The following is a list of copper smelters in Chile that have been active at some point after 1950.
Chile is the world's largest producer of copper and activity provides a substantial part of the Chilean state's revenue: slightly less than 6% in 2020, with state-owned copper company Codelco alone generating 2.6% of state revenue. In 2024 copper processed in Chilean copper smelters made up 33% of the value of Chilean mining products exports while unrefined copper concentrate represented 50.9% of the value of Chilean mining exports. Since the 1990s no new copper smelters have been built in Chile.
Copper smelters that serves a specific mine is called integrated smelters. A custom copper smelter is one receiving or open to receive ores from multiple mines. Thus, these smelters tend to be less fine-tuned than smelters integrated with specific mines. Custom smelters tend also to be located at strategic locations, such as near port facilities or at important crossroads in mining districts.
Since the closure of Codelco's Fundición Ventanas in ValparaÃÂso Region in 2022âÂÂ2023 Antofagasta Region and Atacama Region haves been proposed by Chilean industry scholars as locations for a viable replacement. Others have argued for keeping smelting in ValparaÃÂso Region given the existence of nearby mines. While some argue the replacement plant should be near the coast, inland Chuquicamata and El Salvador have also been proposed as alternatives. The president of the National Mining Society (Sonami), Diego Hernández, estimates the construction period for a new smelter plant to be 5 to 7 years. A 2024 study identified Antofagasta Region as the best place for a new copper smelter given logistical advantages and an existing and expandable supply of copper concentrate from nearby mines. In December 2025 Codelco signed a memorandum of understanding with Glencore to establish a new copper smelter in Antofagasta Region. According to this plan the project will be submitted for approval to the Environmental Assessment Service in 2028 and construction of the smelter will begin in 2030 and it would then begin operations in 2032 or 2033.