Braden Copper Company

Infobox Defunct Company
company_name = Braden Copper Company
slogan =
type = Private
fate = Nationalized by Chilean government
foundation = 1904
defunct = 1967
location = New York City
industry = Mining
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 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 El Teniente Stadium. This stadium would be the 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.