Braden Copper Company

Braden Copper Company

File:Image from page 220 of "Chile today and tomorrow" (1922) (14766431451).jpg Sewell Camp at Night (image from Chile today and tomorrow)
Former type	Private
Industry	Mining
Fate	Nationalized by Chilean government
Founded	1904
Defunct	1967
Headquarters	New York City, New York, U.S.
Key people	Barton Sewell, William Braden
Products	Copper
Parent	Kennecott Corporation

Braden Copper Company was an American company that controlled the El Teniente copper mine in Chile until 1967 when its copper holdings were nationalized.

History

Braden Copper Company was founded in 1904 by Barton Sewell and William Braden, who in 1905 bought the Chilean copper mine. Barton Sewell never visited Chile and was limited to participating in the business as an upper executive at the companies central offices in New York.

After Barton Sewell died in 1915, the Guggenheim brothers began to open new copper deposits in the north of Chile. They finished by taking control of the Braden Copper Company so that by 1916, 95 percent of the Braden Copper Company's stock was in the hands of the Kennecott Corporation, the Guggenheim brothers firm.

In 1935, the Braden Copper Company signed the World Copper Agreement along with the rest of the world's principle mining companies. In 1945, the company constructed the Braden Copper Stadium in the city of Rancagua, now called Estadio El Teniente. This stadium would be seat of the 1962 FIFA World Cup.

In accordance with the Chilean nationalization of copper, by 1967 the Chilean government had acquired 51 percent of the stock in the Braden Copper Company. By 1971, the company was completely nationalized.

• Mineral de cobre El Teniente - Breve relato de su historia, desarrollo y organización.pdf

  Mineral de Cobre
  "El Teniento"

• El Teniente Pueblo Hundido.jpg

  El Teniente (before 1922)

See also

• Smoke tragedy