Atacama Desert, Chile: Mining Villages

Inca de Oro: p.1 │p. 2│p.3 │p.4 │FFCC

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The streets outside the center of Inca de Oro show more modest houses. The dynamics of mining over time produced a strong fluctuation in people. If the price of copper and gold are rising in the village, the number of inhabitants increases considerably. In times of low prices many houses are left empty and little by little they remain in ruins.

Since many years Inca de Oro was left in decline for several reasons. Small mining in the sector is not seeing the necessary growth. Many professionals prefer to live in Copiapó and travel daily to nearby Inca de Oro. Many houses were left abandoned, as can be seen in the two photographs of the eighties.