Aug 2, 2011: Images of the world's 10 largest excavations and natural chasms

A couple of gigantic Komatsu 930, 330-metric-tonnes lorries arrive with their load at the Chuquicamata copper mine, in the desert town of Calama, 1000 km north of Santiago, Chile. The mine is, by excavated volume, the biggest open pit copper mine in the world. The mine is 4.3 km long, 3 km wide and over 900 m deep, making it the second deepest open-pit mine in the world (after Bingham Canyon Mine in Utah, USA). The mine opened in 1882 and is now owned and operated by Codelco, a Chilean state enterprise.