Mina Tránsito

Useful Information

Location:	Ruta C-397 S/N, Tierra Amarilla, Atacama. (-27.52301, -70.34242)
Open:	All year Mon-Fri 10:30-12. [2024]
Fee:	Adults CLP 500. [2024]
Classification:	Kupfer
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:	L=8 km, VR=500 m, A=945 m asl.
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	yes
Bibliography:	Giuliano Pastorelli (2009): Recuperación de la Mina Tránsito como Museo Regional de Sitio Minero, 03 mar 2009. ArchDaily en Español. ISSN 0719-8914. online
Address:	Mina Tránsito, Ruta C-397 S/N, Tierra Amarilla, Atacama, Tel: +56-5223-20422. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1743	copper ores discovered by Francisco Toro, mine opened.
1869	50 tonnes of rock were extracted monthly, which equates to around 8.5 tonnes of copper mined by 50 to 60 miners.
1878	mine closed.
1995	show mine opened to the public.

Geology

Description

The Mina Tránsito, which is owned by the Sociedad Punta del Cobre S.A., is more or less a wasteland, an abandoned mine. And also it is located in the middle of nowhere in the Atacama desert. But it was also the first mine in this area which was transformed into a mining museum, and has a wealth of abandoned machinery, tools, equipment, but also furniture and the items of daily life of miners working here. There once was a grocery store, school and chapel, but the buildings were relocated to another mine. What remains is the former administration house, which had stone walls. The museum has a collection of local minerals and ores, which shows what was actually mined here.

The Sierra de los Ojancos mountain range and its copper ores were discovered in 1743 by Francisco Toro. Mining started at a low scale, over the centuries, numerous other mines were opened. The Mina Tránsito was operated mainly during the 19th century. It was taken over by the English mining company Copiapó Mining Company which modernized the mine. It was up to the state of the art, and between 50 and 60 people were working in the mine around 1869. Some 50 tonnes of rock were extracted per month, which equates to around 8.5 tonnes of copper.

Today the Candelaria mine is the main mine in the area, but as a working mine it is not open for tourists. The mining museum was created in 1995 by the municipality of Tierra Amarilla, the University of Atacama, and private companies. In 2008 Tomás García de la Huerta, an architect from the Universidad del Desarrollo, presented a project named “Recovery of the Mina Tránsito as a Regional Mining Site Museum” . The plan includes an underground museum at the shaft of the mine, and an underground tour. The mine is connected with the neighbouring Andacollo mine by a 700 m long underground tunnel. The idea is to enter the tunnel through the museum at the entrance, and leave it at the Andacollo through an exit building which is called Centro de Difusión Minera (Mining Diffusion Center). We have no idea what this term means and guess they invented it. Nevertheless, the plan is quite spectacular. Its unlikely that it will ever be realized, the basic flaw in the plan is the lack of visitors.