The
nationalization of the Chilean copper industry, commonly described as the
Chilenización del cobre or "Chileanization of
copper," was the progressive process by which the Chilean government acquired control of the major foreign-owned section of the Chilean
copper mining industry. It involved the three huge mines known as 'La Gran Mineria' and three smaller operations. The Chilean-owned smaller copper mines were not affected. The process started under the government of President
Carlos Ibáñez del Campo, and culminated during the government of President
Salvador Allende, who completed the
nationalization. This "act of sovereignty" was the espoused basis for a later international economic
boycott, which further isolated Chile from the world economy, worsening the state of political polarization that led to the
1973 Chilean coup d'état.