There were primitive copper diggings on Cerro Negro for centuries before an American mining engineer named William Braden started mining operations there in 1904 as Braden Copper Company. The following year, the Chilean government authorized operations and the mine was under non-Chilean control until the mine was nationalized in 1971.
Between those years, and the removal of staff down the mountain, Sewell was a thriving, advanced community. These photos, current and historical, will give just a glimpse of what living and working there was like.
In recent years, Chile proclaimed Sewell a national historic site, and UNESCO agreed, distinguishing the camp of El Teniente as a World Heritage Site in July, 2006.
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