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Copper, Codelco / Chuquicamata (Chile)
Chuquicamata (Antofagasta), Chile22.32°S 68.90°W
computed criticality19/100
reading
Chile ≈23% of world mine production (≈5.3 Mt); Codelco leading producer (company)
2024Fault line
Codelco, Chile's state-owned company, remains the world's leading copper producer, at Chuquicamata as at El Teniente. Copper is the sinew of all electrification, but ≈45% of the world's refined metal passes through China: Chile extracts the ore, the Guixi smelters capture the processing. A century-old mine with declining grades, it is going underground to survive.
Actors
Codelco (Santiago)
refining: China ≈45%
Feeds 2
Copper refining, GuixiGrids & Energy↗Escondida, copperGrids & Energy↗Sources