Boquerón Chañar
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Atacama Region | |
| Country | Chile |
| Coordinates | 28°04′10″S 70°42′00″W / 28.06951°S 70.69989°W |
| Production | |
| Products | Iron |
| Owner | |
| Company | CORFO |
Boquerón Chañar was an iron mine and iron ore deposit in the Chilean Iron Belt in the southern reaches of the Atacama Desert. The deposit lies near the city of Vallenar, in Atacama Region, Chile. The deposit is currently owned by Chilean state organization CORFO.[1] It is thought to hosts reserves of 300 million metric tons of iron.[1][2] Boquerón Chañar was last active in the 1960s.[3]
The ore is made of magnetite with gangue minerals of actinolite, apatite and scapolite.[4] It is classified as a small deposit by National Geology and Mining Service.[4]
Since CORFO took control the ore deposit and mine it has been at tender various times. In 1990, Compañía Minera del Pacífico (CMP) which operates Planta de Pellets and Puerto Guacolda II, both near the mine,[5] made an offer to purchase the mine to CORFO but it was turned down.[6] The company Minera Hierro Paposo sought to acquire the deposit in 2007 after it was put to tender in 2006 but efforts were abandoned in face of the fall of international iron prices during 2008 economic crisis.[1][3] More recently, CORFO has conditioned the sale of Boquerón Chañar to the export of iron to produce "green steel" at the Huachipato steel mill in Talcahuano.[3] The development of the deposit is planned to be put into a tender open for international companies in 2025.[2]
References
- ^ a b c Naveas, Hector (2025-01-13). "La Mina de Hierro Boquerón Chañar. ¿Regresa como opción de futuro para una industria de Acero Verde en Chile?". Diario Chañarcillo (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-05-22.
- ^ a b Ibarra, Valeria (2025-09-24). "Corfo hará licitación internacional en 2025 para adjudicar mina de hierro en Huasco y producir acero verde en Huachipato". Diario Financiero (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-05-21.
- ^ a b c Guzmán, Juan Ignacio (2024-10-15). "¿Es Boquerón Chañar la salvación de Huachipato?". Mineria Chilena (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-05-22.
- ^ a b SISTEMA DE INFORMACIÓN DE YACIMIENTOS MINERALES DE CHILE FICHA DEL YACIMIENTO N° 490: Boquerón Chañar (PDF) (Report) (in Spanish). SERNAGEOMIN (published 2014-12-23). 2014-12-14.
- ^ Millán 1999, p. 208.
- ^ Millán 1999, p. 180.
Bibliography
- Millán, Augusto (1999). Historia de la minería del hierro en Chile (in Spanish). Santiago de Chile: Editorial Universitaria. ISBN 956-11-1499-2.