(Alliance News) - Antofagasta PLC on Monday said that its Los Pelambres project in Chile has been placed on hold, amid environmental concerns.
The FTSE-100 listed copper miner said that in August severe sea swells overturned a construction platform that was working on the marine works of the Los Pelambres desalination plant project in Chile.
Antofagasta explained that whilst there has been no significant environmental impact or damage to the works and that some of the equipment and materials lost have been recovered, the swells have continued to imped further recovery work.
On Friday, the Chilean environmental authority SMA required Antofagasta to place marine works on hold until the clean-up of the remaining sunk equipment carrying fuel or lubricants no longer has an environmental impact. Antofagasta said that this is a precautionary measure.
The company said that the recovery of the lost equipment and materials is underway and is expected to be completed once weather conditions improve.
There has been no material impact to the expected completion date of the overall desalination plant project, it added.
"The site is being closely monitored for any potential environmental impact and teams are on standby to take action if required," Antofagasta said.
Shares in Antofagasta were up 1.3% to 1,211.50 pence each in London early morning.
By Sophie Rose; sophierose@alliancenews.com
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