El Salvador, Chile is a small mining town in the Atacama region of Chile. It has contributed immensely to the revenue earning of the country. El Salvador, Chile Today has a population of approximately 7,000 inhabitants.
Lying in the commune of Diego de Almagro, El Salvador is popular for its mining industry. It lies in the Chanaval province in the Atacama region of Chile. The town is located at an elevation of more than 2,300 meters. It is in the foothills of the Andes and in the middle of the Atacama Desert.
The economy of El Salvador is entirely based on copper mining. The people of Chile mined copper in this area for over a thousand years. However, it was only after the American explorations in the region, the fact came to light that the mineral can be exploited on an industrial scale. Anaconda Copper Mining Company was the chief mining company in El Salvador, Chile.
Because of the wide-scale operations carried out in the area, Anaconda had to build El Salvador as a self-contained and self-sustaining town. The building of the town was completed with housing, schools, stores, water and electrical plants and a railway. Mr. Oscar Niemeyer was the architect in charge of designing the city. It was designed in the shape of a roman helmet.
On 23rd of April 1959, the first load of ore was crushed. After nationalization in 1971, the government of Salvador Allende, Codelco Chile took over operation of the El Salvador mine.
A total of 74, 874 tons metric of fine copper was produced in 2004. About 1,727 people were involved in the production. However the operations in the mine are running under a loss. A study by the Australian consultant Goldberg has concluded that only 243 million tons of copper is still there in the mine. This means the place can be mined for only a few years.
In July 29, 2005, Codelco announced the planned closure of the mine from the beginning of 2008. Beginning in that year, oxide production will cease, and later, sulfide production from the underground mine will carry on.
El Salvador is a football team in the Chilean Football League. It is represented by Cobresal. The stadium in the city is quite interestingly named the Copper Stadium.
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