(In Dec 23 story, corrects paragraph 3 to point out Los Bronces output in 2023 was 215,500 metric tons of , not 255,000 tons.)
By Fabian Cambero
SANTIAGO (Reuters) -Chile’s environmental regulator has filed 4 costs in opposition to the main Los Bronces copper mine, managed by Anglo American (JO:), for noncompliance with environmental permits, the company stated on Monday.
The fees may carry a high-quality of almost 17 billion pesos ($17.17 million), based on the Superintendency of the Atmosphere, or SMA.
Los Bronces is one among Chile’s greatest copper mines with output of 215,500 metric tons final 12 months, in addition to a key undertaking for Anglo American, which has been a takeover goal of bigger rival BHP.
Anglo American stated in an announcement that it was analyzing the accusations to find out its subsequent steps.
One of many costs was deemed “very severe,” the very best of three offense ranges, for noncompliance relationship again to a 2014 sanction.
On the time, the SMA discovered that Anglo American Sur, the native unit that operates Los Bronces, didn’t resolve acid drainage on the Esteriles Donoso tailings deposit, designed to carry mine waste.
“The corporate has not carried out a definitive resolution … it constitutes a repetition of acts beforehand sanctioned,” the SMA stated.
The tailings deposit will not be presently in use, Anglo American stated, stating that in October it submitted a request for an environmental allow to repair the difficulty.
The regulator additionally filed two costs within the mid-level “severe” class. One was in opposition to Anglo American for not designing a mitigation system for acid waters collected downstream of the Esteriles deposit, and one other for not taking measures to manage seepage in Las Tortolas tailings dam.
The miner stated it’s “working to optimize the hydraulic barrier authorised by the regulator to enhance seepage management.”
The SMA additionally discovered that Anglo American had not reported to the company full knowledge associated to water and tailings, a violation it categorized as “minor.”
The miner has 15 days to current a mitigation program, and 22 days to contest the fees.
The SMA earlier this month additionally filed three costs in opposition to Anglo American for violations at its El Soldado copper mine within the Valparaiso area.
($1 = 989.9000 Chilean pesos)
