authorities of Chile warned that the area around a mine of copper where a crater suddenly appeared is at high risk of collapsing and has established a security perimeter.
Government agencies and the mine’s owners are studying what caused the mysterious hole measuring 36.5 meters in diameter to appear in late July.
The area is at high risk of further cracking or sinking near the Alcaparrosa mine, about 665 km north of the capital Santiago, determined on Saturday night (27) the Disaster Risk Management Committee for the region of Atacama in the north of the country.
“Considering that the aforementioned scenario represents a threat to the life and physical integrity of people, access to the said zone has been restricted until technical studies justify it,” the emergency office said on its website.
Canadian Lundin Mining Corp holds 80% of the ownership, while the remaining 20% is held by Japan’s Sumitomo Metal Mining and Sumitomo Corp.
While the government has accused the miner of being responsible for the phenomenon through overexploitation of the deposit, a senior executive at the company recently told Reuters that more studies are needed to determine its origin.
Operations at the mine remain suspended.
Both the government and the company said that so far no danger has been detected in the nearby town of Tierra Amarilla.
Source: CNN Brasil
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