Chile’s mining industry — a vanguard in climate change adaptation

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Production at Los Bronces, perched 3,500 meters high up in the Andes 65km north-east of Chile’s capital Santiago. Image: Anglo-American.Global Business Reports explores how, as the climate crisis deepens, Chile finds itself at a pivotal moment in its mining history.

Heavy rainfall is not uncommon in Chile, given the region’s exposure to the El Niño phenomenon, which disturbs normal weather patterns, leading to periods of intense precipitation in some areas and drought in others. Yet recent years have seen heightened effects of the changing climate. To operate in the future, climate change mitigation will not be a choice, but a necessity, said Carolina Páez, mining manager at WSP: “Rains and floods are going to happen with higher frequency and intensity. Visible effects of climate change are bringing the industry to agree with our vision; projects must be designed with the effects of a changing climate considered.”

Other mines are also exploring alternatives to mitigate water loss. Luis Arcos, mining leader and key account manager of BHP at Stantec, said: “One way is through minimizing the size of tailings deposits. At Spence , for example, tailings deposits were designed in cells, which reduces the amount of evaporation that will occur.”

Desalination has gained traction as a viable solution to counteract the water crisis, which will be explored in depth in the subsequent article.More frequent and severe extreme climate events increase the vulnerability of infrastructure and escalate annual maintenance costs. Systra-subterra developed Climateplus, a web-based solution to anticipate the evolution of long-term climate conditions according to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change scenarios and validated climate models.

 

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