Chilean President Michelle Bachelet is focused on ensuring the future of one of the country's most lucrative businesses: copper.

Copper makes up 20 percent of government revenues and is responsible for about 60 percent of the country's exports, Bloomberg reported.

In order to protect this asset, Bachelet cleared $23.5 billion to be given to copper producer Codelco in order for them to revamp century-old mines, which are running out of profitable ore.

In addition, Bachelet has pledged to sell $4 billion of bonds for more funding for Codelco.

"The government is taking on a significant bet that will be important for Chile and its fiscal revenue," Santiago Gonzalez, a former mining minister and vice-rector of the Universidad Central in Santiago, told Bloomberg. "If Codelco doesn't make these investments, production will fall."

Chile is Latin America's wealthiest country, according to Bloomberg.

Between 2008 and 2010, there was a global commodities boom and copper prices more than quadrupled from Chinese demand.

They needed large amounts of copper for items ranging from power cables to pipes, which gave Codelco a boost.

But as the boom is cycling out, and the cost of Codelco's operations have increased over the past five years, the country faces a potential crisis.

"We have undeniable riches," Bachelet said at an annual dinner of Sonami, a 131-year mining lobby group, on Aug. 29 in Santiago. "It's a beautiful and challenging vocation, it is part of our identity, and it is also essential for our future."

The overhaul for Codelco's mines is already in place at Chuquicamata, which is the biggest open pit copper mine.

A 36-foot wide and 900-meter deep ventilation hole will be the world's largest, and with a $4.7 billion-a-year investment by Codelco, until 2018, the company aims to produce 2 million tons a year by 2023, Gerhard von Borries at Codelco told Bloomberg.

Fiscal revenue from the company fell 1.8 percent in the first half of the year to 438 billion pesos, or about $741 million, according to a July 30 budget report, Bloombert reported.

As a result, the Chilean government has reduced its economic growth forecast from 3.4 percent to 3.2 percent.

"These works are unparalleled, at least in the underground mining industry," von Borries said.

Without the investment, production would fall by 700,000 to 1 million metric tons per year.