A travel in time to the Humberstone Ex-Salitrera, northern Chile

#MiningHumanStories

Norte Grande, Chile, east of Iquique. The most arid climate on Earth has created favorable conditions for the developments of saltpeter deposits (caliche) since the Pliocene (about 5 million years ago). Saltpeter was extracted to process iodine and sodium nitrate (NaNO3) from early 19th century, until the 60's. Sodium nitrate was exported across the world to be used as a fertilizer and for the manufacturing of explosives. For decades, European countries were one of the primary importers, to satisfy their needs for explosives to make wars, and for fertilizers for post-war food production. Saltpeter extraction was the second era of mining in Chile, following the exploitation of guano, and prior to the development of large-scale copper mines.

There are still a few salitreras active in Chile today, but most have been decommissioned. The Humberstone ex-salitrera is a former company town. It is part of 200 former saltpeter works where workers from Chile, Peru and Bolivia (the "Pampinos") worked and lived from 1872 to 1960. In 2005, Humberstone was listed in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The Humberstone site is impressive in its size, level of preservation, and location (it is isolated in the middle of the desert). The town site features hundreds of workers houses, schools, a church, two theatres, a hospital, a dance hall, stores, a swimming pool and various sport fields. The industrial site features many workshops and processing plants. It is connected to the region via a historic railway operated by Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia (FACB), still active today.

From my visit to Humberstone, I fondly remember the sharp desert light filtering through the abandoned buildings, the wind howling through the broken roofs, and peoples' memories preserved in the dry, salty earth. It's eerie, and magnificent.