Escondida, the world’s largest copper mine, collectively owned by BHP (ASX: BHP) and Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) is among the operations located within the quake-hit area. Chile’s state-owned firm, Codelco, additionally has mines on this space, together with Chuquicamata, Radomiro Tomic, Ministro Hales and Gabriela Mistral mines.
The South American nation holds the world’s largest lithium reserves, 90% of that are within the Atacama desert, near the epicentre. The information triggered provide fears, as Chile is a significant exporter of lithium chemical compounds to China.
Albemarle (NYSE: ALB) and SQM (NYSE: SQM), the world’s largest and second-biggest lithium producers respectively, each run operations on the Salar de Atacama salt flat, the place the epicentre of the quake was detected.
“Regardless of its outstanding measurement, and the massive variety of fallen objects, it’s not thought-about a significant depth earthquake,” researchers on the non-governmental Chilean Geoscience Community mentioned. They famous “some minor shocks to infrastructure” reminiscent of highways blocked by fallen rocks, however no fallen buildings.
The quake occurred simply hours after the USGS launched its first examine to evaluate international earthquake danger to mineral provides.
In April, a 4.7-magnitude quake hit the Collahuasi copper mine, a joint operation between Anglo American (LON: AAL), Glencore (LON: GLEN) and a Japanese consortium. Earlier this month, a 4-magnitude earthquake shook Antofagasta’s (LON: ANTO) Los Pelambres copper mine.
Chile is a rustic continuously affected by earthquakes, so the nation is well-prepared to face them. Because of this, main destruction and deaths are unusual. In 2010, nevertheless, an 8.8-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami claimed 526 lives and brought about billions of {dollars} in injury.
Essentially the most highly effective seismic occasion ever detected by devices worldwide occurred in Chile on Could 22, 1960. A magnitude 9.5 earthquake occurred off the southern coastal metropolis of Valdivia, making a tsunami that traveled throughout the Pacific.