about chuquicamata

Mining started at Chuquicamata in 1910, although its deposits were known for centuries before that to the local people. Chuquicamata is owned by the Codelco Norte division of Codelco (Corporación Nacional del Cobre), Chile's national copper corporation. Codelco Norte's annual production is 907,169 tons of 99.99% copper, obtained electrolytically, equivalent to about 15% of world production. Codelco is also one of the main world producers of molybdenum (19,901 tons in 2002).