The Chilean Iron Belt is a geological province rich in

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...

deposits in northern Chile. It extends as a north-south beld along the western part of the Chilean regions of

Coquimbo Coquimbo is a port city, commune and capital of the Elqui Province, located on the Pan-American Highway, in the Coquimbo Region of Chile. Coquimbo is situated in a valley south of La Serena, with which it forms Greater La Serena with more than ...

and

Atacama The Atacama Desert ( es, Desierto de Atacama) is a desert plateau in South America covering a 1,600 km (990 mi) strip of land on the Pacific coast, west of the Andes Mountains. The Atacama Desert is the driest nonpolar desert in the w ...

, chiefly between the cities of La Serena and

Taltal Taltal is a Chilean commune and city in Antofagasta Province, Antofagasta Region. According to the 2012 census, the commune has a population of 11,132 and has an area of . The commune is home to Paranal Observatory and includes the northern por ...

. The belt follows much of the Atacama Fault System and is about 600 km long and 25 km broad.

Iron oxide-apatite Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in front ...

iron oxide copper gold ore deposits Iron oxide copper gold ore deposits (IOCG) are important and highly valuable concentrations of copper, gold and uranium ores hosted within iron oxide dominant gangue assemblages which share a common genetic origin. These ore bodies range from ar ...

(IOCG) and manto-type copper and silver are the main types of deposits. Iron-apatite and IOCG are considered to have different origins. Manto-type deposits are concentrated in the northern part of the belt and are chiefly emplaced on rocks of La Negra Formation. The ores of the Chilean Iron Belt formed in separate pulses in the

Cretaceous period The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of t ...

as result of

magma Magma () is the molten or semi-molten natural material from which all igneous rocks are formed. Magma is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and evidence of magmatism has also been discovered on other terrestrial planets and some natural sa ...

tic and

hydrothermal Hydrothermal circulation in its most general sense is the circulation of hot water (Ancient Greek ὕδωρ, ''water'',Liddell, H.G. & Scott, R. (1940). ''A Greek-English Lexicon. revised and augmented throughout by Sir Henry Stuart Jones. with th ...

processes. At least part of the iron oxide-apatite rock originated from molten iron in the form of

lava Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or un ...

tephra Tephra is fragmental material produced by a volcanic eruption regardless of composition, fragment size, or emplacement mechanism. Volcanologists also refer to airborne fragments as pyroclasts. Once clasts have fallen to the ground, they rem ...

. and intrusions. Thus iron oxide apatite magma cooled into rock variously from surface volcanoes to depths of 10 km over even more.

Iron mines along the Chilean Iron Belt

* El Carmen *

Los Colorados ''Los Colorados'' (from the Spanish: ''The colorado potato beetles'', also known as ''The Colorados'') is a Ukrainian band formed in 2006 in Ternopil. The band plays their own songs, but have also covered several popular and folk songs. ''Los Col ...

El Algarrobo El Algarrobo is an iron mine in north-central Chile. Geologically it is an iron oxide-apatite (IOA) type of deposit. El Algarrobo is part of a wider province of iron ores known as the Chilean Iron Belt The Chilean Iron Belt is a geological pr ...

El Tofo El Tofo is an iron ore mine in the Chilean Norte Chico region. The mine lies in northern Coquimbo Region within a larger mining district known as the Chilean Iron Belt. Geologically El Tofo is an iron oxide-apatite deposit. The first record of ...

(defunct) *

El Romeral El Romeral is a municipality located in the province of Toledo, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. According to the 2006 census (INE INE, Ine or ine may refer to: Institutions * Institut für Nukleare Entsorgung, a German nuclear research center * In ...

References

{{Major South American geological formations Cretaceous Chile Cretaceous magmatism Belt regions Iron ore deposits Iron mining in Chile Metallogenetic provinces Mines in Antofagasta Region Mines in Atacama Region Mines in Coquimbo Region Geology of Antofagasta Region Geology of Atacama Region Geology of Coquimbo Region