  Michilla  Michilla | |
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Location | Mejillones |
| Region | Antofagasta Region |
| Country | Chile |
| Coordinates | 22°40′44.33″S 70°10′11.39″W / 22.6789806°S 70.1698306°W |
| Production | |
| Products | Copper |
| Production |  19,900 kTon copper |
| Financial year | 2024[1] |
| History | |
| Opened | 1994[2] |
| Owner | |
| Company | Haldeman Mining |
The Michilla is an open pit copper mine located in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. More precisely it lies near the Pacific in the commune of Mejillones in the Antofagasta Region. Mining of copper in the modern Michilla mine started in 1994 and peaked in 1996 with 63,000 metric tons of copper mined that year.[2][1] The mine was operated by Antofagasta Minerals until December 2015 when its operations were put on hold.[3] That year the mine produced 29,400 metric tons of copper or 5% of Antofagasta Minerals copper produce that year.[3] As Michilla became gradually depleted in 2016 it was sold by Antofagasta Minerals to Haldeman Mining which was to develop it as a medium-scale mine.[4][5][6] The years 2016 to 2018 no copper was mined at Michilla.[1] Since the restart of mining in 2019 the ammount of copper mined has tended to increase but have remained under the production levels of 2015.[1] A new mining plan was approved in 2023 by authorities allowing for the mine to extend its planned lifetime to 2045.[6]
The copper ores of Michilla are emplaced in Jurassic-aged volcanic rocks of La Negra Formation.[7] The ores have been dated to haver formed 164 to 137 million years ago.[7] The orebodies are associated to the traces of the north–south Atacama Fault System.[8]
As a Mesozoic-aged stratabound copper deposit near the Coastal Cordillera the ores Michilla is similar to the deposits of Mantos Blancos, El Soldado and Lo Aguirre.[7][9]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Anuario de estadisticas del cobre y otros minerales [Yearbook: Copper and Other Mineral Statistics: 2005 2024] (Report). Chilean Copper Commission. 2025.
- ^ a b Anuario de estadisticas del cobre y otros minerales [Yearbook: Copper and Other Mineral Statistics: 1986 2005] (Report). Chilean Copper Commission. 2006.
- ^ a b "Los Solari dan primeros pasos en Michilla: piden extensión de permiso y la reactivarán en 2018". Revista Nueva Minería y Energia (in Spanish). 2017-01-30. Retrieved 2025-09-04.
- ^ "Chilena Antofagasta vende mina Michilla a Haldeman Mining por 52 mln dlrs". Reuters (in Spanish). 2016-11-25. Retrieved 2025-09-03.
- ^ "Firma ligada a la familia Solari Donaggio adquiere mina Michilla a Antofagasta Minerals". La Tercera (in Spanish). 2016-11-25. Retrieved 2025-09-03.
- ^ a b "How Chile's Haldeman will keep the Michilla mine going". Bnamericas. 2023-11-28. Retrieved 2025-09-03.
- ^ a b c Oliveros, V.; Tristá-Aguilera, D.; Féraud, G.; Morata, D.; Aguirre, L.; Kojima, S.; Ferraris, F. (2008). "Time relationships between volcanism–plutonism–alteration–mineralization in Cu-stratabound ore deposits from the Michilla mining district, northern Chile: a 40Ar/39Ar geochronological approach". Mineralium Deposita. 43: 61–78.
- ^ Townley, Brian; Roperch, Pierrick; Oliveros, Verónica; Tassara, Andrés; Arriagada, César (2007). "Hydrothermal alteration and magnetic properties of rocks in the Carolina de Michilla stratabound copper district, northern Chile". Mineralium Deposita. 42: 771–789. doi:10.1007/s00126-007-0134-6.
- ^ Saric, Nicolas; Kreft, Carlos; Huete, Carlos (2003). "Geología del yacimiento Lo Aguirre, Chile" [Geology of Lo Aguirre copper deposit, Chile]. Revista Geológica de Chile (in Spanish). 30 (2): 317–331. doi:10.4067/S0716-02082003000200010.