Codelco is going to mine copper under the Chilean glacier

The Andean glacier in Chile is threatened not only by global warming, but by the expansion of a government-owned copper mine. The world's largest copper producer, state-owned Codelco, has proposed a $ 6.8 billion plan to expand the Andina mine, which experts consider highly controversial.

Now the fate of about 26 glaciers will be determined by environmental authorities, which must issue a permit for the expansion of the copper mine. These glaciers are the main source of drinking water for about 6 million people living in the capital of Santiago.

Activists who protested the expansion of the copper mine said that if this permit were obtained, the mining company would continue to destroy all glaciers in the region. More than 2,000 people came to the mine to stop the destruction of the glaciers, but this is unlikely to help stop Codelco from destroying these glaciers.

Codelco's plan is to remove rock from the surface in such a way as to reach a specific subterranean layer and recover copper ore. Opponents of the mining company said the mine expansion operations would generate large amounts of dust that would pollute more than 20 glaciers in the region. But Codelco announced that, based on research conducted by the company, government officials admitted that dust from the mine would not affect the cleanliness of nearby glaciers, much less distant glaciers.