In
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
,
coal mining is restricted to a few places located in its southern half. Energy originating from coal stands for 11,6% of Chile's electricity consumption.
[Carbon]
. CNE. Accessed on September 10. 2012. Currently the country is not considered a major producer of coal.
The three zones of mining are Zona Central Sur (36–38° S), Zona Sur (39–42° S) and Zona Austral (51–54° S) in southernmost Chile.
[ Most of the coal resources of Chile lie in Zona Austral at southernmost Chile.][
]
Zona Central Sur
Usage of coal from Bío Bío Region as fuel dates back to at least 1557 when, according to Diego de Rosales
Diego de Rosales (Madrid, 1601 - Santiago, 1677) was a Spanish chronicler and author of ''Historia General del Reino de Chile''.
He studied in his hometown, where he also joined the Society of Jesus. He came to Chile in the year 1629, without ha ...
, governor García Hurtado de Mendoza stayed in Quiriquina Island
Quiriquina Island, Chile is located at the entrance to the Bay of Concepción, 11 km north of Talcahuano. (''Quiriquina'' is a Mapuche word meaning "many True thrushes").
In April, 1557, Don Garcia de Mendoza, Spanish governor of the Capta ...
. Early British travelers had differing opinions on the economic value of Chilean coals, or more specifically, the coals of Zona Central Sur. While David Barry found the coals to be of good quality, Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...
found them of little value. The British consul in Chile correctly predicted in 1825 that the area around the mouth of Biobío River would be a centre of coal industry.
It was however not until the mid-19th century that large scale coal mining began in the region.[ The initial trigger of coal mining was the arrival of steamships to the port of ]Talcahuano
Talcahuano () (From Mapudungun ''Tralkawenu'', "Thundering Sky") is a port city and commune in the Biobío Region of Chile. It is part of the Greater Concepción conurbation. Talcahuano is located in the south of the Central Zone of Chile.
Geo ...
. These steam ships, most of whom were English, bought initially the coal very cheaply and the exploited coal seams were easy to work as they laid almost at ground level.[ The mining district of Biobío Region can be divided in two sectors: one south and one north of Biobío River.][
]
Sector Norte
In the northern sector the mine of Lirquén, which provided coal to the cement plant of "Melón" was once the most important one. The northern sector contains sub-bituminous coal.[
]
Sector Sur
The coals of the southern sector, i.e. those of Arauco Basin
The Arauco Basin ( es, Cuenca de Arauco) is a sediment-filled depression –a sedimentary basin– in south-central Chile. In the context of plate tectonics it is classified as a forearc basin. The basin has an approximate area of and at its deep ...
, are chiefly of bituminous
Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term ...
nature.[ Industrialist ]Matías Cousiño
Matías Cousiño Jorquera (1810–1863) was a Chilean coal magnate and patriarch of the wealthy Cousiño family. Cousiño's most emblematic coal mine was found in Lota a small coastal town on the coast of the Bío-Bío Region, where steam ships ...
begun mining operations in Lota in 1852.[ Coal mining transformed rapidly Lota, from being a sparsely populated frontier zone in the mid-19th century, into a large industrial hub that attracted immigrants from all over Chile well into the 20th century.] Lota's coal mines were nationalized
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to p ...
by Salvador Allende
Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (, , ; 26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean physician and socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 3 November 1970 until his death on 11 September 1973. He was the fir ...
due to civil unrest and heavy Socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...
support, but privatized
Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...
again under Augusto Pinochet
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (, , , ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean general who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, first as the leader of the Military Junta of Chile from 1973 to 1981, being declared President of ...
. Given a high density of geological faults that displace the coal beds and the thin nature of these (less than one metre) mining activity in Arauco Basin proved difficult to mechanize. Traditionally the centre of coal mining in Chile, large-scale coal mining in Arauco Basin
The Arauco Basin ( es, Cuenca de Arauco) is a sediment-filled depression –a sedimentary basin– in south-central Chile. In the context of plate tectonics it is classified as a forearc basin. The basin has an approximate area of and at its deep ...
ended in the 1990s.[Explotacion Reservas]
CNE. Accessed on September 10. 2012. Despite the decline of the coal industry communities in the zone continue to identify with it.[
The following mines were at times active in Sector Sur of Zona Centro Sur: El Chiflón del Diablo, El Chiflón Costa, Mina Consolidada, Mina Chiflones Fortuna, Mina Manto Grande, Mina Socavón Victoria, Pique Anita and others.][
]
Zona Sur
The Zona Sur coal district spans the regions of Los Ríos and Los Lagos, roughly from the area of Valdivia
Valdivia (; Mapuche: Ainil) is a city and commune in southern Chile, administered by the Municipality of Valdivia. The city is named after its founder Pedro de Valdivia and is located at the confluence of the Calle-Calle, Valdivia, and Cau-Cau R ...
to Chiloé Archipelago
The Chiloé Archipelago ( es, Archipiélago de Chiloé, , ) is a group of islands lying off the coast of Chile, in the Los Lagos Region. It is separated from mainland Chile by the Chacao Channel in the north, the Sea of Chiloé in the east and t ...
. The coals of the Zona Sur district are sub-bituminous Sub-bituminous coal is a lower grade of coal that contains 35–45% carbon. The properties of this type are between those of lignite, the lowest grade of coal, and those of bituminous coal, the second-highest grade of coal. Sub-bituminous coal i ...
.[
The geological context of the coals of Zona Sur is not fully understood as there are divergent views on the stratigraphy and the ages the coals. The study of the coals is hampered by the fact that there are few coal ]outcrop
An outcrop or rocky outcrop is a visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth.
Features
Outcrops do not cover the majority of the Earth's land surface because in most places the bedrock or superficia ...
s and attempted correlation between different localities has not been satisfactory. Age estimations vary. A common view is that the coals of Zona Sur are of Oligo-Miocene
The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...
age being thus younger than those of Arauco Basin
The Arauco Basin ( es, Cuenca de Arauco) is a sediment-filled depression –a sedimentary basin– in south-central Chile. In the context of plate tectonics it is classified as a forearc basin. The basin has an approximate area of and at its deep ...
further north. Yet findings of foraminifer
Foraminifera (; Latin for "hole bearers"; informally called "forams") are single-celled organisms, members of a phylum or class of amoeboid protists characterized by streaming granular ectoplasm for catching food and other uses; and commonly an ...
s appear to indicate for older ages, that is Eocene
The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', " ...
. The geological units containing economically significant amounts of coal are the Pupunahue Beds, the very similar Mulpún Beds, Cheuquemó Formation and Parga Formation.
Some of the better known coal mines of Los Ríos Region are: Arrau, Catamutún, Ciruelo, Máfil, Mulpún and Pupunahue.[ While these mines had occasional spurts in activity only Catamutún was in continuous operation in the 1940s–2001 period.][ Mining in Catamutún, the only active coal mine in ]Los Ríos Region
The Los Ríos Region (Spanish: ''Región de Los Ríos'', , ''Region of the Rivers'') is one of Chile's 16 regions, the country's first-order administrative divisions. Its capital is Valdivia. It began to operate as a region on October 2, 2007 ...
at the time, halted after an underground fire in 2001.[
During a period of the 20th century the electric grid of the city of ]Valdivia
Valdivia (; Mapuche: Ainil) is a city and commune in southern Chile, administered by the Municipality of Valdivia. The city is named after its founder Pedro de Valdivia and is located at the confluence of the Calle-Calle, Valdivia, and Cau-Cau R ...
was powered by coal from the mines near Máfil.[ Starting in 2009 Antofagasta Minerals and Carbon Energy developed together an ]underground coal gasification
Underground coal gasification (UCG) is an industrial process which converts coal into product gas. UCG is an ''in-situ'' gasification process, carried out in non-mined coal seams using injection of oxidants and steam. The product gas is brought t ...
project in the closed Mulpún mine, however the project was put on hold in 2013.
Somewhat south, in Los Lagos Region, coal beds can be found in the geological formations of Cheuquemó and Parga
Parga ( el, Πάργα ) is a town and municipality located in the northwestern part of the regional unit of Preveza in Epirus, northwestern Greece. The seat of the municipality is the village Kanallaki. Parga lies on the Ionian coast between the ...
. The thin coal beds of this last formation were subject of small-scale mining operations around the turn of the 20th century.
Zona Austral
In Magallanes Region, Riesco Island
Riesco Island () lies at west of the Brunswick Peninsula, Chile. It is one of the largest islands in Chile, with an area of . Its highest point is Mount Atalaya at . The island is bordered by two large piedmont embayments: Otway Sound and Skyring ...
is being investigated for new projects.[ Coal was first discovered in Magallanes Region by ]Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa
Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa (1532–1592) was a Spanish explorer, author, historian, mathematician, and astronomer. His birthplace is not certain and may have been Pontevedra, in Galicia, where his paternal family originated, or Alcalá de Henare ...
who visited the Straits of Magellan
The Strait of Magellan (), also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route in southern Chile separating mainland South America to the north and Tierra del Fuego to the south. The strait is considered the most important natural pas ...
in 1584.
The following mines have been exploited in Zona Austral over the years: Chilenita, Chinita, El Chino, Estela, Elena, Fernández Rocuant, Invierno, Josefina, Loreto, Magdalena, Natales, Peckett, Punta Arenas, Servidora, Soledad, Tres Hermanos, Tres Pasos, Tres Puentes, Vulcano.[Llegaron cargadores de barcos para puerto de Mina Invierno]
. ''La Prensa Austral''. August 12, 2012.
Notes
References
{{Americas topic, Coal mining in
Mining in Chile
Coal in Chile