Bajo de la Alumbrera, Open-pit copper and gold mine in Catamarca Province, Argentina.
Bajo de la Alumbrera is an open-pit mine located high in the Andes mountains at the border between Catamarca and Tucumán provinces. The facility was designed to extract copper, gold, and molybdenum, with operations spread across multiple zones within the mountain terrain.
Operations began in 1997, establishing this as the country's largest mining operation until closure in 2018. The two decades of activity brought significant changes to the mountain landscape and the regional economy.
The mine generated employment for thousands of workers from surrounding communities while creating divisions between industrial development and environmental preservation advocates.
The location sits at high elevation and is difficult to access, served only by specialized transport for authorized personnel. Visits are not permitted as the closed facility is restricted for safety reasons.
The project required a 216-kilometer pipeline to transport ore to a distant processing facility hundreds of kilometers away. This infrastructure crossed challenging terrain and became one of the longest mining pipelines in the region.
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