David Averre Daily Mail Tue, 02 Aug 2022 11:35 UTC
Chilean media released aerial images of the strange phenomenon which took place on land operated by a Canadian Lundin Mining copper mine, about 413 miles north of the capital Santiago
An enormous sinkhole linked to a copper mine in northern Chile which materialised this weekend has been captured in stunning new images.
The 82-foot-wide hole mysteriously appeared on Saturday in the commune of Tierra Amarilla in the Atacama Region, close to the giant Alcaparrosa mine, and is thought to be more than 650ft deep.
Chilean media released aerial images of the strange phenomenon which took place on land operated by a Canadian Lundin Mining copper mine, about 413 miles north of the capital Santiago.
Local mayor Cristobal Zuniga on Sunday confirmed the presence of the sinkhole, which is located right on the outskirts of the town, and spoke of the fear held by nearby residents that excessive mining in the area could have catastrophic consequences.
'Yesterday [Saturday, 30th July] we received a citizen complaint regarding a sinkhole that occurred here in our community near the Alcaparrosa mine.
'We are concerned, since it is a fear that we have always had as a community, the fact we are surrounded by mining deposits and subterranean works under our community.'
There is no official confirmation yet that the sinkhole was caused by activities related to mining, but local officials say the hole is still growing.
'There is a considerable distance, approximately 200 meters, to the bottom,' a Chilean official said.
Mayor Zuniga said: 'It is still active, it is still growing and it is something that has not previously been seen in our community.'
Atacama Region official Gerardo Tapia ordered the National Geology and Mining Service, known as Sernageomin, to establish why the sinkhole appeared.
Sernageomin's director David Montenegro later confirmed the organisation had sent specialist personnel to the area to conduct analyses.
'There is a considerable distance, approximately 200 meters, to the bottom,' Montenegro said. 'We haven't detected any material down there, but we have seen the presence of a lot of water.'
No injuries have been reported and officials continue to monitor the area, though locals are concerned that the hole, which appeared out of nowhere, is continuing to grow.
The Lundin Mining Corporation, majority owners of the mine where the sinkhole appeared, confirmed the phenomenon was detected on Saturday and said it had suspended work in the area pending Sernageomin's tests.
The corporation said in a statement: 'Upon detection, the area was immediately isolated and the relevant regulatory authorities notified.
'There has been no impact to personnel, equipment or infrastructure.
'The surficial sinkhole has remained stable since detection. Minera Ojos del Salado is conducting a technical analysis and gathering information to determine the cause of the event.'
Lundin Mining owns 80 per cent of the property and the rest is held by Japan's Sumitomo Corporation.
Where does the internal material earth soil go? If it's 200m deep, then the soil that used to fill that hole shaft is also 200m slid down the hole ? Must sinkholes really be twice as deep, getting weak to collapse, for the phenomenon to happen?
Winternights3 I don't know, with all the earthquakes and the Earths rotation speeding up I wouldn't be surprised to see more of these in the near future. I will admit the perfect circle is odd, but it's also the shape volcano's form so maybe not as odd as it appears.
John Walker There are genuine geological circumstances that can result in the development of holes, as in methane release from permafrost and yes the movement of subterranean water can result in sinkage and holes.
These holes are everywhere, they don't get a lot of media coverage, deliberately so.
These types of holes do not demonstrate any surface activity, they are clean cut and more importantly appear over night, l cannot remember a report of any in the making.
Earthquake activity would fracture the integrity of the ground and this would not result in a clean appearance.
An open mind is needed and every hole taken on its own merits, but many of these holes defy logic.
Ethan It fell into the mine, and it sounds like the mining operation has been compromised by flowing water underground. You could accurately call this an industrial accident.
Winternights3 More saying nothing. I've just searched your posts, since you seemed so proud of what you post here, and found nothing but your opinions and acerbic comments. On this one you're dead wrong.
As an expert in soil mechanics, I know the mechanisms of soil arching, as it relates to Mohr circles, principle stresses, rotation of stresses, active and passive conditions, all related to Karl Terzaghi's theories of effective stress, and specifically you can refer to Prof Emeritus Richard Handy, PhD, PE, Iowa State University, and his award winning article from the Journal of Geotechnical Enginering, ASCE, titled, "The Arch in Soil Arching". It's really difficult to understand even for those with proper training, and also very widely cited and used in modern geo-structural analysis, which is my gig as a private consultant, self-employed (very successfully, I might add) for over 20 years. The earth does, indeed rupture in perfect(ish) circles, and logarithmic spirals, and all sorts of other mathematically elegant curves, and it does so for very specific geomechanical reasons. Shove that up your telescope, idiot.
Winternights3 You're right. I do have a problem. It's mid-wits like you who think they know things and ruin the conversation for everyone. Loser.
And you have responded to each of my posts, so you could say you also have nothing worth doing, right? Self-reflection. Try it. You might improve your pathetic lot.
Ethan Consider the forces that would be needed to cut through rock and create a almost perfect circle and dispose of the waste whilst maintaining the integrity of the ground above.
Note the way the rock has been harvested and no other damage has been done, there all the same regardless of terrain, almost impossible for today's technology to try achieve.
Winternights3 The weight of the earth above the cavity (mine) is a tremendous amount of potential energy. And depending on the structure of the soil, this doesn't seem that outrageous. If it were limestone on the other hand...
Artex In isolation one could debate the possible causation of the collapse due to lack of underpinning from mining but this is NOT an isolated incident and the appears of these holes globally are the same, different terrain and no known mining involved in many cases.
The other aspect is there sudden appears, overnight? In many cases with no known geological activity registered at the time locally.
There often brushed aside with the authorities stating that burst water mains or collapsed sewers being to blame for there rapid development, but many happen out in the wilderness.
I have not drawn a satisfactory conclusion as to there manufacture, but the sudden escalation in such events has to have reason.
A bore hole, looking for...(insert whatever here....)...from alien ship (or domestic new technology...) to test for mining as they've done in the past enslaving us I believe.
Heaven and hell are eternal places because they are always present at the extremes of human existence, for better or for worse. People are constantly choosing between them, although they are generally not conscious of that in an articulated manner.
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Yawn. Old info again rehashed, rewritten and represented. Nothing to see here.
Anyway hmm.