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Geotechnical News •March 2015
WASTE GEOTECHNICS
Mine closure in Chile – challenges and changes
Björn Weeks
Chile is one of the world’s most
important mining countries – leading
the world by far in copper production,
while being also the second largest
producer of gold, and home to nearly
a third of the world’s lithium reserves.
The economy of the nation rises and
falls with copper prices, and Chile
is home to dozens of international
mining companies, with large projects
owned in whole or in part by com-
panies such as Barrick, BHP, Teck,
Glencore, Kinross, Anglo American,
and many others. The coastal nation
hosts some of the largest mines in
the world, including the emblematic
copper mines of the state-owned
miner Codelco. These include mines
with over 100 years of continuous
operation, such as “El Teniente”, one
of the world’s largest underground
mines with over 2400 kilometers of
underground tunnels, and the massive
open pit mine “Chuquicamata”, which
boasts an open pit that is arguably the
largest excavation on the planet (with
plans well underway to extend the
mine with further underground exca-
vation below the pit).
In this context, it is perhaps surprising
how little practical experience there
is within the country in mine closure.
While there are hundreds of aban-
doned sites throughout Chile (some of
which present significant environmen-
tal and health & safety concerns), sites
that have been closed in accordance
with modern standards are few and
far between. This is likely to change
in the coming years, with many large
mines nearing the end of their produc-
tive life, combined with the rapid evo-
lution of the legal landscape for mine
closure, an evolution that has focused
on eliminating the generation of more
abandoned sites in the future.
This article provides a brief overview
of mine closure in Chile, including
some of the technical and social chal-
Photo 1. Uncontrolled and abandoned tailings, dried by evaporation and
coexisting with dwellings in the surrounding area.
