Chile regulator charges Anglo American mine over environmental violations
SANTIAGO - Chile's environmental regulator has filed three charges against miner Anglo American's local unit over alleged violations at its El Soldado copper mine in the Valparaiso region.
The Superintendency of the Environment (SMA) labeled the charges as "serious", the second of three levels of offenses, and said Anglo American Sur, the local arm of Anglo American, faced the possible revocation of its environmental permit, closure or a fine of more than 12-billion pesos ($12.40-million) if it did not address the issues.
Anglo American told Reuters that it has been working on issues related to SMA's findings and has informed the agency about its efforts. It added that it has requested a meeting with environmental officials to determine how to proceed.
"We are committed to working continuously with the authority to comply with all our environmental commitments," the company said in a statement Monday.
El Soldado is the smallest copper mine controlled by Anglo American in Chile, with 35 700 metric tons produced this year between January and September.
According to the SMA, El Soldado has water issues due to a drainage system that is not completely built, and Anglo American did not inform the agency about related problems or develop a maintenance plan.
The SMA also found that Anglo American failed to properly mark and monitor a local population of 3,867 frogs from the "Sapo rulo" species, native to Chile, that are classified as "vulnerable".
The site was audited by officials from the SMA, as well as Chile's water, geology and fishing agencies.
"As a result ... the Superintendency was able to verify several violations of the project's environmental qualification resolution," the SMA said in a statement.
Anglo American has 15 days to submit a compliance plan, and 22 days to present a defense.
Comments
Research Reports
Latest Multimedia
Showroom
Education: Consulting with member companies to obtain the optimal benefits from their B-BBEE spending, skills resources as well as B-BBEE points
VISIT SHOWROOM
In 1958 John Deere Construction made its first introduction to the industry with their model 64 bulldozer.
VISIT SHOWROOM
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
