Chile files environmental charges against Anglo American copper mine

(This Dec. 23 story has been corrected to fix the Los Bronces output figures in 2023 to 215,500 metric tons of copper, not 255,000 tons, in paragraph 3)

By Fabian Cambero

SANTIAGO (Reuters) – Chile’s environmental regulator has filed four charges against the major Los Bronces copper mine, controlled by Anglo American (JO:AGLJ), for noncompliance with environmental permits, the agency said on Monday.

The charges could carry a fine of nearly 17 billion pesos ($17.17 million), according to the Superintendency of the Environment, or SMA.

Los Bronces is one of Chile’s biggest copper mines with output of 215,500 metric tons last year, as well as a key project for Anglo American, which has been a takeover target of larger rival BHP.

Anglo American said in a statement that it was analyzing the accusations to determine its next steps.

One of the charges was deemed “very serious,” the highest of three offense levels, for noncompliance dating back to a 2014 sanction.

At the time, the SMA found that Anglo American Sur, the local unit that operates Los Bronces, failed to resolve acid drainage at the Esteriles Donoso tailings deposit, designed to hold mine waste.

“The company has not implemented a definitive solution … it constitutes a repetition of acts previously sanctioned,” the SMA said.

The tailings deposit is not currently in use, Anglo American said, stating that in October it submitted a request for an environmental permit to fix the issue.

The regulator also filed two charges in the mid-level “serious” category. One was against Anglo American for not designing a mitigation system for acid waters collected downstream of the Esteriles deposit, and another for not taking measures to control seepage in Las Tortolas tailings dam.

The miner said it is “working to optimize the hydraulic barrier approved by the regulator to improve seepage control.”

The SMA also found that Anglo American had not reported to the agency complete data related to water and tailings, a violation it categorized as “minor.”

The miner has 15 days to present a mitigation program, and 22 days to contest the charges.

The SMA earlier this month also filed three charges against Anglo American for violations at its El Soldado copper mine in the Valparaiso region.

($1 = 989.9000 Chilean pesos)