Chile's Gabriela Mistral Mine Deploys Monitoring Wells to Enhance Tailings Environmental Surveillance

en.Wedoany.com Reported - Chile's Codelco, through its Gabriela Mistral Division (DGM), is strengthening its environmental monitoring system in the secondary leaching process, particularly in the tailings storage area, by deploying a network of observation wells. This network is used to analyze aquifer dynamics, ensuring that the solutions used in the process do not impact the environment outside the controlled area.

Carlos Astudillo, DGM's Head of Environment and Land, explained that the observation wells allow for monitoring the aquifer beneath the facility to detect any abnormal changes early. Staff conduct monthly monitoring, including water level measurements and chemical water quality analysis, and report the data to regulatory authorities to ensure operational transparency.

Ignacio Villarroel, a professional engineer in the dry operation area, emphasized the importance of this monitoring system. He noted that with this system, real-time data can confirm that soil or other areas outside the operational zone remain unaffected, thereby ensuring that operations are controlled and responsible, especially in challenging projects such as secondary leaching.

The information generated from the monitoring is regularly reported to national regulatory agencies to verify the environmental performance of the operations and ensure the long-term protection of natural resources.