Santiago 2023 and Chilean mining company Antofagasta Minerals have unveiled the gold, silver and bronze medals at a special ceremony held in the middle of the desert, just 80 kilometres from Calama in northern Chile.

It will be the second time the medals of the Pan American Games will include Chilean copper, with a percentage used in the bronze medals at Toronto 2015.

The centre of the Santiago 2023 medals is made entirely of the material thanks to the work of Chilean company Milled.

They also feature an oxidative process that produces the green tones in the medals for the Pan American Games and the blue tones for the Parapan American Games medals.

Weighing 280 grams, each medal has a diameter of 10 centimetres and a thickness of eight millimetres.

"The medals are precious, but the most important thing is that all the athletes who get on the podium and receive this award will take a piece of this land and of Chile to their countries which is the Chilean copper, the main natural resource of our country," said Panam Sports President Neven Ilic.

"I thank Antofagasta Minerals and its workers for the great job they have done."

Ilic attended the ceremony at the Centinela Mine in Sierra Gorda along with Chilean Sports Minister Jaime Pizarro, Antofagasta Governor Ricardo Diaz, Chilean Olympic Committee President Miguel Angel Mujica, Santiago 2023 executive director Harold Mayne-Nicholls and Antofagasta Minerals President Ivan Arriagada as well as several workers at the mine.

"This was truly a very important milestone for us," said Pizarro.

"The medals symbolically reflect the achievement of objectives, achieving very good results, in some cases records, but it is also very important that it reflects our identity and what Chile is as well as the value of copper.

"I believe that being in this region and in the desert is very valuable to us."

Chila is the world’s largest copper producer.

"We are very happy to receive everyone here at Centinela where the copper is produced, a metal that is now at the heart of the Games," added Arriagada.

"These medals are the product of the effort and commitment of thousands of Chilean miners and workers and that fills us with great pride."

A total of 2,986 medals including 947 golds, 947 silvers and 1,092 bronzes are set to be awarded across the two Games.

Santiago is set to hold the Pan American Games from October 20 to November 5, followed by the Parapan American Games from November 17 to 26.