(This Dec. 23 story was corrected to correct Los Bronces production numbers in 2023 to 215,500 metric tons, not 255,000 tons, in paragraph 3)
By Fabian Cambero
SANTIAGO (Reuters) – Chile's environmental regulator has filed four lawsuits against the giant Los Bronces copper mine, controlled by Anglo American (JO:), for non-compliance with environmental permits, the agency said on Monday.
The charges could carry a fine of 17 billion pesos ($17.17 million), according to the Superintendency of the Environment, or SMA.
Los Bronces is one of Chile's largest copper mines with production of 215,500 metric tons last year, and a key project for Anglo American, which was aiming to take on rival giant BHP.
Anglo American said in a statement it was analyzing the allegations to determine next steps.
One of the charges was deemed “serious,” the highest level of felony, because of a 2014 non-compliance penalty.
At that time, the SMA discovered that Anglo American Sur, the local unit operating in Los Bronces, failed to solve the acid drainage in the Esteriles Donoso tailings deposit, which was designed to hold mine waste.
“The company has not yet implemented a definitive solution … it involves the repetition of previously authorized actions,” the SMA said.
The tailings deposit is currently inactive, Anglo American said, explaining that in October it submitted an application for an environmental permit to address the issue.
The director also filed two charges in the “serious” category. One was against Anglo American for not designing a system to reduce the acid water collected at the bottom of the Esteriles deposit, and for not taking measures to control the flow of water from the Las Tortolas tailings reservoir.
The miner said it is “working to expand the hydraulic barrier approved by the regulator to improve seepage control.”
The SMA also found that Anglo American did not report to the agency complete data related to water and tailings, a violation classified as “minor.”
The miner has 15 days to demonstrate the mitigation process, and 22 days to contest the payments.
SMA earlier this month also filed three charges against Anglo American for violations of the law at the El Soldado copper mine in the Valparaiso region.
($1 = 989.9000 Chilean pesos)