Antucoya

Antucoya

Location
Antucoya Show map of Antofagasta Region Antucoya Show map of Chile
Location	Border between Maria Elena and Mejillones
Region	Antofagasta Region
Country	Chile
Coordinates	22°38′2.35″S69°52′35.34″W / 22.6339861°S 69.8764833°W / -22.6339861; -69.8764833
Production
Products	Copper
Production	77,800 tonnes copper cathode
Financial year	2023
History
Opened	2017
Owner
Company	Antofagasta Minerals (70%) Marubeni Copper Holdings Limited (30%)
Website	web.antucoya.cl/

Antucoya is an open pit copper mine located in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. More precisely it lies straddling the borders of the communes of Maria Elena and Mejillones in Antofagasta Region. ^[1] As of 2023 it employed on average 2,661 workers, including contractors. ^[1] Among the workers 48.3% are from Antofagasta Region and 23% are female. ^[2] It lies about 125 km northeast of the port city of Antofagasta. ^[3] The ore mined in Antucoya consists of copper oxides which are processed using solvent extraction and electrowinning (SX-EW). ^[3] The final prime product of the mine is copper cathode. ^[3]

The mine holds the The Copper Mark environmental certificate. ^[4]

The ores belong to a porphyry copper system that intruded La Negra Formation and cooled in Early Cretaceous times. ^[5]

References

1. "Antucoya". Consejo Minero (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-05-09.
2. "Minera Antucoya celebra ocho años y va por un nuevo salto en competitividad, excelencia y mejora continua". Revista Nueva Minería y Energía (in Spanish). 2025-07-28. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
3. "Antucoya". Antofagasta PLC. Retrieved 2025-05-19.
4. "The role of the Copper Mark in responsible mining". Bnamericas. 2022-09-09. Retrieved 2025-08-21.
5. Maksaev, Victor; Munizaga, Francisco; Fanning, Mark; Palacios, Carlos; Tapia, José (2006). "SHRIMP U–Pb dating of the Antucoya porphyry copper deposit: new evidence for an Early Cretaceous porphyry-related metallogenic epoch in the Coastal Cordillera of northern Chile". Mineralium Deposita . 41 (7): 637–644.