Chilean silver rush
Between 1830 and 1850, Chilean silver mining grew at an unprecedented pace which transformed mining into one of the country's principal sources of wealth. The rush caused rapid demographic, infrastructural, and economic expansion in the semi-arid Norte Chico mountains where the silver deposits lay. A number of Chileans made large fortunes in the rush and made investments in other areas of the economy of Chile. By the 1850s, the rush was in decline and lucrative silver mining definitively ended in the 1870s. At the same time, mining activity in Chile reoriented to saltpetre operations.
Drawing of early 19th-century Chilean silver miners | |
| Date | 1830–1850 |
|---|---|
| Location | Norte Chico Mountains, Chile |
| Cause | Major discoveries of silver in Chañarcillo in 1832 and Tres Puntas in 1848 |
| Participants | Chilean miners |
| Outcome | Influx of silver miners led to the rapid demographic, infrastructural, and economic expansion of mining and non-mining industries in the Norte Chico mountain region of Chile |
Location of Chañarcillo and Tres Puntas and the cities of northern Chile as of 1830. Modern boundaries of Chile are shown.
Exports of Chilean silver alongside copper and wheat were instrumental in helping Chile to prevent default on its independence debt in London.
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