Authorities do not know the origin of the hole, 32 meters in diameter and 64 deep, which has grown in size since it was discovered last Saturday.
“This massive sinkhole is something that has not yet been seen in our community.” The nearly 13,000 residents of Tierra Amarilla, a municipality located about 800 kilometers north of Santiago de Chile, in the Atacama Desert, are concerned about the appearance of a hole near a copper mine. At the time of its discovery, it had a diameter of 25 meters. On Tuesday it already measured 32, with a depth of 64. Authorities are investigating whether the origin is the product of mining activities in the area.
It all started last Saturday. A neighbor saw the huge sinkhole in the Alcaparrosa de Candelaria mine, operated by Canadian company Lundin Mining, and warned. A safety perimeter of 100 meters was quickly established around the sinking.
The city’s mayor, Cristian Zúñiga, explained to local media that the population has always feared incidents caused by mining activities in the area. “We ask that it be possible to clarify why this event occurred, whether the collapse is the product of mining activity or is of some other nature,” he said.
According to a statement from the mining company, “there was no impact on personnel, equipment or infrastructure” and the sinkhole has remained stable since its discovery. As a preventive measure, “development work in an area of the Alcaparrosa underground mine has been temporarily suspended,” the company said, adding that no movement has been detected.
Chile’s National Geology and Mining Service (Sernageomin) has been working on the site of the sinkhole since the beginning of the week. The Andean country is the world’s largest producer of copper, responsible for more than 25% of the global supply.
Source: La Verdad
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