Producer
Codelco
Codelco (100% Chilean state-owned; HQ Santiago; ~$15B revenue) is the world's largest copper producer and the operator of Chile's most iconic copper mines — Chuquicamata, El Teniente, and Andina — all in high-altitude Atacama Desert regions facing severe water stress. Codelco's mines collectively consume billions of liters of water per year from the Atacama's scarce freshwater resources (rivers, aquifers) that are simultaneously needed by indigenous communities (Atacameño people) and the Atacama's extreme-endemic ecosystem. Codelco is investing in seawater desalination and water recycling to reduce freshwater dependency under pressure from Chile's 2022 National Water Strategy and reformed Water Code, which tightened water rights allocation. Codelco's water sourcing decisions are intertwined with Chilean government policy — as a state-owned enterprise, Codelco's water use is both a commercial question and a public sovereignty question.
8
Inputs supplied
3
Goods downstream
10
Facilities
0
Stories
What they make
8 inputs Codelco supplies
Click an input to see every good that depends on it, every country that produces it, and every other company in the supply chain.
mineral
Copper Cathode (Plumbing Tube Grade) →
mineral
Copper Cathode (Plumbing Tube Grade) →
mineral
Copper ore concentrate →
mineral
Electrolytic Copper (Conductor Grade) →
mineral
Copper cathodes (refined) →
mineral
Electrolytic Copper (Conductor Grade) →
mineral
Process Water (Mining) →
mineral
Copper ore concentrate →
Where it shows up
Goods downstream
Essential goods that depend on something Codelco makes — pick one to see the full supply chain.
Where they make it
10 facilities
Atacama Freshwater Rights System (Chile's DGA Registry, Antofagasta Region) →
CLAntofagasta / Atacama · other
The Atacama Freshwater Rights System is Chile's Dirección General de Aguas (DGA) water rights registry for the Antofagasta and Atacama regions — the administrative mechanism through which mining companies secure rights to extract freshwater from rivers, wetlands, and aquifers in the driest non-polar desert on Earth. Water rights in the Atacama are bought and sold as tradeable property under Chile's 1981 Water Code; mining companies (BHP, Codelco, Antofagasta Minerals, SQM) accumulated rights over decades. Chile's 2022 constitutional water reform and 2022 National Water Strategy began tightening allocations — particularly around the Atacama Salt Flat (Salar de Atacama) ecosystem critical for flamingos and indigenous communities. The DGA water rights registry is an 'administrative chokepoint': no DGA rights = no freshwater = $3.4B in desalination investment. Source: https://www.dga.cl
Chuquicamata Copper Mine →
CLAntofagasta Region · mine
Chuquicamata (Calama, Antofagasta Region, Chile; altitude ~2,870m; 100% Codelco) is the world's largest open-pit copper mine by excavated volume — a hole approximately 4.5km long, 3km wide, and 1km deep. In continuous operation since 1915, making it one of the oldest continuously operating copper mines in the world. Production has exceeded 400,000 tonnes/year copper historically; now declining as the open pit reaches its economic limits. Codelco completed a $6.7B transition project (Chuquicamata Underground) to extend mine life by mining an underground block cave below the open pit — first underground copper in 2019, ramping through the 2020s. The adjacent smelter at Chuquicamata converts concentrate to blister copper (anodes) for refining. The nearby town of Chuquicamata was built by Anaconda Copper Company (the original operator) and was literally relocated in 2007 when the open pit expanded. Source: Codelco Annual Report 2024.
Chuquicamata Mine →
CLAntofagasta Region · mine
One of the world's largest open-pit copper mines (transitioning to underground). Operated by Codelco since nationalization in 1971. Located near Calama, Chile.
Chuquicamata Mine & Smelter →
CLAntofagasta Region, Chile · mine
One of the world's largest open-pit copper mines by volume; transitioned to underground mining 2019. Colossus: 4.5km long, 3km wide, 900m deep open pit. Smelter co-located on site.
Codelco Chuquicamata Smelter & Refinery →
CLAntofagasta Region · smelter
Codelco's flagship smelting/refining complex associated with Chuquicamata open-pit mine (one of the world's largest open-pit copper mines, operating since 1915). Converts copper concentrate into anode and then LME-registered cathode. Chuquicamata is transitioning to underground mining (Chuquicamata Underground project) as the open pit exhausts higher-grade shallow ore. The Chuquicamata complex is the world's oldest continuously operating large-scale copper smelter. Source: https://www.codelco.com/chuquicamata/en/
Codelco El Teniente Mine & Smelter (Machali, O'Higgins) →
CLO'Higgins · processing
El Teniente, located 44 km east of Rancagua, O'Higgins Region, Chile, is the world's largest underground copper mine. Operated by Codelco. Has integrated smelter on-site. Production expansion plans (Nuevo Nivel Mina project) have faced repeated delays due to engineering challenges and funding constraints. El Teniente is one of the mines that experienced geomechanical problems contributing to Codelco's overall production decline since 2004 peak levels.
Collahuasi Seawater Pipeline and Desalination System (Tarapacá Region, Chile) →
CLTarapacá · other
Compañía Minera Doña Inés de Collahuasi (Collahuasi; 44% Glencore, 44% Anglo American, 12% Mitsui) operates Chile's largest copper mine by ore throughput and has invested over $1B in seawater desalination and pipeline infrastructure to supply process water to operations at ~4,700 meters elevation in the Atacama. Collahuasi's seawater system pumps water from the Pacific coast to high-altitude mine operations — a 160+ km pipeline climbing ~4,700 meters. Collahuasi and Escondida together represent the two largest seawater desalination investments in global mining history. Used as Codelco proxy node in edges — Codelco and Collahuasi are the canonical Chilean state/private Atacama copper water dependency cases. Source: https://www.collahuasi.cl/english2/operations/water-management
El Teniente →
CLLibertador General Bernardo O'Higgins Region · mine
World's largest underground copper mine. Operated by Codelco. Approximately 50km south of Rancagua, Chile. Has operated since 1905.
El Teniente Underground Mine →
CLO'Higgins Region · mine
El Teniente (Rancagua, O'Higgins Region, Chile; altitude ~2,200-3,500m; 100% Codelco) is the world's largest underground copper mine by production volume, producing approximately 350,000-370,000 tonnes/year of copper. The mine has been in operation since 1906 (original Braden Copper Company). El Teniente sits within the Andes mountains and consists of approximately 2,400km of underground tunnels — a network so large it has its own internal transit system. Codelco's $5B+ 'New Mine Level' (NML) expansion project will access deeper, higher-grade copper ore to sustain production as the current primary mine level depletes. El Teniente is a block cave mine: a massive porphyry copper deposit is allowed to collapse under its own weight, and ore falls into draw points where it is collected by loaders. Source: Codelco Annual Report 2024.
Ventanas Copper Smelter & Refinery →
CLValparaíso Region, Chile · smelter
Major Chilean copper smelter and refinery; processes concentrate from Codelco and third-party mines. Under review for environmental compliance; faced closure pressure due to SO₂ emissions in residential zone.
What else they do
Business segments
The company's full revenue map — where this supply-chain role fits within their broader business.
Copper Mining + Smelting (World #1)
85%Byproduct Molybdenum
8%Byproduct Precious Metals + Rhenium
7%
Intelligence
What's known
Sourced claims about this company's role in supply chains — chokepoints, concentration, incidents, dual-use connections.
Concentration2019
Codelco — Corporación Nacional del Cobre de Chile — is 100% owned by the Chilean state and is constitutionally mandated to remit a significant portion of its profits to the Chilean government and military. For decades (1958-2010), Codelco was legally required to transfer 10% of its copper export revenue directly to the Chilean armed forces under Law 13,196 — known as the 'Ley Reservada del Cobre' (Reserved Copper Law), a secret law that was not publicly disclosed until 2005. The law was repealed in 2010, but during its operation Codelco transferred approximately $7B to the Chilean military for weapons purchases, making the Chilean Army, Navy, and Air Force some of the best-equipped in Latin America — funded by copper mine revenue from mines that have been operating since the early 20th century. The same copper mines that supply global electrical infrastructure have, for 52 years, been the secret funding source for Chilean military modernization. Codelco's current production decline (from 2.9 million tonnes peak in 2018 to 1.4 million tonnes in 2023) represents a structural copper supply problem: the state-owned company that historically produced ~10% of world copper is now producing ~6%, and its ore grades continue to fall. Source: Chilean Law 13,196 history; Codelco Annual Report 2024.
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) ↗Incident2025
Codelco's copper production in 2023 was only 72% of its 2004 peak levels, representing a massive structural decline in Chile's largest copper producer. The decline originated from geomechanical problems at three key mines: El Teniente, Chuquicamata, and Ministro Hales. While 2024 output edged up to approximately 1.329 million tonnes (up ~3,000–4,000 t from 2023), analysts noted the "final dash" to meet targets strained workers and delayed maintenance. Expansion projects at El Teniente (Nuevo Nivel Mina) and Chuquicamata Underground have both faced repeated delays. This structural decline from the world's largest single copper producer occurred exactly as global copper demand surged from electrification, EVs, and AI infrastructure.
Mining.com ↗