Antofagasta pays $23 million for water rights

The cynic in me delights in this kind of news report.  It is all just about money! Principles, hurt feelings, even physical harm are assuaged by cash.  Noble principles of birth, morality, ethics, religion: all subject to the whim of cash.  Please comment to prove me wrong.  Here is the news report: 

Chilean miner Antofagasta has reached a settlement with local farmers regarding the el Mauro tailings dam at its Los Pelambres mine.

                                                    

Under the terms of the settlement, the claimants have agreed to withdraw their claims in respect of the validity of a sectoral permit issued in 2005 by the Chilean Water Authority (Direccion General de Aguas) for the construction of the Mauro tailings dam, as well as for other related claims.

As part of the settlement, Minera Los Pelambres will pay $23m to the claimants in order to buy an area of land adjacent to the Mauro tailings dam, and its associated water rights.

The settlement clears the way for Minera Los Pelambres to complete construction of the Mauro tailings dam, which the company said is 98% complete.

The Mauro tailings dam will replace the existing Quillayes tailings dam which is expected to reach capacity in early 2009, and allow Antofagasta to expand Minera Los Pelambres’ current ore processing capacity to 175,000 metric tons of ore a day in 2010 from the current daily rate of 140,000 tons.

The expansion will ramp up annual copper production to 430,000 tons from about 320,000 tons at present.

My office mate is from Chile.  He tells me that eighty percent of the water in Chile is owned by the mines and industry.  Also he tells me that the city of Antofagasta is terribly dry, that the mine intercepts the city’s water and now is offering to build a desalination plant to augment city water supplies.  Not a bad idea: last I was in Huntington Beach, CA, they were talking about putting in a desalination plant for city water.  Imagine: nuclear power running desalination plants for fresh water for cities, so that mines can expand!  And for only $23 million!