Massive mysterious sinkhole near Chilean copper mine under investigation

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Chilean authorities started investigating a mysterious sinkhole on Monday, that’s about 25 meters in diameter. It appeared over the weekend in a mining area in the north of the country.

Chilean media showed aerial images of the sinkhole on land operated by a Canadian Lundin Mining LUN.TO copper mine, about 665 kilometres north of the capital Santiago.

The National Service of Geology and Mining (Sernageomin) became aware of the sinkhole on July 30 and have sent specialist personnel to the area, the agency's director David Montenegro said in a statement.

The statement added there is a distance of nearly 200 meters to the bottom and that no materials have been detected there.

Tierra Amarilla Mayor Cristóbal Zúñiga Arancibia told local media the sinkhole is a consequence of the unconscious and unmeasured extractive activities that are carried out in the area.

Sernageomin reported the closure of areas from the entrance to the work site of Alcaparrosa mine, located near the sinkhole.

Lundin Mining did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Lundin Mining owns 80 per cent of the property and the rest is held by Japan's Sumitomo Corporation.