El Soldado is a copper mine located in the Cordillera de El Melón, commune of Nogales, Valparaíso Region, 125 kilometers north of Santiago, Chile; in an area where productive activities such as mining, agribusiness, family farming and tourism coexist.
Since 2002, El Soldado began to be operated by Anglo American. Currently, the deposit is exploited in an open pit, at an average height of 1,000 meters above sea level. The El Soldado pit is of a hillside type, very different from the ones we commonly know in the shape of an amphitheater.
Links
- https://www.angloamerican.com/products/copper
- https://miningdataonline.com/property/990/El-Soldado-Mine.aspx
- https://www.mindat.org/loc-207718.html
- https://goo.gl/maps/ejFQLs9DnUDDmiTA6
Notes
Owner: Anglo Amercian 50.1%, Mitsubishi Corp. 20.4%, Codelco 20%, Mitsui 9.5%
Start operations: 1942 (2002 by Anglo American)
Workforce: 600 staff, 1,100 contractors (https://consejominero.cl/nosotros/mapa-minero/el-soldado/)
Ore volume processed (Mtpa): 8.2 Mt mined, 6.5 Mt suphide ore processed
Ore grade: 0.94%
Copper production: 48 ktpa
Products: copper concentrate
Projects & highlights:
- Hydraulic dewatering of tailings.
TCM status: recipient
Köppen climate type: Csb - Warm-summer Mediterranean climate
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Media
- Oct-25: Anglo American moving forward with SandLix™ heap leach innovation (checked 14-Oct-25)
- Oct-23: Turning the tide on tailings (checked 22-May-25)
Created May-25; updated Oct-25, Feb-26