ANGLO’S SHARES SLIDE AFTER CHILE’S SEA GIVES LOS BRONCES PROJECT THE THUMBS DOWN

SHARES in Anglo American tumbled more than 8 percent in intraday trade after the mining firm said yesterday that the Environmental Assessment Service of Chile (SEA) recommended but rejected the permitting application for the Los Bronces Integrated Project (LBIP). Anglo American is engaged in an environmental assessment process for its LBIP in Chile, a process which began in 2019. LBIP is a mine life extension project which expands the current open pit within Los Bronces’ operating site and replaces future lower grade ore by accessing higher grade ore from a new underground section of the mine. Anglo American said it noted the recommendation published by the SEA, which had confirmed that LBIP satisfied all relevant environmental regulation, but based its adverse recommendation on an alleged lack of information during the evaluation process to fully remove any doubts about a potential risk to public health. “The SEA’s recommendation is despite the strong support for the project offered to date by 23 of the 25 technical services bodies and government ministries that form part of the assessment process,” it said, adding that one decision on the LBIP permit application by the SEA was expected within the next week. In the event of a negative decision from the SEA, the permitting process allowed for further review to evaluate the full range of merits of the project alongside the technical permitting considerations. | Philippa Larkin