Chile’s El Teniente Collapse Highlights Seismic Vulnerability in Copper Supply Chains

A magnitude 4.2 tremor struck beneath Chile’s El Teniente copper mine, triggering a tunnel collapse that claimed six lives, including one miner who died during the quake. The remaining five trapped workers were recovered after 70 hours by more than 100 rescue personnel who cleared over 25 meters of debris. El Teniente, the world’s largest underground copper mine, spans more than 4,500 kilometers of tunnels and produced approximately 356,000 metric tons of copper in the previous year.

In the wake of the collapse, Codelco halted operations in the affected Andesita section and evacuated around 3,000 mine workers. Government authorities launched a criminal investigation to establish whether the tremor was purely seismic or potentially induced by drilling activities. International safety experts are being convened to review protocols and oversee restoration of operations.

Copper is critical to sectors such as electrical equipment, renewable energy, and electronics. With Chile accounting for roughly 25% of global supply, delays at a core site like El Teniente may have knock-on effects. Major industrial buyers and manufacturers using copper-intensive processes may face shifts in supply timelines, and procurement teams may need to account for inspection-related pauses or broader regulatory reviews. Inspectors may impose new safety protocols that slow ramp-up, particularly across other state-run or high-capacity operations.

The incident underlines the broader reality: mining infrastructure in seismically active regions remains deeply exposed. Past high-profile accidents have shaped tougher regulation in Chile’s mining sector, which is now one of the safest in the world. Still, this tragedy may mark a turning point in how seismic risk is managed alongside high-volume copper output.

In a world of black swans and cascading disruptions, this is what resilience in action looks like.