Technological and business lock-in in the Chilean small and medium scale mining

Abstract

Chile has become a world leader in copper production due to its exploitation of large mining operations and small and medium producers. Substantial differences in production levels have generated the following divisions: a) Big Mining, b) Medium Mining, and c) Small Mining. The (b) and (c) sectors have operated with many difficulties, requiring state support to survive. This essay postulates the existence of a technological and business lock-in due to industry and State paradigmatic behavior. For this reason, the policy decisions that guide the industry have been oriented by a supposedly universally accepted perspective, in which the standard production is copper cathodes. This situation prevents small producers from accessing technologies and markets different from Copper Mining. This essay tries to identify the prevailing paradigms and proposes ways of linkage and generation of networks between the entrepreneurs of the mining territories and various social and commercial entities at national and international levels. Considering their vision of the local territory, it is expected to generate development opportunities according to their context.