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Potrerillos is a ghost town in the interior of Atacama Region, Chile. Potrerillos became established as mining camp in the 1920s by
Andes Copper Mining Company The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the List of mountain ranges#Mountain ranges by length, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range i ...
. There is an airport in the area, the
Potrerillos Airport Potrerillos may refer to: * Potrerillos, Chile, a former mining camp in Atacama Region, Chile * Potrerillos (caldera), Atacama Region, Chile * Potrerillos, Cortés, a municipality in Honduras * Potrerillos, El Paraíso, a municipality in Honduras ...
.


Potrerillos Mine

One of Chile's Gran Mineria, the
copper porphyry Porphyry copper deposits are copper ore bodies that are formed from hydrothermal fluids that originate from a voluminous magma chamber several kilometers below the deposit itself. Predating or associated with those fluids are vertical dikes of ...
mine was identified and developed by William Burford Braden. The mine was active from 1927 until 1959.


Geology

Located 12 km east of the Sierra del Castillo fault, the area consists of Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous
marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...
and volcanic host rocks. During the Late Eocene, the Porfido Cobre
intrusion In geology, an igneous intrusion (or intrusive body or simply intrusion) is a body of intrusive igneous rock that forms by crystallization of magma slowly cooling below the surface of the Earth. Intrusions have a wide variety of forms and com ...
induced Cu-Mo
mineralization Mineralization may refer to: * Mineralization (biology), when an inorganic substance precipitates in an organic matrix ** Biomineralization, a form of mineralization ** Mineralization of bone, an example of mineralization ** Mineralized tissues are ...
. The
supergene A supergene is a chromosomal region encompassing multiple neighboring genes that are inherited together because of close genetic linkage, i.e. much less recombination than would normally be expected. This mode of inheritance can be due to genomic ...
oxidation zone "is dominated by malachite and azurite in and around the Porfido Cobre
stock In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a company ...
."


Potrerillos Library

In 1956, the people residing in Potrerillos, which consisted of mostly Americans, requested that the company Andes Copper Company approve a project for starting a library. The company approved the project and quickly a committee of camp women began asking the Potrerillos residents for donations. The project was on its way. The company made a vacant house available for the trial library. The library had over 1,000 donations and the organization of the library would be led by a previous librarian. They classified the books using the Dewey Decimal System and created book cards and date slips and added pockets for all the books. The families that resided in the area had no access to TVs and the radio signals were unreliable. The community had a great response to the work done by the committee. The library began by charging 5 and 10 pesos (equivalent to 1 cent and 2 cents) for daily rental. The funds began to accumulate and soon enough the committee was able to purchase new titles. The library was run by volunteers acting as librarians and was open one hour a night, three nights a week. The location soon had to be changed because of housing shortages. The Andes Copper Company recognized that the library was imperative to the community and decided to build a permanent building for the library in the school, which was used by the children of the workers. The new building received new shelves, desks and fluorescent lighting was installed. The directors of the company even began a fund for new books. The library was expanded and the new U.S. titles purchased still.


See also

* El Salvador mine * Chuquicamata * El Teniente * El Salvador mine * Los Pelambres mine * Chanarcillo * Escondida


References

{{coord, 26.4342, S, 69.4833, W, source:wikidata, display=title Geography of Atacama Region Former populated places in Chile