Determining the single biggest mine on Earth depends on the metric evaluated, whether by surface footprint, total material moved, or annual output value. Prominent contenders include the Chuquicamata copper mine in Chile, which is the world's largest open-pit copper mine by excavated volume, and the Grasberg mine in Indonesia, which ranks among the largest producers of both gold and copper globally. Other massive contenders include the Escondida mine in Chile and massive iron ore operations like the Pilbara region mines in Western Australia.