Calama Tours, Excursions & Sightseeing

Chuquicamata Mine is 16 kilometers outside of Calama and has made Chile the World's valuable copper producer. Producing 600,000 tons annually.

The Chuquicamata deposit is the largest open cast mine in the world and two colors can be seen in the strata of the cut - the upper part which is sterile and the gray/white tone of the lower segments which is where the mineral is found. Sulphurated mineral with 1.1% copper content is extracted with the sterile material, which means that the mine moves over 600 000 tones of material a day, of which only 1/3 is valuable mineral.

From a viewpoint overlooking the mine, the processes are explained and there is one of the huge extraction machines. Visitors can climb into the machine and see how it works.

The exit point of the mine itself is known as Plaza Italia and there is a huge quantity of traffic from the 135 truck fleet which works the mine. Other trucks are constantly watering the ground in order to keep the amount of dust under control and help the wear and tear on the tires. The visit continues to the sulphur plant, the refinery and the smelting plant which was inaugurated in 1952. Since then it has been upgraded and maintained in perfect working order to such an extent that it now processes twice its original capacity since it became the property of the Chilean Government.

The tour continues to one of the areas where the used material is disposed of after processing, where in the distance you can see Calama and the Kilometer 6 Store area, where the finished product is stored before being exported. The Oxidizing plant is the last port of call.