The judicial calendar complicates what comes next. On May 15, a Chilean environmental court annulled the favorable environmental permit granted to the C20+ project. The plaintiffs challenge several aspects of the assessment, notably the consequences of the marine facilities for local communities, the intake of seawater, and the discharge of brine, a particularly salt-concentrated residue from desalination.
Its extraction nevertheless requires large quantities of water, notably to crush the ores, separate the particles containing metal, and process the concentrates. Yet a large share of Chile’s deposits lies in the Atacama, where freshwater resources are extremely limited.
For a long time, the mining industry made extensive use of the aquifers and inland water resources of these regions. Water scarcity and environmental concerns are now pushing companies to seek other solutions.
The route crosses desert landscapes, mountainous areas, and terrain that is particularly difficult to access. Construction required earthworks, welding, and the installation of equipment in extreme climatic conditions.
The stakes extend beyond the site alone. Copper is an economic pillar for Chile, and its price has risen by nearly 60% in two years, to more than $14,200 per tonne.
The construction company Techint deployed a pipeline of nearly 200 kilometers — 194 kilometers for this section — with a diameter of about 1.10 meters. Unlike a conventional pipeline laid on relatively flat ground, it must cross several thousand meters of elevation change.
From the Chilean coast, the water crosses one of the driest territories on the planet before climbing into the Andes to the Ujina mine. Some facilities are located at around 4,600 meters, an altitude close to that of Mont Blanc. In northern Chile, the mining company Collahuasi is building a hydraulic system designed to desalinate water from the Pacific Ocean and convey it to its facilities in the Atacama Desert, located at more than 4,400 meters above sea level.
The pipeline component of the C20+ project, worth about $1 billion and launched in 2022, is intended, according to Reuters, to ensure the mine’s operational continuity for two decades. The entire system is valued at $3.5 billion. Named C20+, this project, estimated at $3.5 billion, is meant to allow one of the world’s largest copper deposits to continue operating for at least twenty more years, according to the Argentine media outlet Uno.