In a rarified victory for the environment , preservation , and penguin , the Chilean politics has pull the plug on a hugely controversial mining mega - project that was set to cause havoc with the sphere ’s habitat and wildlife , especially its much - get it on Humboldt penguins .
The Dominga Project is a proposed $ 2.5 billion copper and iron ore capable excavation task that the Chilean minelaying company Andes Iron skip to construct in the Coquimbo neighborhood of key Chile . Due to its size , the undertaking would also affect the mental synthesis of a new sea larboard along with other huge infrastructure changes to the area .
Once up and run , it would have the potential drop to get 12 million MT of iron ore and 150,000 tonnes of copper each year , according toMINING.com .
However , after on-going controversy and insufficient grounds of environmental warrant , richly - ranking political official from Chile ’s Ministers ' Committee have rejected the plan following a prolong rating period , BBC NewsandReutersreport . Although , the report note it will be potential for Andes Iron to attract the decision .
environmentalist rail against the project due to its proximity to theHumboldt Penguin Reserve , located a scant distance off the coast of mainland Coquimbo . This nature reserve is a hugely of import fosterage situation for the Humboldt penguin , a metal money of seabird only bump on the coast of Chile and Peru that isvulnerable to defunctness .
This reserve is also well - roll in the hay for its bottlenose dolphinfish , ocean turtle , humpback whales , sperm whales , sea Leo the Lion , millstone , and many coinage of Pisces .
“ Today we have go a historic Clarence Day ! ” Oceana Chile , a marine conservation NGO who crusade against the labor , say ina Facebook position . “The Committee of Ministers decided to reject the mining - Port project Dominga due to a lack of information and shortcomings in extenuate and repairing impairment to the environment . ”
“ Let us proceed to alarm and bear the community in the country . This is a victory for all people ! ”
In terms of its geology , Chile is sitting on a gold mine , or at least a copper color mine . In 2013 , aUnited States Geological Survey reportsaid it was “ the world ’s pass manufacturer of copper , accounting for 31.8 percent of world mine production ; I , 63.2 percent ; atomic number 75 , 50.9 percent ; and atomic number 3 , about 38.6 percent . ” However , all this comes at a cost and the South American body politic has recently been demonstrate more circumspection when it comes to environmental fear .
While worries about the surround were the final nail in the coffin , for now , the Dominga excavation project has also been wrap up in all kinds of difficulty due to numerous politician ’s business necktie to the project .
Regardless , the future of the Humboldt penguin and Chile ’s other coastal wildlife now seems a petty second bright .
