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SANTIAGO (Reuters) – Chile’s environmental regulator SMA said on Tuesday it had taken a series of measures against a copper mine owned by Canada’s Lundin Mining Corp after a sinkhole opened near one of the company’s mines. company.
The SMA ordered six “urgent and transitory” measures while proceeding to investigate the causes that generated the 36. 5-meter (129-foot) diameter chasm in Tierra Amarilla, about 665 kilometers (413 miles) north of Santiago.
“After several inspection visits to the area, we detected that the overextraction of materials by the companies, which may have caused only an outcrop of water that was not sufficiently controlled,” said Environment Superintendent Emmanuel Ibarra.
Mines Minister Marcela Hernando said last week that the government will seek to impose harsh consequences on those responsible for the sinkhole, bringing to light the overexploitation of the nearby deposit.
The measures announced Tuesday include a follow-up of the soil stability matrix of grades at the water point, hydrogeochemical investigation of key groundwater compounds and reference elements, and a comparison of the existing drainage system.
The regulator also commissioned to determine if the volumes of water extracted through the Ojos del Salado mine have damaged nearby aquifers.
The Canadian corporation owns 80% of the property, while the remaining 20% is held by Japan’s Sumitomo Metal Mining and Sumitomo Corporation.
The company did not respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting through Fabián Andrés Cambero; Written through Carolina Pulice and Stephen Coates)