Adrianitas
| Location | |
|---|---|
  Adrianitas | |
| Atacama Region | |
| Country | Chile |
| Coordinates | 27°10′15″S 70°22′46″W / 27.17073°S 70.37933°W |
| Production | |
| Products | Iron |
| History | |
| Opened | 1960 |
| Closed | c. 1968 |
Adrianitas is a closed iron mine in northern Chile about 21 km north-north west of the city of Copiapó. It lies between the iron mines of Cerro Negro Norte and Cerro Imán. The ore of the mine is one of various iron oxide-apatite (IOA) ores that are part of the north–south Chilean Iron Belt. Mitsubishi Corporation purchased Adrianitas from Raúl Buenaventura, a former associate of Andrés Andai, in 1958.[1][2] This proved underwhelming for Mitsubishi as there was no mineral reserve estimation at the time of the sale and Mitsubishi's later exploration showed them to be much smaller than originally thought.[1] The company that emerged from the investment Compañía Minera Atacama begun mining the deposit in 1960 exporting the ore from a port at Calderillas.[1] Mining ended in the late 1960s.[1]
In May 2009 Leonardo Farkas' Compañía Minera Santa Fe was approved for the processing of waste rock dumps at the mine.[3]
The ore deposit of Adrianitas is classified as medium-size by the National Geology and Mining Service.[4] The ore of Adrianita appear as veins, breccia chimneys and in part as a bag of irregular shape.[4] The iron ore is made of magnetite albeit gold and the copper minerals of chalcopyrite and chrysocolla have also been described in the deposit.[4]
The mine is named after Las Adrianitas, two young prostitutes murdered in 1936 in Copiapó who are now revered as folk saints.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Danús, Hernán (2007). "IV. La minería del hierro y la industria siderúrgica". Crónicas mineras de medio siglo (1950-2000) (in Spanish). Santiago de Chile: RIL Editores. pp. 125–126. ISBN 978-956-284-555-7.
- ^ Millán, Augusto (1999). Historia de la minería del hierro en Chile (in Spanish). Santiago de Chile: Editorial Universitaria. pp. 95 & 98. ISBN 956-11-1499-2.
- ^ "Minera Santa Fe procesará desmontes de hierro en Mina Adrianitas, en Copiapó". Minería Chilena (in Spanish). 2009-03-20. Retrieved 2025-07-31.
- ^ a b c SISTEMA DE INFORMACIÓN DE YACIMIENTOS MINERALES DE CHILE FICHA DEL YACIMIENTO N° 737 Adrianita (PDF) (Report) (in Spanish). SERNAGEOMIN (published 2014-12-23). 2014-12-14.
- ^ La fe del pueblo: Exposición sobre religiosidad popular (PDF) (in Spanish). Dirección de Bibliotecas, Archivos y Museos. 1995. pp. 1–11.