Chile to sanction those responsible for ‘mysterious hole’ near mine

• Chilean officials have not released any information about the inquiry into the sinkhole’s causes.
• Media broadcast overhead photographs of the massive hole in a field near the Lundin Mining complex.
• The hole was initially approximately 25 meters (82 ft) broad, with water visible at the bottom.

The strange 36.5-meter-diameter (120-foot-diameter) hole that appeared in late July prompted local authorities to mobilize and prompted the mining regulator Sernageomin to cease activities at a neighboring mine operated by Canada’s Lundin in the northern region of Candelaria.

“We are going to go all the way with consequences, to sanction, not just fine,” mining minister Marcela Hernando said in a news release, adding that penalties are often minor and that the verdict must be “exemplary” to mining corporations.

Chilean officials have not released any information about the inquiry into the sinkhole’s causes.

Local and international media broadcast overhead photographs of the massive hole in a field near the Lundin Mining complex, around 665 kilometres (413 miles) north of Santiago. The hole, in Tierra Amarilla, was initially approximately 25 metres (82 ft) broad, with water visible at the bottom.

The Canadian corporation owns 80% of the site, while Japan’s Sumitomo Metal Mining Co Ltd and Sumitomo Corp possess the other 20%.

The minister also said that despite the fact that the country’s mining authority conducted an examination in the region in July, it was unable to discover “over-exploitation.”

“That also makes us think that we have to reformulate what our inspection processes are,” she said.

Lundin stated in a statement that the over-exploitation mentioned by the minister had been reported.
“We want to be emphatic that, to date, this hypothesis as reported by Sernageomin has not been determined as the direct cause of the sinkhole. The hydrogeological and mining studies will provide the answers we are looking for today,” Lundin said.

“Different events that could have caused the sinkhole are being investigated, including the abnormal rainfall recorded during the month of July, which is relevant,” added Lundin.

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