Escondida in Chile's Atacama Desert –which was to become the worlds most productive copper mine– is officially inaugurated.

Escondida is a large open-pit copper mine at 3,100 metres (10,200 ft) elevation in the Atacama Desert in Antofagasta Region, Chile. It has for decades been one of world's most productive copper mines and is the mine that leads in copper and gold production in Chile. In 2019 it was estimated that the mine and its ancillary industries contributed to 2.5% to Chile's GDP. The mine's produce is largely exported to China as ore concentrate that contained as of 2020 an estimate of 4% chalcopyrite, 35% chalcocite and 46% pyrite.

The Atacama Desert is a desert plateau located on the Pacific coast of South America, in the north of Chile. Stretching over a 1,600-kilometre-long (1,000-mile) strip of land west of the Andes Mountains, it covers an area of 105,000 km² (41,000 sq mi), which increases to 128,000 km² (49,000 sq mi) if the barren lower slopes of the Andes are included.

Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orange color. Copper is used as a conductor of heat and electricity, as a building material, and as a constituent of various metal alloys, such as sterling silver used in jewelry, cupronickel used to make marine hardware and coins, and constantan used in strain gauges and thermocouples for temperature measurement.

March 14 is the 73rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 292 days remain until the end of the year.