A representative for the Ministry of Energy and Mines said her department is working towards the responsible mining and management of the resource.

Russia can lay claim to the globe's largest undeveloped copper project and two island nations also make the top ten ranking.

Annual consolidated guidance dropped 6%.

The world's largest copper miner saw pre-tax earnings to September fall by 57% due to heavy rains, strikes and lower metal prices.

Exploration at the Lyra project was halted for security reasons.

Codelco planned to spend $20 billion to modernize its aging mines, but protests have undermined the state-owned miner's push.

Maricunga is less than 5% the size of the lithium-rich Salar de Atacama in northern Chile, but high-grade deposits of the battery metal makes it attractive to miners.