Chile files four environmental charges against Anglo American mine

SANTIAGO (Reuters) -Chile’s environmental regulator has filed four charges against the major Los Bronces mine, controlled by Anglo American (JO:), 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 255,000 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 did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

One charge 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 in a statement.

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 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)