Samuel Lira

Samuel Lira Ovalle (19 July 1931 – 2 September 2019) was a Chilean lawyer, academic and political figure who specialised in mining law at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.

He served as Undersecretary of Mining between 1961 and 1964, and later as Minister of Mining during the military government of General Augusto Pinochet from 1982 to 1988. In that role, he was one of the principal architects of Chile’s modern mining legislation, particularly the 1983 Mining Code. He was also a member of the Legislative Commission of the governing military junta.

Until his final years, Lira remained an influential figure in the mining sector. He served as honorary councillor and later president of the Ethics Commission of the Sociedad Nacional de Minería (SONAMI).

Throughout his career he held several prominent public positions, including legal counsel of the National Mining Service (1959–1961), councillor of CORFO (1962–1963), and director of both the Copper Department and ENAP (1962–1964). He taught Mining Law at the Pontifical Catholic University for 56 years (1960–2016), continuing a long-standing family tradition: both his father and grandfather had taught the same subject at the faculty.