SANTIAGO - Chile will seek to apply harsh sanctions to those responsible for a huge sinkhole near a copper mine in the country's north, the mining minister said on Monday.
The mysterious hole of 36.5 meters in diameter that emerged in late July has provoked the mobilization of local authorities and led the mining regulator to suspend operations of a nearby mine owned by Canada's Lundin in the northern district of Candelaria.
"We are going to go all the way with consequences, to sanction, not just fine," Mining Minister Marcela Hernando said in a press release, adding that fines tend to be insignificant and the ruling must be "exemplary" to mining companies.
