Chuquicamata
SEDIMENTARY BLUES No.5
Ethan Chan · Writing, Production, Mixing
Manisha Saigal · Vocals
Evan Chan · Co-Writing (Drums)
Matt Foster · Mastering
Chuquicamata, what have they found?
They come from the surface and open the ground
If it hurts, why aren't you making a sound?
They tread inside you, with bombs to deploy
Take your secrets to make alloys
If it hurts, why aren't you making a noise?
Chuquicamata, Chuquicamata, camata
Chuquicamata, Chuquicamata, camata
They come from the surface and open the ground
If it hurts, why aren't you making a sound?
They tread inside you, with bombs to deploy
Take your secrets to make alloys
If it hurts, why aren't you making a noise?
Chuquicamata, Chuquicamata, camata
Chuquicamata, Chuquicamata, camata
Sister of Scylla, around and around
They carve your lips into Junjian mounds
If it hurts, why aren't you making a sound?
They send an army into your arteries
Coughing boys to search and destroy
If it hurts, why aren't you making a noise?
Chuquicamata, Chuquicamata, camata
Chuquicamata, Chuquicamata, camata
Maybe they'll fill you up one day or
Maybe they'll just go away but now you're
They carve your lips into Junjian mounds
If it hurts, why aren't you making a sound?
They send an army into your arteries
Coughing boys to search and destroy
If it hurts, why aren't you making a noise?
Chuquicamata, Chuquicamata, camata
Chuquicamata, Chuquicamata, camata
Maybe they'll fill you up one day or
Maybe they'll just go away but now you're
Two miles wide and look how deep
They won't stop until their feet
Are pounding on your heart, Chuquicamata
They won't stop until their feet
Are pounding on your heart, Chuquicamata
Chuquicamata, Chuquicamata, camata
Chuquicamata, Chuquicamata, camata
Maybe they'll fill you up one day or
Maybe they'll just go away but now you're
Two miles wide and look how deep
They won't stop until their feet
Are pounding on your heart
Are pounding on your heart
Are pounding on your heart
Chuquicamata
There is a hole in northern Chile where men crush rocks and rocks crush men. Its name is Chuquicamata, which is said to mean “hard lance” or “spearhead” in Kunza, a nearly extinct language of the Atacama people.
The sight of giant Komatsu haul trucks circling like ants on pyramid steps might give one the impression that Chuquicamata is a modern project. But in fact, its copper has been mined for thousands of years—first in tunnels (as early as 138–404 AD), then in the open pit (since 1915), and now in tunnels again (since 2019). We know that Chuquicamata is ancient because it records its own history through human bodies. Around the year 550, a young indigenous miner was trapped in a mine collapse and never found a way out. Perhaps to warn future visitors, the mine impregnated his body with copper salts, preserving “Copper Man” until his discovery in 1899. To date, four mummies have been found in mineshafts in Chuquicamata.
[death from above and within]
Sources
Figueroa, V., Salazar, D., Salinas, H., Núñez-Regueiro, P., & Manríquez, G. (2013). Pre-Hispanic mining ergology of northern Chile: An archaeological perspective. Chungará (Arica), 45(1), 61–81. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0717-73562013000100003
Fuller, D. R. (2004). The production of copper in 6th century Chile’s chuquicamata mine. JOM, 56(11), 62–66. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-004-0256-6
Méndez, M., Galaz-Mandakovic, D., & Prieto, M. (2021). Tele-production of miningscapes in the open-pit era: The case of low-grade copper, Bingham Canyon, US and Chuquicamata, Chile (1903–1923). The Extractive Industries and Society, 8(4), 100830. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2020.10.013
Monteleone, D. (2023, June 12). Critical Minerals—Chile. Davide Monteleone. https://davidemonteleone.com/journal/criticalmineralschile
BACKGROUND PHOTOGRAPH BY DIEGO DELSO