It is a windy business up there, 3,000 meters above sea level, in the Atacama Desert in the Andes in Chile. Digging for copper in the Radomiro Tomic mine of the state-owned mining company Coldeco is rough, rugged, and dangerous. Nearly every week, strong gusts of wind force 24/7 operations to a halt for an hour or two. Every day, clouds of dust or rock avalanches endanger the drivers of the giant trucks and excavators hauling thousands of tons of rocks out of the 3,500 meters long, 1,500 meters wide and 470 meters deep open pit mine. It is all worth it, for a daily copper yield of 800 tons.