The National Mining Society (SONAMI), a labor union in northern Chile, Tuesday formally asked the government to curb crimes affecting mining operations. Last week over 1 million USD worth of gold was reportedly stolen from a mine in the country’s far north. SONAMI president Diego Hernández cited an atmosphere of fear and said “we demand urgent measures to give our workers confidence that they are working in a safe place.”

Mining has long been a major industry in Chile. According to the International Trade Administration, Chile produces 28 percent of the world’s copper and 23 percent of the world’s lithium, and Chile is the world’s top producer of iodine, rhenium, sodium and potassium nitrate. Mining accounts for 11 percent of Chile’s economy.

Think tank AthenaLab reported that “true mafias dedicated to the theft of copper” and other natural resources have recently emerged in Chile. Despite the increase, the Global Organized Crime Index ranks Chile 142nd out of 193 nations in non-renewable resource crime. According to World Bank data Chile has above-average life expectancy and below-average poverty rates, unemployment rates and intentional homicides when compared to Latin America as a whole.

The United States is heavily invested in Chilean mining; American companies supply more than 25 percent of all mining parts and equipment, and 28 percent of Chilean copper mines are owned by corporations based in Arizona and North Carolina.