The amount of gold mined in Chile has fluctuated in the 2010–2023 period from a high of 50,852 kg in 2013 to a low of 30,907 kg in 2022.[2] Also in the same period 36% to 72% of the gold produced annualy in Chile was a by-product of copper mining.[2] The share of medium and small-scale mining in gold production in Chile has dropped from an average of 45% for the 2003–2005 period to 9% in 2023.[2]
Most of the economically viable gold deposits in Chile belong to two types of deposits; high-sulfidation epithermal and porphyry type.[3] The bulk of these deposits formed in the last 66 millions years (Cenozoic) in connection to magmatic activity in the Andes.[3] Gold from iron oxide copper gold ore deposits (IOCG), from mesothermal deposits, or of Mesozoic age (formed 66 to 252 million years ago) may in some cases be recurrent geological features but lack often large concentrations to make them profitable.[3] Almost all valuable non-placer gold in Chile occur in the northern half of the country and some deposits are grouped into belts like the Maricunga Gold Belt and El Indio Gold Belt.[3]
Almost no mining of placer gold occurs today.[4] The placer deposits of some areas of difficult access in Patagonia are subject to sporadic small-scale illegal gold mining.[5] A 2019 study found that seven of Chile's ten best placer gold prospects lie around Cordillera de Nahuelbuta.[4]
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
fivewas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b c Cifras actualizadas de la minería (Report) (in Spanish). Consejo Minero. 2025-03-01. p. 31.
{{cite report}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ a b c d Cabello, José. "Gold deposits in Chile". Andean Geology. 48 (1): 1–23.
- ^ a b Jara, J. Joaquín; Moreno, Francisco; Jara, Raúl; Dubournais, Francisco; Mata, Rodrigo; Peters, David; Marquardt, Carlos; Lagos, Gustavo (2019). "Ranking of Placer Gold Prospects in Chile Through Analytic Hierarchy Process". Natural Resources Research. 28 (3): 813–832. Bibcode:2019NRR....28..813J. doi:10.1007/s11053-018-9420-5. S2CID 169899273.
- ^ Scholvin, Sören; Atienza, Miguel. "La formalización de la pequeña minería en Chile: logros y desafíos de la Empresa Nacional de Minería (ENAMI)". Investigaciones Geográficas (in Spanish). 66: 1–13.
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