Heavy Rain In Chile Makes Mining Waste Embankment Overflow Flooding Settlements

UNSPLASH/Omid roshan ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - Heavy rains that continue to pour Chile, cut off the country's territory and damage houses. Residents are facing concerns about the collapse of a tailing dam/limbah mining with heavy metal overflows into settlements.

The tailing dam belonging to copper miner Las Cenizas in Chile began to overflow due to heavy rains and placed water sources nearby, including the La Ligua river, at risk of "bad impact", Chile's environmental body said.

The tailing sediment was dragged through the river and hit several houses. This is very worrying for the community," said Victor Donoso, Mayor of Cabildo.

"Nobody likes to live with the tailing dam right behind them."

Chile is the largest copper producer in the world. The overflow of mining waste is feared to damage agricultural areas known as avocado producers in Cabilido.

Residents expressed concern they were meeting with government officials and mining company representatives, who were trying to rebuild the overflowing barriers last week.

I realized there were some mistakes in our management, Andres Monarde, operations manager Las Cenizas, told the residents. But let's take steps forward together.

Donoso said official complaints had been sent to environmental regulators to see the impact of overflowing water on agriculture, housing, and water sources.