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Cerro Negro Norte mine
Iron mine in Chile From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Cerro Negro Norte (CNN[1]) is an open-pit iron mine in northern Chile about 30 km north of the city of Copiapó in inland Atacama Region. The ore of the mine is one of various iron oxide-apatite (IOA) ores that are part of the north-south Chilean Iron Belt.
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History
Cerro Negro Norte was originally mined in the 1960s by Compañía Minera Santa Fe.[2] As part of the Allende administration's Chilean nationalization of iron the inactive of Cerro Negro Norte became state-owned in 1971 when the government expired all mining concessions of iron ore deposits that were not being mined.[3]
Cerro Negro Norte opened again in 2010–2014 and in 2021 it had a production capacity of 4 million tons of iron.[4][1] It produces iron ore concentrate that is transported as pulp in pipelines to the port of Punta Totoralillo located 55 km northwest of the mine.[1][5] The mine stores and processes iron ore from smaller mining companies.[1]
In 2014, plans for a desalination plant to provide water for mining operations at it and other mines was announced.[6]
As of 2025 Cerro Negro Norte was the newest of the mines owned and operated by Compañía Minera del Pacífico (CMP).[1] In early 2025 Compañía Minera del Pacífico submitted a plan to the Environmental Assessment Service to increase iron production capacity at the mine from 4 to 4.5 million metric tons.[1] Among other things the project seeks to improve are the conminution and concentrating plants.[7]
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References
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