science

Los Colorados mine

Los Colorados mine is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Los Colorados mine rather than just read about it. In short: Los Colorados is an open-pit iron mine in northern Chile about 45 km northeast of the port of Huasco. The ore of the mine is one of various iron oxide-apatite (IOA) ores that are part of the north-south Chilean Iron Belt.

Key takeaways

Los Colorados mine belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Los Colorados mine to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Los Colorados mine from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Los Colorados is an open-pit iron mine in northern Chile about 45 km northeast of the port of Huasco. The ore of the mine is one of various iron oxide-apatite (IOA) ores that are part of the north-south Chilean Iron Belt. The mine opened in 1997 and in 2021 it had a production of 2,559,000 metric tons of iron. It is owned by Compañía Minera del Pacífico (CMP). The mine is considered a replacement for El Algarrobo a nearby mine that became exhausted of profitable ore in the 1990s. Its planned cut-off grade in the 1990s was 30% Fe. Currently the mine feeds iron ore to the pelletizing plant Planta de Pellets at the coast in Huasco for the manufacture of iron pellets. It produces annually 4.5 million metric tons of pellets. Besides this, Los Colorados mine feeds the inland Planta Magnetita in Tierra Amarilla (which also receives tailings from Candelaria). From Planta Magnetita ore concentrate is transported in a pipeline for 120 km to the port of Punta Totoralillo. In 2025 the mine has submitted an environmental impact assessment for approval by authorities to expand its produce of iron pre-concentrate from 9.1 to 9.8 million tonnes. The mine was formerly owned by Compañia Minera Huasco, a joint venture of CMP (50%) and Mitsubishi Corporation (50%). In 2010 Compañia Minera Huasco was folded into CMP and Mitsubishi Corporation obtained a 25% ownership of CMP; 15.9% by the folding and 9.1% by capital injection to CMP.

References

Bibliography Millán, Augusto (1999). Historia de la minería del hierro en Chile (in Spanish). Santiago de Chile: Editorial Universitaria. ISBN 956-11-1499-2.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Los Colorados mine

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Los Colorados mine claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Los Colorados mine before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Los Colorados mine ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Los Colorados mine

In research: Los Colorados mine appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Los Colorados mine in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Los Colorados mine is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Chile stubs, Compañía Minera del Pacífico, Iron mines in Chile, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Los Colorados mine outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Los Colorados mine” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Los Colorados mine in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Los Colorados mine means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Los Colorados mine out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Los Colorados mine in simple terms?

Why does Los Colorados mine matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Los Colorados mine?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Los Colorados mine.