THE CITY THAT ONCE WAS

Monday, March 15, 2010

When we drove by Chuquicamata mine a few weeks ago, I was determined to learn more about this mine north of Calama. Well, today it is going to happen. We have booked a tour. These tours actually seem to be very popular. Every business day at 2:00 pm, a bus load of people is taken to the mine.

But first we spend the morning visiting the downtown area, which is actually a lot more appealing than last time we were here. The city has a busy boulevard with little terraces and plenty of stores.
We drop of my computer power supply at a cell phone repair shop to have the loose wire reconnected so I can use my computer again. What would I do without it?

After a much earlier lunch than usual, we drive north to the mine, where a large group of tourists is already waiting. Everyone is dressed in long pants, closed toe shoes and long sleeve shirts. It’s actually way too hot for this type of clothing, but these are the safety rules.

As we drive to the entrance of the city of Chuquicamata,  a large number of buses drive back and forth taking workers from and to the mine.

 

A fancy tour bus picks us up and we are taken to the center of what once was the bustling city of Chuquicamata.
Paula, our guide explains how the entire city will be covered with excavated soil to expose the mineral rich rocks. I am happy the hear however that the centre of this ghost town with the park, theatre and a few other significant buildings will be spared for future tourist attraction and as a legacy of the city.

We are taken to a hall with various displays and explanations of the operation of the mine. Here we learn more about the mine which was started in 1917 by Guggenheim. I have heard this name numerous times during our travels through the Atacama desert. This person did start a large number of mines. This mine was operated by American Companies until in 1971, when the Left wing Government kicked them out and started operating the mine with governemtn appointed management.

In 1980 the city built the best hospital of south America and in 2006 this same hospital was buried by rocks and dirt. The reason, we are told, is that the mine is too close to the town and causes a large number of safety issues related to fumes and toxic emission.

There are various divisions of the mine, producing 800,000 tons of copper per year, making Chuquicamata Mine  the largest copper producer in he world. The largest purchaser is China, which buys 40% of the copper for use in cameras. Who would have thought?

We learn how the mine produces 1,500 tons of copper daily.
A rock of copper sulphite, the size of two clenched fists is passed around. These rocks apparently contain only 1% copper, but also other minerals such as silver and gold. The process to extract the copper from these rocks takes 14 days and is done through a 1200 degrees Celsius heat process.
Much of the mud extracted from the rocks is shipped to Belgium and Mexico for further processing.

Today, the mine has only 38% Chilean ownership, Codelco being the main one, the balance is owned by foreign investors.

When I ask how many more years of copper supply is in these mountains, I am surprised to hear that for 30 more years, the mine will be able to employ local people. Only 8 of these years will be in the immediate area however. In another few years, they plan on starting the latest technology of underground mining.

In 20o4 the mine started to relocate people of Chuquicamata to the city of Calama, which is about 20 minutes south of the mine. 3500 families who lived in free company housing needed to be relocated. The company built new houses for them, which they were able to purchase at one third of the cost. But now they have to pay their own water gas and electricity. Considering that most of the families here own two vehicles, you can imagine how an additional 7,000 cars impacted the city of Calama. It’s a good thing that all around the city is desert and it is easy to expand. Of course infrastructure such as road and utility lines were some of the problems to deal with.
Today the mine employs as many as 20,00 people, including contractors and other from outside the city.

We see a fair amount of very old equipment which was originally built by the Americans but is no longer in use. On of these pieces of equipment, which today seem insignificant is the shovel used until 1971. In those days it was the largest shovel in the world. It moved 20 tons of rock and needed twelve people to operate. Today, we can see much larger shovels in the Genesee mine in Alberta.


The bus drives us to the top fo the mine from where we can see the 1 kilometer deep excavation, into banks of 18 meter height, where trucks drive back and forth to take rocks to either the crusher or the land fill. Only one of three trucks contain sulphite from where copper is extracted. It takes 45 minutes for one of these trucks to drive from the bottom to the top of the mine.

The entire tour takes more than 20 hours and is very educational. There is no charge for the tour, but Paula goes around the bus to collect donations for an organization which helps handicapped children. We even receive a receipt. I wonder if it is tax deductible.

What a great day. I have learned a lot, but still do not agree with the idea of covering up a lively city with rocks so copper can be extracted. Ah well, that’s me.