This work presents the analysis of a fractured impeller used in slurry pumps at the Collahuasi copper mine in Chile. Although the impeller must run more than 1 800 h, it was fractured under working conditions before having reached 1 500 h, generating a catastrophic failure of the pumping system. The microstructure of the impeller material was analyzed by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and microhardness. The composition of the impeller material was studied by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy. It was found that the impeller material corresponds to cast iron with high content of chromium, typically called white cast iron, which usually exhibits high wear and corrosion resistance. After analyzing the overall failure, we conclude that the fracture was mainly produced by the existence of high-impact materials in the slurry pulp, which produced an imbalance of the impeller rotation.