Monumento a la Familia Minera, Mining family monument in Machali, Chile

Monumento a la Familia Minera is a sculpture at km 10 of the Carretera del Cobre, in the Tierras Blancas sector of Machalí. It depicts a miner wearing a helmet and carrying a lantern, standing with his wife and child. The work measures 10 m tall and 25 m wide and weighs 7 tonnes; it was made in the workshops of Codelco's El Teniente Division.

The monument was created by Chilean artist Germán Ruz Baeza in 2000 to honor the mining industry's workforce. It marks an important moment in artistic recognition of the region's industrial heritage.

The sculpture depicts a miner in his helmet and lantern with his wife and child, honouring the family unit behind the region's main activity, mining. In 2016, when the landowners asked for its demolition, local residents opposed it and called for the work to be declared a National Monument.

The monument sits along a busy road section and is easy to spot from the highway. Visitors should be mindful of traffic and take note of its location in Machali's Tierras Blancas sector.

The sculpture was carved in the workshops of Codelco's El Teniente Division, not cast in bronze. In 2016 the landowners asked the Municipality of Machalí to demolish it because it stood on private ground without a building permit; local residents opposed the demolition and asked for it to be declared a National Monument.