Chile is home to the world’s most established copper-mining industry and continues to be a hotbed of copper exploration activity.
With a natural landscape rich in mineral resources, it’s no surprise that copper mining in Chile is one of the country’s largest industries. As the top copper-producing country in the world, the South American nation’s name is synonymous with the red metal.
Chile’s copper production is mostly based in the northern region of the country, and comes primarily from iron-oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) deposits, porphyry copper deposits that are rich in molybdenum and gold and silver by-products.