The word “caliche” derives from the Quechua dialect, which initially called this mineral “cachi”, and it means “salt”. The term first derived from “calchi”, until it became “caliche”, as it is known today. The caliche ore of Northern Chile contains the largest known deposits of nitrate and iodine in the world and is the world’s only commercially exploited source of natural nitrate. From our caliche ore deposits, we produce a wide range of nitrate-based products used for specialty plant nutrients and industrial applications, as well as iodine and iodine derivatives. Caliche ore is found under an infertile overburden layer, ranging in thickness from twenty centimeters to five meters.