View source for El Tofo

{{Short description|Iron mine in Chile}}
'''El Tofo''' is an [[iron ore]] mine in the [[Chile]]an [[Norte Chico, Chile|Norte Chico]] region.<ref name=mindat>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mindat.org/loc-195862.html|title=El Tofo mine, Elqui Province, Coquimbo Region, Chile|access-date=2019-12-01|website=mindat.org|quote=Old Fe open cast mine, now reopening: mineralization hosted in porhyr, diorite and amphibolized rocks.}}</ref> The mine lies in northern [[Coquimbo Region]] within a larger mining district known as the [[Chilean Iron Belt]]. Geologically El Tofo is an [[iron oxide-apatite]] deposit.<ref name=Barraetal2017>{{cite journal |last1=Barra |first1=Fernando |last2=Reich |first2=M.|last3=Selby |first3=D.|last4=Rojas |first4=P. |last5=Simon |first5=A.|last6=Salazar |first6=E. |last7=Palma |first7=G. |date=2017 |title=Unraveling the origin of the Andean IOCG clan: a Re-Os isotope approach |journal=Ore Geology Reviews |volume=81 |issue=1 |pages=62–78 |url=http://dro.dur.ac.uk/20115/1/20115.pdf?DDD15+dgl0ds+d700tmt }}</ref>
The first record of the iron ores of El Tofo dates to a 1840 study of [[Ignacy Domeyko]].<ref name=MuseoLaSerena>{{Cite web|url=https://www.museohistoricolaserena.gob.cl/633/w3-article-22942.html?_noredirect=1|title=Historia de la mina de hierro El Tofo|date=2019-12-01|website=Museo Histórico Gabriel González Videla|publisher=Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural|language=es}}</ref> While the mine presents good geological aspects for 19th century mining geographical aspects made access difficult despite being close to the Pacific coast.<ref name=MuseoLaSerena/> The mine began to be exploited in 1870 but by 1955 mining diminished as the deposit were close to depletion.<ref name=MuseoLaSerena/> Subsequently the [[El Romeral mine]] was opened 30 km to the south in replacement.<ref name=Couyo2000>{{Cite journal |title=AUGUSTO MILLAN, Historia de la minería del hierro en Chile. Santiago, Editorial Universitaria, 1999, 220 páginas. |journal=[[Historia (history of the Americas journal)|Historia]] |url=https://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?pid=S0717-71942000003300012&script=sci_arttext&tlng=pt |last=Couyoumdjian |first=Juan Ricardo |volume=33 |doi=10.4067/S0717-71942000003300012 |year=2000 |language=Spanish|doi-access=free }}</ref> [[Compañía de Acero del Pacífico]] obtained the ownership of El Tofo and El Romeral in the early 1970s when it was [[nationalization|nationalized]] during the [[Presidency of Salvador Allende]].<ref name=MuseoLaSerena/><ref name=Couyo2000/> Later the ownership passed to [[Compañía Minera del Pacífico]] as it was privatized during the [[Military dictatorship of Chile (1973–1990)|Pinochet dictatorship]].<ref name=MuseoLaSerena/> As of 2017 El Tofo is not active.<ref name=Barraetal2017/>
==References==
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[[Category:Iron ore mines in Chile]]
[[Category:Mines in Coquimbo Region]]
[[Category:Former mines in Chile]]
{{Coquimbo-geo-stub}}