Rather than a decrease in production, out of satisfaction and relief, the company renamed the mine El Salvador, Spanish The Savior.

[5] In 2005 Codelco had planned to shut down the El Salvador mine in 2011 because of declining ore grades and increased costs,[5] but extended the project life by an additional 15–20 years.

[6] "El Salvador represents the southernmost point of the giant porphyry copper districts of the Atacama Desert."

Located 10 km west of the Sierra del Castillo fault, it consists of Paleocene volcanic host rocks.

In 1983 El Teniente and two other Codelco mines closed when approximately 13,000 workers voted to strike "indefinitely" in protest of a union leaders arrest for calling for an end to military rule in Chile.

[10] There was little market reaction to the end of the strike as several other copper mines had ceased production due to bankruptcy, terrorism, weather or labour disruptions.

The contract workers were demanding the same production bonuses, health care, housing and education benefits that company employees received.