Chañarcillo Mine

Useful Information

Location:	Ruta C-423, Between Vallenar and Copiapo at the Panamerican Highway. Chanarcillo lies 14 km east. (-27.8119, -70.4161)
Open:	no restrictions. [2024]
Fee:	free. [2024]
Classification:	Silver Mine
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:	W. J. Henwood (1871): Observations on Metalliferous Deposits: On the Mining District of Chañarcillo in Chili Transac. Royal Geol. Soc. Cornwall 8(1), 69-153. N. Echegaray (1905): El Mineral de Chanarcillo Bol. Soc. Nac. de Mineria'; 106. W.L. Whitehead (1919): The veins of Chanarcillo, Chile Econ. Geol.: 14: 1-45. Ch. K. Mayer, L. Fontboté (1986): New Observations on the Silver Mining District of Chañarcillo, Northern Chile Zentralblatt für Geologie und Paläontologie, Teil I Jg. 1985 Heft 9-10 (1986), p. 1637-1648. DOI
Address:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

16-MAY-1832	large silver deposit discovered by woodcutter, prospector and muleteer Juan Godoy.
1847	mine opened.
1862	railway built for transport.
1875	mine closed.
1888	mines flooded.

Geology

The silver deposits around the centre of Copiapó are largely linked to the Andean batholiths in the coastal cordillera, to contact zones with porphyrite formations. In Chañarcillo, a connection can be established between the rich vein sections and calcareous sediments, which alternate with Mesozoic porphyrites and volcanic tuffs. Where limestones are absent and the porphyrites are at the surface, the veins are only mineralised to a moderate depth. In some pits the silver ores were mined to a depth of 400 m. The mine is famous for spectacular specimens of proustite minerals. Also, a mixture of silver or acanthite and chalcopyrite, galena, nickelin, sphalerite and huntilite, which is called Chanarcillite. Another common mineral mixture of atacamite and azurite is called Atlasite.

Description

Chañarcillo Mine, or better Juan Godoy town is a sort of mining ghost town. Although many buildings are destroyed, the street layout is clearly discernible. There are the foundations of old processing plants and smelters and the remains of mines, and old adits. The town once housed over a thousand workers and their families, altogether some 14,000 inhabitants. Today it is completely deserted, despite the ongoing mining activities of the Compania Minera Rio Huasco. The town was named after Juan Godoy, a woodcutter, prospector and muleteer who discovered the large silver deposits.

Today the remaining silver in the old heap dumps of the mine is reclaimed. Some 140 men are commuting by bus from the towns of Frierina, Vallenar and Copiapó and live in a mine camp from Monday to Saturday. Front-end loaders feed the mineralized dump into one of a number of crushing and screening plants located around the hill. The crushed material is processed in one of six ball mills of various sizes. About 160 t of ore are processed, with an average content of 160g/t silver. The operation needs a lot of water, some 28tns per day, 12tons are pumped from the flooded mine, 16tons are brought by tanker lorry a distance of 72 km from Copiapó. There is abundant surface material to support the current level of operations for some time.

The main historic mining area was in the La Descubridora ravine. During the mid-19th century, this was the third-biggest silver mine in the world. About the year 1853, some 3,000 men worked on site. Innumerable adits were mining at least six vein systems. The whole area is sometimes referred to as Swiss Cheese.

This site is quite famous, but it is not a show mine, its more like a freely accessible open air museum. Much is gone, but the remains of the village and the mine are nevertheless impressive, And the slag heaps are quite famous among mineral collectors, who still frequent the site.