Atacama Region in the context of "Coquimbo Region"

Antofagasta Province (Spanish: Provincia de Antofagasta) is one of three provinces in the northern Chilean region of Antofagasta (II). The capital is the port city of Antofagasta. Located within the Atacama Desert, it borders the El Loa and Tocopilla provinces to the north, the Pacific Ocean to the West and the Atacama Region to the south.

The Antofagasta Region (Spanish: Región de Antofagasta, pronounced [antofaˈɣasta]) is one of Chile's sixteen first-order administrative divisions. Being the second-largest region of Chile in area, it comprises three provinces, Antofagasta, El Loa and Tocopilla. It is bordered to the north by Tarapacá, by Atacama to the south, and to the east by Bolivia and Argentina. The region's capital is the port city of Antofagasta; another one of its important cities is Calama. The region's main economic activity is copper mining in its giant inland porphyry copper systems.

Antofagasta's climate is extremely arid, albeit somewhat milder near the coast. Nearly all of the region is devoid of vegetation, except close to the Loa River and at oases such as San Pedro de Atacama. Much of the inland is covered by salt flats, tephra and lava flows, and the coast exhibits prominent cliffs.

Since at least 2010 Chile's has each year produced 0.6% to 0.7% of all iron mined in the world. Production has risen from 6.8 million metric tonnes in 2010 to more than 10 million metric tonnes each year beginning 2021. As of 2023 about 15% of the value of Chilean iron exports comes from iron ore pellets and the remaining from bulk ore. The northern regions of Atacama and Coquimbo hosts all iron mining in Chile. Until 2014 Antofagasta Region was also active in iron mining. In the 2014–2023 period iron ore has stood each year for 0.9 to 2.6% of the total value of Chilean exports. Most iron ore mined in Chile is exported to China and far behind South Korea and Bahrain are important markets.

Mining of iron ore deposits along the Chilean Iron Belt have been facilitated by their proximity to the ports of export at the coast, and this had in particular had an impact for the economic viability of small iron ore deposits. Compañía Minera del Pacífico (CMP) is the largest iron mining company in Chile and is through its parent company Compañía de Acero del Pacífico (CAP) the sole iron-mining member of Consejo Minero. Compañia Minera del Pacífico has three main mines each with its own port for export. Near Copiapó the company owns Cerro Negro Norte mine which uses the port of Punta Totoralillo, further south the company is in ownership of Los Colorados mine which uses the port of Guacolda II, and near the city of La Serena El Romeral mine is operated using the port of Guayacán in Coquimbo.