thumb|200px|False color satellite image of the Escondida Mine, courtesy of NASA

Minera Escondida (which means 'hidden' in Spanish) is a mining company that operates the Escondida copper mine which is composed of two open pits in the Atacama Desert, 170 km southeast of Antofagasta in northern Chile. It is currently the highest producing copper mine in the world. Its 2007 production of 1.483 million tons of the metal was worth US$10.12 billion, mainly as metal in concentrate, but some as cathode, and was 9.5% of world output and 26% of Chilean production, according to the US Geological Survey's preliminary estimates of 2007 world mine output.

Overview

It is so called because the main orebody does not outcrop on the surface, but is 'hidden' by hundreds of metres of practically barren overburden. The lower open pit in the satellite image on the right is the main Escondida mine, but the upper two are Barrick Gold's Zaldívar mine. The second Escondida open pit, Escondida Norte, had not been established when the image was taken, but is now immediately to the right (east) of the larger Zaldívar pit.

Escondida produces mainly copper concentrates, which are piped as a slurry down to the port of Coloso, where they are dewatered before shipping, and a smaller proportion of cathode copper from the leaching of both oxide and low grade sulfide ore. It also produces gold and silver.

The mine is owned 57.5% by BHP; 30% by Rio Tinto; and 10% by JECO Corp, a Japanese joint venture established in 1988 by Mitsubishi, with 70% ownership; Nippon Mining & Metals, with 20% ownership; Mitsubishi Materials with a 10% share, adding 2.5% ownership by JECO 2 Ltd., another joint venture incorporated in 2010, "to increase their ownership in Escondida by 2.5%," with an ownership structure of 50% Mitsubishi Corp, 40% Nippon Mining & Metals, and 10% Mitsubishi Materials. Escondida is managed by a seven-person Owners' Council designated by the four owners, and is both the largest known copper reserve and the largest foreign investment in Chile.

2006 financial reports showed a cumulative investment of US$5.64 billion, and at year end June 2013, Escondida accounted for approximately 5 percent of all copper production.

The mining company holds The Copper Mark environmental certificate.

History

In 1978, J David Lowell proposed an exploration program along the porphyry copper belt between Chuquicamata in the north and El Salvador in the south. Minera Utah de Chile and Getty Mining (Chile) formed a joint venture to carry it out. On March 14, 1981, 'Pozo 6' the last scheduled borehole in the program, The strike ended after the company conceded to most demands and a 5% salary rise. The lawsuit ended in December 2024 in a conciliation agreement in which Minera Escondida and the other two companies were to compensate economically, socially and environmentally the indigenous Comunidad de Peine as well as paying for damages to the meadows of Tilopozo and the lakes of La Punta and La Brava.

Escondida mine

Chilean economy and the world copper market

Escondida has become an important part of the Chilean economy. According to the CIA World Factbook, the mine's 2007 sales of US$10.21 billion were 4.3% of estimated 2007 GDP of US$234.4 billion and about 15% of exports. At the end of 2006, the company employed directly some 2,951 workers and 3,158 contractors

As a result of its considerable size relative to the world copper market, developments at Escondida can have dramatic effects on the world copper price as was shown by its gyrations during the strike in August 2006. The strike was called because the workers felt they were not sharing in the very high profits being made by the company on the back of the record copper price. The workers initially demanded a 13% pay rise plus a bonus of $30,000, but eventually settled for a 5% increase, a $17,000 bonus and a number of other minor benefits. The company managed to keep production at 40% of normal levels, but the union eventually blockaded the road to the mine on 16 August. On 18 August, Escondida declared force majeure and stopped production.

See also

  • Chilean nationalization of copper

References

  • Escondida
  • Minera Escondida Foundation
  • NASA - shortwave infrared image
  • NASA - visible and near infrared image