El Teniente - History

History

According to legend the El Teniente mine was discovered in the 1800s by a fugitive Spaniard official, with exploitation beginning in 1819. The best ore was mined manually in what would be called the Fortuna sector, and transported by animal. In 1904 William Braden (an engineer from New York) and E.W. Nash formed the Braden Copper Company, built a road for carts, and a concentrating plant. Chileans referred to the large scale mining operation as La Gran Minería del Cobre.

In 1967 the Chilean government bought a 51% stake in the mine and founded Sociedad Minera El Teniente, and under this agreement a new concentrator was built, and the mine expanded its production to 63,000 t (69,000 short tons) per day. Braden became a subsidiary company of Kennecott Copper Corporation, and on July 11, 1971 with the Chilean nationalization of copper under President Salvador Allende and the formation of the Corporación Nacional del Cobre de Chile (known as Codelco), El Teniente became a state owned operation. The Chilean government was to pay Kennecott $92.9-million for the property. The mine has increased production to 100,000 t (110,000 short tons) of ore per day, and in 2006 the mine produced over 418,000 t (461,000 short tons) of copper.

The Vancouver, Canada based company Amerigo produces both a copper and molybdenum concentrate from El Teniente's tailings, and also has the right to treat higher grade tailings from a large abandoned tailings impoundment near to the El Teniente property.