Calama, take two!

Well, what happened since we were stranded in Antofagasta?

We both had really bad stomach pains! It took a whole week and since today we've been off our bland diet! What can I say? This didn't only get on our stomach but also our nerves. Anyhow, where was I?

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Monday, 05. March 2018

Tobi drove to town today to talk directly with the guys from TNT. He's already sent an email to TNT in Switzerland and now he's planning on sit-down at TNT.

I'm sitting around reading a book.

The phone rings. "Está Tobias aquí?" No, Tobias is not available... The pidgeon has landed! Unbelievable! After exactly 8 days! 4 from Switzerland to Santiago, 1 day at customs and 3 days to get from Santiago to Antofagasta!

I quickly typed a WhatsApp to inform Tobi that the parts are here before the locals beat him up. He's more that happy...

The pidgeon brought us 2 diesel injector elements and an inlet manifold pressure sensor. Tobi goes right at it on the hotel parking lot.

Jippy, the Defender is running again and tomorrow off to Calama we go. The bearings for the rear shocks have already been waiting there for us for about a week.

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Tuesday, 06. March 2018

We're driving!!! Good riddance to you, Antofagasta!!!

Via Ruta 5 we take fastest way back to Calama.

Way back the border with Bolivia was in Antofagasta. Then there was a minor war about the saltpeter deposits in the desert and today it's all Chile. Ok, at the same time Argentina took the southern tip of the continent from Chile because of oil and gas. Well, you win some you loose some.
Anyhow, the whole desert between Antofagasta and Calama is sprinkled with ghost towns from that time and every square foot has been dug up.

Then we're lucky and see something special. The dump body of a mine truck. It's on its way to Antofagasta for repairs.

Such a dump body can load up to 350 metric tons of rock. And because the rocks are so dense it only lasts for about 6 months. Then they have to replace the bottom. After a year they are done for. A dump body like this costs about US$ 200,000.-

At late afternoon we arrive in Calama.

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Wednesday, 07. March 2018

We had a slow start. There's not much to do. Shortly before noon we drive to the Shell station which has a service area. However, the guy running it isn't around. At 01:00 p.m. our tour of Chuquicamata the biggest mine in the world starts.
The tour starts with a short trip to the abandoned town of Chuquicamata. It had to be abandoned in 2007 due to changes in labor safety laws. The more than 20,000 people, mineworkers and their families, had to be relocated to Calama.
There's not much to see. They want to preserve the town center as a national heritage and tourist attraction. The little hill on the left is all waste rock from the mine!

Those parts of the city which will not be safed will be covered with debris from the mine! Why tear it down if you can simply burry it?

Here's an old dredger. It's shovel can hold up to 15 metric tons of rock. The new models hold up to 110 metric tons per shovel allowing them to load a truck with 3 scoops...

Here's a slightly newer model.

And then they came, the mine trucks! 8m wide, 8m long and 7m in height! The truck alone weighs about 150 metric tons and can carry 350 metric tons of rock. These things are run in three shifts around the clock and use 4,500l of Diesel! There are 89 of them running here, 24/7 52 weeks a year...

And what for? To dig a really big hole!

Currently the hole is 5.3km long, 3.1km wide and 1.2km deep!!! The trucks take one hour to get from the bottom to the top. Ok, fully loaded they only do 12km/h up hill but they weigh 500 tons!

And only one out of five loads is bearing rock containing copper!!! What an effort. And how do you solve this problem? Since 2011 Chuquicamata has been working on going underground and will do so in 2019. Then a surface mine will become an underground mine. Naturally they're planning to set records also then. According to analysis the copper layer is another 800m thick and there may be even more below that.

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Thursday, 08. March 2018

Labor day, at least for us. We're at the Shell service station and want to change the clutch.

I had no clue how much work that is. In principle you either take off everything, exhaust, starter, gearbox and covers or you remove the engine block... We decided to go with option 1 as there's nothing here except a maintenance pit. Normally they only do oil changes here. I don't think that this joint has ever seen so many tools and they attract quite some attention...

With a pallet lift and pallets we try more or less successful to remove the gearbox in its original orientation. Well, it'll be interesting getting it back in again.

And then Tobi holds the clutch in his hands and he doesn't look happy. For some reason it has spots on one side from off centre pressure. But where does it come from?

He also noticed that the rod for the push slave cylinder of the clutch is completely wasted which shouldn't be.

Sebastian, the nice guy from Shell called a friend who's now trying to fix the rod so the clutch will work correctly again.

And so here we sit again, waiting for parts...

Tomorrow with a little luck we'll also try to change the bearings of the rear shocks. They are in the freezer right now to cool down so we can press them in more easily tomorrow. However, with what we don't know yet...