Chile Fines Antofagasta Minerals $775,000 for Water Management Failures
Chile's SMA fined Antofagasta Minerals $775,000 for water management failures at its Centinela mine, citing inadequate monitoring and record-keeping.
Insights:
Chile's environmental regulator, the Superintendencia del Medio Ambiente (SMA), has imposed a $775,000 fine on Antofagasta Minerals for failing to comply with water management regulations at the Centinela copper mine. The fine, announced on January 23, 2026, concludes a regulatory enforcement action stemming from inspections conducted between 2019 and 2020.
The SMA identified several compliance failures at the Centinela mine, which is part of the operations of Antofagasta plc . These included inadequate tracking of water resources and insufficient monitoring of exploration wells and water flow measurements. Specifically, the company did not maintain proper records for exploration well LE-1 and failed to measure water flow at La Cascada spring as frequently as required by its environmental permits.
