasta Region, Chile
- ↑ CODELCO MINE SWALLOWS CHUQUICAMATA TOWN IN CHILE. (No longer available online.) In: santiagotimes.cl. Formerly in the original ; Retrieved March 25, 2015 . ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Chuquicamata, Chile. In: yfaenza.wordpress.com. April 18, 2013, accessed March 25, 2015 .
