List of saltpeter works in Tarapacá and Antofagasta

The use of Nitratine or Chilean Saltpeter once an important source of nitrates for fertilizer and other chemical uses including gunpowder and fireworks.

The commencement of the export of nitrates to the Europe and the US in the 1830s marked the most important milestone in the history of the nitrate industry and brought consequences for the economies of the three countries sharing the Atacama Desert: Chile, Perú and Bolivia.

In 1873, the Peruvian Government established the Nitrate Trust (state monopoly), which was controlled from Tarapacá until the 1879–1883 "War of the Pacific".

This political event was based on the boom of new "Oficinas salitreras" ("Saltpeter works") of quarrying nitratine to extract nitrate.

The information regarding Saltpeter works on this page is compiled from the data supplied by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Country Files (GNS).