Chuquicamata

Town in the region of Antofagasta, northern Chile, 200 km/124 mi northeast of the port of Antofagasta; population (1996) 20,000. Chuquicamata is one of the world's most important centres for the mining and processing of copper, and lies at an altitude of over 3,000 m/9,842 ft. The town provides at least 25% of Chile's total export income and half of Chile's copper output. The metal is extracted by open-cast mining techniques, which have created a chasm some 4 km/2.5 mi long by 2 km/1 mi wide, with a depth of 600 m/1,968 ft. Chuqui's 400 m/1312 ft deep pit is the world's largest.