In the heart of the dusty Huasco Valley in northern Chile's Atacama region lies the town of Alto de Carmen, with a population of just over 4,000. It is a rural area at the foot of the Andes Mountains, far from the capital, Santiago, the political center of Chile. But on February 19, 2024, this was the site of a major victory against a Canadian mining company.
Local activists from the community organization Assemblea Por El Agua del Guasco Alto have successfully fought Barrick Gold, a mining company with assets valued at $45.81 billion and operations on five continents.this organization gathered below slogan“Los Glaciares and Las Lagunas No Se Tocan” (“Do not touch glaciers and lakes”), referring to the source of the river. Rio del TransitoWater, essential to life in this arid region, flows through the town and could be diverted to supply mining projects.use open letter, citizen forum, public statement and demonstration, these activists asked Chile's Environmental Assessment Authority (SEA) to allow Barrick and its Chilean partner Antofagasta Minerals to drill 80 test pits in the valley. Pressured to cancel the evaluation of the project. Adding to the urgency of the activists' mission is the uncertainty that looms over Barrick's plans for continued expansion. The mining giant says it aims to „double copper production by 2031.“
![Activists from Asamblea por el Agua del Guasco Alto in front of the Ambiental Court in Santiago.](https://sotp.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Chilean-activists-650x365.png)
Speaking on behalf of the entire city of Alto de Carmen in January, Mayor Cristian Olivares said: I got it. Barrick's preliminary research said that in addition to causing air pollution, it was already impacting „indigenous communities, transhuman nomads, and smallholder farmers.“ In the end, SEA canceled the project due to insufficient information (information that Mr. Barrick should have provided but did not provide) about the proposed project's impact on local flora and fauna.
This is not the first time a major Canadian company has faced problems over the environmental impact of its Chilean operations.Varrick was in the back. The controversial Pascua Lama The gold and copper mining project, about 100 kilometers southeast of Alto del Carmen, was partially shut down by Chilean environmental regulators in 2017 and completely shut down in 2020 after the company exhausted its appeals. It was done. The company was also ordered to pay a fine of approximately US$6.72 million The Pascua Rama project damaged nearby glaciers and contaminated local groundwater.
These negative impacts of mining in mountainous areas are widely recognized.As a glacier geologist julie brigham goulette „Glacial systems, including ice beneath alpine glaciers and rock glaciers, are important sources of water for subsistence and agriculture in the valleys below,“ the University of Massachusetts Amherst professor said in an interview with GlacierHub. Mining typically results in contaminated water and can accelerate glacier retreat.”
Following the SEA's decision to halt the evaluation of Barrick's new project in the Huasco Valley, activists released the following document: statement He called the agency's decision „an important precedent“ and said the project would „destroy the water source of this historically agricultural valley.“
geographer Fernanda Rojas A professor at the Pontificia Católica de Valparaíso University agreed. “While this definitely sets a precedent for other types of activism, it is important to note that this (environmental assessment) procedure does not always work,” she told GlacierHub. “Authorities often visit indigenous settlements to explain, but they don't try to explain clearly or really listen to what the community has to say.”
Still, local landscape-based activities are a source of pressure on government agencies such as the SEA to carefully consider what information is missing when assessing the environmental impacts of extractivist projects. still important. “Often, there is no one else who cares about these issues, and it is because of their connection to these landscapes that they are able to speak for them,” Rojas said. Told. „They may or may not support the new constitution, but at the end of the day they will be responding to what is happening to them.“
The constitution Rojas referred to was proposed in the wake of a referendum in October 2019 following riots that spread across the country. At the time, millions of people took to the streets to protest neoliberalism, social inequality, environmental degradation, and the regressive constitution that was in place. 1980 under the right-wing military regime of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990).voters overwhelmingly supported A new constitution was drafted in October 2020.this constitution Articles included Protect watersheds and aquifers by banning mining on glaciers that are shrinking at an alarming rate. However, in September 2022, it rejected the progressive constitution drawn up by the National Constituent Assembly. The bill's defeat was a blow to activists who supported the environmental laws it contained and who, in many cases, had worked since 2005 to enact protections for Chile's glaciers.
However, despite the many challenges Chile faces, climate change challenges Across northern Chile, new environmental legislation appears to be at a standstill, but environmental activist groups like Assemblea por el Agua del Guasco Alto are bigger movement Protect water and access to water. Additionally, their tactics of pursuing legal challenges and putting pressure on state regulators have proven effective.
Environmental activists and indigenous rights groups recently joined forces with the Council of Defense (CDE) to force mining company Minera Escondida to compensate local communities for the precious groundwater extracted from around the Punta Negra salt flats. . lithium mining. Elsewhere, activists halted construction. Trancadam, it would have harmed local wildlife and deprived communities of access to water. And as lithium mining moves south from the Antofagasta region to the Atacama region, where Huasco Valley is located, indigenous activists at the Observatory de Salares Andinos (OPSAL) remain. I decided to stop it.
Local opposition to lithium mining will become increasingly important when it comes to protecting Chile's fragile ecosystem. Extracting lithium requires evaporating large amounts of groundwater from beneath some of Chile's driest environments. Large-scale mining has reshaped northern Chile for two centuries, and lithium has been touted as: future resources It's the unusual combination of a Global North mining company and a climate change activist pushing for an energy transition away from fossil fuels.
still dominated by copper Almost 10% of Chile's GDPBut lithium is essential for manufacturing the batteries that power electric cars, and Chile is the world's second-largest lithium producer. The announcement was made by Chilean President Gabriel Boric. Chile's lithium deposits to be nationalized In April 2023, some politicians will asked for a pause Efforts are underway to expand production, but lithium extraction is still likely to increase.
In this context, putting pressure on national institutions to take a closer look at the potential damage that mineral extraction can have on both local communities and the ecosystems on which they depend is important for Chile's glaciers and watersheds. , an important tactic for activists concerned about the future of aquifers. And as new environmental legislation remains uncertain, local groups like Asamblea por el Agua del Guasco Alto, which seek to protect glaciers and other water sources, are warning against destructive mining in this vital area. It has become an increasingly powerful force in restraint.
Eric H. Thomas is an environmental anthropologist at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Since 2015, he has conducted extensive research in the Aysén region of southern Chile, where his research focuses on the relationship between the aquaculture industry and coastal communities.