Chile’s Mining Minister Marcela Hernando told reporters on Tuesday that those responsible for a huge sinkhole near a copper mine in the northern region of Candelaria will face harsh "penalties and not just a fine".
The country’s mining regulator carried out an inspection of the area in July. Despite authorities not providing great details concerning the cause of the sinkhole, the minister said that it didn’t detect “excessive mining”.
All mining operations in the Candelaria region have been suspended and local authorities are now investigating the cause of the sinkhole.
The Canadian company Lundin Mining Corp., which worked the region, also released a statement last week, saying that any over-exploitation that the minister referred to was duly reported.
“We would like to emphasize that, to date, this hypothesis as reported by National Service of Geology and Mining (Sernageomin) has not been identified as the direct cause of the sinkhole. Hydrogeological and mining studies will provide the answers we are looking for today,” said Lundin.
Several events that might have caused the sinkhole are under investigation, including unusual rainfall recorded in July.