The Radomiro Tomic mine is an
open pit mine
Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique that extracts rock or minerals from the earth.
Open-pit mines are used when deposits of commercially useful ore or r ...
that extracts copper oxide minerals at above sea level in the
Andes mountains
The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long and wide (widest between 18°S ...
near to
Chuquicamata
Chuquicamata ( ; referred to as Chuqui for short) is the largest open-pit mining, open pit copper Mining, mine in terms of excavated volume in the world. It is located in the north of Chile, just outside Calama, Chile, Calama, at above sea level. ...
mine and
Calama in northern
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
's
Antofagasta Region
The Antofagasta Region (, ) is one of Chile's Administrative divisions of Chile, sixteen first-order administrative divisions. Being the second-largest region of Chile in area, it comprises three provinces, Antofagasta Province, Antofagasta, El ...
.
Although this deposit was discovered in the 1950s, its operations started only in 1995, after Codelco updated the feasibility studies for its exploitation and acquired the technology necessary to exploit it profitably.
Today, Chilean Copper Corporation (
Codelco
The National Copper Corporation of Chile (), abbreviated as Codelco, is a Chilean state-owned mining company and the largest copper mining company in the world. It was formed in 1976 from foreign-owned copper companies that were nationalised in 1 ...
) controls the mine. Until 1999, Radomiro Tomic was referred to as "Codelco Chile Division Radomiro Tomić", since then, (
Codelco
The National Copper Corporation of Chile (), abbreviated as Codelco, is a Chilean state-owned mining company and the largest copper mining company in the world. It was formed in 1976 from foreign-owned copper companies that were nationalised in 1 ...
) has renamed it "Codelco Norte".
External links
Codelco
{{DEFAULTSORT:Radomiro Tomic
Copper mines in Chile
Mines in Antofagasta Region
Codelco
Open-pit mines
Surface mines in Chile