A Chilean court said it was suing mines operated by BHP Billiton, Antofagasta and Albermar, accusing the mining giants of environmental damage caused by their operations at the Atacama salt flats in northern Chile.
Chile's National Defence Council (CDE) filed a legal complaint with the Environmental Court because the rate at which the Monturaqui-Negrillar-Tilopozo aquifer, an important source of groundwater, is being exploited is affecting the fragile ecosystem.
Chile is the world's largest copper producer and a major producer of lithium, which is used in batteries for electric cars.
Chile's First Environmental Court said increased mining had caused serious, permanent and irreparable damage to aquifers, Tilopozo plains, fauna and the living systems and customs of indigenous Peine communities. The extraction of water by sued mining companies causes predictable damage because the companies know the maximum possible decline limit of the aquifer.
Antofagasta's Zaldivar mine said Friday that it was drawing water at the scale permitted in its permit, adding that there was no evidence of environmental damage.
BHP billiton, which controls escondida, the largest copper mine in the eastern world, said it was fully confident it had acted in accordance with its obligations and that technical studies had shown no deterioration in the Tilopozo aquifer.
Since taking office in March, Chile's leftist president Gabriel Boric has made environmental protection, including water conservation, a priority of his government. In March The SMA, Chile's environmental watchdog, fined Escondida for extracting more water than allowed since 2005. Last month the SMA filed a complaint against Albemarle for alleged violations in the Salt Lakes area.
Water usage in the Atacama region has become a major regulatory issue for lithium miners, which use salt water to extract lithium. Chile is the world's second largest producer of battery metals.
