An accident killed two Chileans on their first day at work at an illegal mine in the same northern region where 33 miners were rescued last month after 69 days underground.
The victims at Los Reyes mine were 24 and 40 years old, police said.
A third worker received an eye injury. Preliminary reports suggest the accident may have been caused by a premature dynamite blast.
The National Geology and Mining Service said the mine was illegal and unregistered.
Agency official Mariano Garrido said: “We did not know it existed.”