El Teniente
El Teniente is the Spanish word for the lieutenant. It is also the name of the largest underground copper mine in the world. Last Monday, the GSE team had the privilege to go on a VIP tour of this giant underground operation.
The mining company owned by the Republic of Chile, Codelco, operates the mine. El Teniente is one of their biggest operations and includes an underground mine, a concentrator plant, and a smelter. Our tour focused on the underground mine. The mine has more than 2,800 km of tunnels and galleries. About 130,000 tons of ore is extracted from the mine daily, with a yield of about 13 kg of copper per ton.
The mining company owned by the Republic of Chile, Codelco, operates the mine. El Teniente is one of their biggest operations and includes an underground mine, a concentrator plant, and a smelter. Our tour focused on the underground mine. The mine has more than 2,800 km of tunnels and galleries. About 130,000 tons of ore is extracted from the mine daily, with a yield of about 13 kg of copper per ton.
To get to the mine we drove about 50 km from the city of Rancagua along a winding mountain road known as the Copper Highway to an elevation of 2,500 m. We entered the mine at the lowest level of the underground operation, driving straight into the heart of El Teniente. From there our tour guide showed us how miners extracted ore using manual tools when the mine first opened in 1905. Next we got to see a spectacular quartz cavern. The quartz cavern was discovered accidentally by miners and has been preserved in its original state for 
future generations to enjoy. Leaving the quartz cavern the team rode the elevator to the next level to see the underground train system used to collect ore from different mining areas. The grande finale to the underground tour was a for the team to take a ride on the ore train out of the mine to the ghost town of Sewell. Sewell was the original mining town where Chilean and North American miners lived. The miners were relocated from Sewell to Rancagua in the 1970s. Codelco is in the process of restoring Sewell for tourists and will be the largest open air museum when complete.
future generations to enjoy. Leaving the quartz cavern the team rode the elevator to the next level to see the underground train system used to collect ore from different mining areas. The grande finale to the underground tour was a for the team to take a ride on the ore train out of the mine to the ghost town of Sewell. Sewell was the original mining town where Chilean and North American miners lived. The miners were relocated from Sewell to Rancagua in the 1970s. Codelco is in the process of restoring Sewell for tourists and will be the largest open air museum when complete. After lunch in Sewell we drove to an area called Colon, the site of the concentrator. There we got to see some modern mining technology in action. Operators were remotely controlling scoop vehicles and rock hammers 15 km from the actual equipment. Most of the machinery for the future mines at El Teniente will be operated remotely from the city of Rancagua.
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