The economy of Chile has expanded in a significant number over the last few decades, and copper mining plays a crucial role in its expansion. It began in the 1980s when Chile had the perfect climate in which the mining sector played an important role. This article documents the expansion of copper mining and its contribution to Chile’s economy. Today, Chile is the world’s largest copper producer and is ranked sixth in terms of total mining production around the globe. The institutional reforms combined with the natural resources model have allowed its economy to make an exceptional jump onto the world stage.
Economic Growth
For the last two decades, the copper mining industry has made up 10 percent of Chile’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product). Mainly, there are two reasons behind this growth.
- One of them is the increase in production and investment in the 90s in the Chilean economy.
- And the other is rising prices between 2004 to 2006, which boosted this super price cycle trend, only interrupted during the crisis of 2008-2009.
Moreover, copper has also contributed to Chile’s economy by funding the national budget imposed by heavy taxes. Research shows that up till 2003 contribution of copper to the federal budget was 1 billion US dollars annually, and it rose to more than 10 billion dollars in 2006. As copper mining is a capital-intensive business it did not have much influence over the employment factor. It employs roughly over 50,000 people, equivalent to 0.7%, which is the total employment rate in Chile. Regarding development, copper has played an essential role in the country’s development via government revenue and exports income. When the exports were not diversified, these factors were even more significant.
Expansion Of Copper Mining
In the last 25 years, copper mining has extended its roots in Chile and has become a hub of some of the world’s most significant copper mining companies. From the latest report of December 2020, there are 13 large copper mining companies located in Chile. Read about the price updates of Three Valley Copper stock, a mining company located in Chile. Copper mining was mainly based on ten open and underground mines located on the Atacama Desert along the Andes Mountain.
Objectives Of Mining Companies
Due to a large number of mining industries in Chile, the environmental conditions and climate has changed. It is not the same as before, as the disposal of many industrial wastes and harmful substances pollutes the land and air.
To fight against this environmental and climate change and provide their residents with a clean and healthy atmosphere, the mining council of Chile has declared some rules and regulations known as GHG reduction targets, which have to be followed by the mining sector. Their main objectives are emission level reduction that they tend to accomplish by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2050. Moreover, it is estimated that by 2023 half of the electricity supply of the large-scale mining industries of Chile will run on renewable energy sources. You can get daily news and market reports of Three Valley Copper TVC, a famous copper mining company.
Conclusion
After reading the above article, we can conclude that the economy of Chile is moving forward towards its goal of producing more copper in the future. Also, keeping in mind the precautions to make good out of disposal wastes and reduce their harmful effect on the environment.