Sali Hochschild (June 18, 1883 – January 1965) was a German-born Chilean businessman, the founder of Compania Minera y Comercial Sali Hochschild S.A., once one of the largest mining and mineral processing companies in Chile.

Biography

Hochschild was born to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family in Germany, the son of Jeanette (née Hirsch) and Ludwig Louis Hochschild. His mother died during his childbirth. His father was a general trader who had two cousins involved in the metal industry: brothers

Berthold Hochschild Berthold Hochschild (March 6, 1860 – January 24, 1928) was a mining magnate, a founder of the American Metal Company, and a philanthropist. Biography Hochschild was born to a Jewish family in Biblis, Grand Duchy of Hesse, the son of Augus ...

, who founded the

American Metal Company American Metal Company was an American nonferrous metal trading and production company. History The origin of the American Metal Company (AMCO) begins with Metallgesellschaft AG of Germany, one of whose founders, Wilhelm Ralph Merton, tasked one ...

and

Zachary Hochschild Zachary Hochschild (May 16, 1854 – November 6, 1912) was a German businessman, metal trader, and co-founder of '' Metallgesellschaft AG''. Biography Hochschild was born to a Jewish family, the son of Justina (née Bendheim) and Koppel Jako ...

, a partner in

Metallgesellschaft Metallgesellschaft AG was formerly one of Germany's largest industrial conglomerates based in Frankfurt. It had over 20,000 employees and revenues in excess of 10 billion US dollars. It had over 250 subsidiaries specializing in mining, specialty c ...

. He had two brothers,

Moritz Hochschild Moritz (Mauricio) Hochschild (February 17, 1881 – June 12, 1965) was a leading mining industry businessman in the first half of the twentieth century. Along with Simón Iturri Patiño and Carlos Víctor Aramayo, he was one of the three so-calle ...

(1881–1965) and Heinrich Hochschild (1882–1986). The brothers were all educated in Germany as mining engineers. He later attended

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. In 1911, he and his brother arrived in Chile where they operated a small ore dealing business. After

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, which created strong demand for metals, the brothers, having both amassed sufficient wealth to branch out on their own, dissolved their relationship and divided their territory with Sali taking central and southern Chile and Moritz taking northern Chile, Peru, and Bolivia. In 1920, Sali obtained Chilean citizenship and formed Compania Minera y Comercial Sali Hochschild S.A. In 1924, he opened the Pataguas mine near

La Ligua La Ligua () is a city and commune that is the capital of Petorca Province in the Valparaíso Region. It is known for its textile manufacturing and traditional Chilean pastries. Demographics According to data from the 2002 Census of Population an ...

where he installed the country's first flotation plant which enabled the recovery of valuable metals from much lower grade ore. Flush with cash from his first independent venture, he purchased several medium-sized mines in the at :es:El Molle, , and . In 1936, he completed the Ojancos flotation plant in

Copiapó Copiapó () is a List of cities in Chile, city and communes of Chile, commune in northern Chile, located about 65 kilometers east of the coastal List of towns in Chile, town of Caldera, Chile, Caldera. Founded on December 8, 1744, it is the capi ...

which separated gold from copper ore. Finding that many copper ores could not be separated by flotation, he adapted new technologies to separate the gold used the

cyanide process Gold cyanidation (also known as the cyanide process or the MacArthur–Forrest process) is a hydrometallurgical technique for extracting gold from low-grade ore through conversion to a water-soluble coordination complex. It is the most commonly u ...

which utilized cyanide,

sulfuric acid Sulfuric acid (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphuric acid (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth spelling), known in antiquity as oil of vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of the elements sulfur, oxygen, ...

, and lime to leach gold from the ore. He built a sulfuric acid factory nearby so the operation would be self-sufficient. Ojancos was the first plant in South America to use this new and highly toxic technology processing 300 tons of ore per day. In 1943, he built a separation plant at Chanaral dedicated to separate copper from

tailings In mining, tailings or tails are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction (gangue) of an ore. Tailings are different from overburden, which is the waste rock or other material ...

coming from the many mines at Potrerillos that were being dumped into the Rio Salado. In 1948, he founded Compania Minera Delerio S.A. which operated separation plants in Punitaqui and

Ovalle Ovalle is a city in the Coquimbo Region of Chile, founded in 1831 as a settlement. It has a population of more than 113,000 people. The name Ovalle was chosen to honor to Chile's vice-president, José Tomás Ovalle. Ovalle is the capital of th ...

; and he built additional plants in

Antofagasta Antofagasta () is a port city in northern Chile, about north of Santiago. It is the capital of Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Region. According to the 2015 census, the city has a population of 402,669. Once claimed by Bolivia follo ...

. Between 1951 and 1959, he purchased 36,000 hectares of land at Michilla (100 km north of Antofagasta) and formed Compania Minera Carolina de Michilla S.A. which became one of the largest mines in Chile (sold to

Antofagasta plc Antofagasta plc is a London-based Chilean multinational. It is one of the most important conglomerates of Chile with equity participation in Antofagasta Minerals, the railroad from Antofagasta to Bolivia, Twin Metals in Minnesota, and other e ...

in 1983).

Personal life

Hochschild was married to Ana Kaufmann; they had four children: Walter Ludwig Hochschild Kaufmann; Dorothy Höchschild Kaufmann; Laura Höchschild Kaufmann and Gabriela Höchschild Kaufmann. He died in January 1965.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hochschild, Sali 1883 births 1965 deaths Chilean people of German-Jewish descent Businesspeople in metals Sali German emigrants to Chile 20th-century Chilean Jews