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The territory known nowadays as the Coquimbo Region underwent a complex and protracted process of productive stagnation and social decline, lasting from the late 1870s to the third quarter of the XXth Century. This process, originated in copper mining, was related to the changes in the international metal’s market. Afterwards, the trend was reinforced by the international instability produced by World War I and its aftermath, the crash of 1929 and lastly by the aftermath of the World War II. Such factors led to the collapse of traditional copper mining and plunged the region into a prolongued economic and social crisis, which is analyzed in this article.