Chile and Peru run the world’s highest-quality mines along the Atacama Desert’s many fault lines, mines that also have the lowest operating costs per unit of output. Collectively the two countries supply two-fifths of global needs. Chile also smelts most of its own ore into copper metal, making it the world’s one-stop shop in a post-China world. It’s a good thing Chile is both in a good neighborhood from a security point of view and the most politically stable country in Latin America. But mind those earthquakes.
