From mining settlement to continental space. Chuquicamata (Chile) and the contribution of mining to the territorial configuration and social and economic development of the Antofagasta region during the XXth century

This article analyzes the contributions of Chuquicamata to the territorial, social and economic development of the II Region of Antofagasta during the twentieth century. The process begins with the local contributions of an industrial complex and company town, that evolves from profits and contributions specific to a copper mining settlement to a situation of regional significance, generating continental economic relations and linkages which contribute to the social and economic development of the region and he country. From this perspective, Northern Chile, and this region in particular, hold important comparative and competitive advantages that extend into the twenty first century, both for the exploitation of mineral resources and for increasing linkages with other productive sectors, in a process that generates new spatial configurations, based not only on the urban dynamics of the company town but also through the extent and complexity of the mining territory that has been economically activated by the mining industry.