Dominga is a

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

and

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

ore Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically including metals, concentrated above background levels, and that is economically viable to mine and process. The grade of ore refers to the concentration ...

prospect and mine project located in northern

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

. The ores of Dominga are found in volcanic and

plutonic Intrusive rock is formed when magma penetrates existing rock, crystallizes, and solidifies underground to form ''intrusions'', such as batholiths, dikes, sills, laccoliths, and volcanic necks.Intrusive RocksIntrusive rocks accessdate: Marc ...

rocks of the Punta del Cobre Formation and the "Dioritic Complex," respectively. The controversial nature of the Dominga mine project stems from an alleged

conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple wikt:interest#Noun, interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates t ...

involving former president

Sebastián Piñera Miguel Juan Sebastián Piñera Echenique (; 1 December 1949 – 6 February 2024) was a Chilean businessman and politician who served as President of Chile from 2010 to 2014 and again from 2018 to 2022. The son of a Christian Democratic Party (C ...

and

Carlos Alberto Délano Carlos may refer to: Places ;Canada * Carlos, Alberta, a locality ;United States * Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County * Carlos, Minnesota, a small city * Carlos, West Virginia ;Elsewhere ...

, a Chilean magnate and friend of Piñera. The purchase agreement for Dominga included a provision stating that the final payment would only be made if no new environmental protection area was established near the mine. This clause created a conflict of interest for Piñera. The details of this agreement were only made public with the release of the

Pandora Papers The Pandora Papers are 11.9 million leaked documents with 2.9 terabytes of data that the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) published beginning on 3 October 2021. The leak exposed the secret offshore accounts of 35 ...

in 2021. Furthermore, the project has faced criticism on environmental grounds due to concerns that it poses a threat to the nearby Pingüino de Humboldt National Reserve.

References

Geology of Coquimbo Region Mines in Coquimbo Region Mining projects in Chile Copper mines in Chile Iron ore mines in Chile Iron ore deposits Surface mines in Chile {{Coquimbo-geo-stub

See also

References