BASE METALS

Copper explorers coasting in Chile

The drive north along Ruta 5 from La Serena towards Vallenar is to drive through more than a century of mining history. From the silver mines of the 1800s, to the iron ore mines of the late twentieth century, and the almost continual small-scale production of high-grade copper oxide. The four-lane highway passes through a wide valley with desert scrub and cacti, in parts reminiscent of Nevada or Arizona in the US, particularly with the cobalt blue sky and beating sun.