Though Lonely Planet describes Calama as a “shithole”, the Chilean mining town is one of my favorite stops in all of South America. I arrived late last night and unnecessarily walked briskly to my hotel. I say unnecessarily because the town was perfectly safe, orderly, and pleasant.
There’s a lot of money here because of the copper mine. Like any boom town based on oil or minerals, you’ve got lots of overpriced yet austere looking hotels, and a skewed male to female population ratio.
I’ve got a little time before the copper pit tour starts so I walk into a non-descript-from-the-outside, but quite-swanky-on-the-inside, bar/restaurant. I am the only customer. I sit at the bar and the bartender hands me a small plate of peanuts and a Cerveza Austral Calafate Ale (think Anchor Steam lite). We got to talking about the town. She describes Calama as the ugliest city in all of Chile. There are few trees here; it’s dusty; it’s hot. She misses her home in Valdivia (think Pacific Northwest coastal town). Her sister convinced her to move here because of high wages. Since she moved here two years ago, she had a baby. And her sister left Calama. The bartender describes her clientele as men with neck ties– managers and businessmen. That explains the well-stocked bar. That also explains the Porsche Cayenne parked outside. While we talk, a group of miners walk in laughing, in a great mood, and upon looking at the prices in the menu, immediately file out, a little bummed out.
I step outside. It’s around noon. Within an hour, the temperature has risen from 40 degrees F to 70 degrees F. The area averages 0.20″ of rain per year. That’s the average. There has been no measurable rain here since 2006.
Che Guevara learned of the plight of Chilean miners when he visited Chuquicamata during his motorcycle journey. Later, democratically elected president and socialist Salvador Allende nationalized all of the country’s copper mines, infuriating business interests in Chile and in the United States. Curiously, when right-wing strongman Pinochet took over the country in a coup, he never privatized the mines. Chile owes much of its prosperity to copper.
Before the current recession, copper prices were sky high due to demand in China. Though output levels are the same today, earnings are down 22% due to the drop in the price of copper. Wisely, then-president Bachelet squirreled away the profits in a lock box (remember that, Al Gore fans?). The extra money has helped Chile ride through the recession and rebuild after the devastating earthquake.
The tour is put together by Codelco, the state-owned copper mining concern. The whole dog and pony show is slick and professional. After watching some corporate videos on flat screens, we are issued hardhats and herded onto a bus.
The first stop is the town of Chuquicamata, the company town just a stone’s throw from the pit. You see, the copper that is mined is also processed on site. Apparently, someone realized that it may not be a good idea to have a town of 25,000 people (3,500 families) right next to the slurries. That may explain all those health problems the locals were suffering. The entire town’s population was moved en masse to Calama city. The last resident moved out in 2008. What we have left is a ghost town.
The “hill” in the background of the picture below is composed of rubble waste from the mining pit. Underneath the hill are schools and homes.
The mine is, well, massive. Here are the numbers our guide recited for us:
- 600,000 tons of rock is extracted per day.
- The mine operates 24 hours a day.
- 1,500 tons of copper is extracted from the 600,000 tons of rock.
- The rock also contains a good amount of molybdenum.
- 22% of the copper extracted is shipped to China.
And to the left:
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These trucks are monsters. They carry 400 tons of rocks up at a time. They burn three liters of fuel per minute. From bottom to top, the trucks travel ten kilometers. Per trip, a truck uses as much fuel as a passenger car uses for an entire year. There is talk of replacing the trucks with a conveyor belt.
Just compare the size of the truck to the red pickup truck behind it:
Images source: Maxichamp
