Políticas sobre cierre de minas en América del Sur

The document examines the critical role of mine closure planning and financial guarantees to prevent abandoned mines and protect public interests. It highlights Chile and Peru as the only South American countries with comprehensive national legislation requiring financial assurances. While both align with international best practices regarding technical stability and financial transparency, the report notes a lack of emphasis on social transition and post-closure land use in both jurisdictions.

• Effective mine closure policies require early planning, continuous legal compliance, financial guarantees covering the entire mine life cycle, and clear conditions for relinquishing ownership or managing residual risks.
• Financial guarantees are essential to ensure funds are available for a third party to perform remediation if the mine owner is unable or unwilling to do so, preventing the government or population from inheriting these costs.
• Climate change must be integrated into mine closure design and financial provisions because it alters rainfall, temperature, and ecosystem dynamics, potentially increasing the risk of droughts or intense floods in post-closure landscapes.
• Chile and Peru are the only two countries in Latin America to establish comprehensive national legislation mandating financial guarantees for mine closure, both featuring transparent calculation methodologies and periodic plan updates.
• Chile's Law 20.551 requires mines extracting over 10,000 tonnes per month to provide financial guarantees, using a system of 'unidades de fomento' (UF) to protect funds against inflation.
• Peru was the first Latin American country to mandate financial guarantees for mine closure via Law 28090 (2003), employing a largely linear increase in guarantee amounts over the mine's life to reflect the degree of disturbance.
• Despite their advanced financial and technical frameworks, neither Chile nor Peru places sufficient legislative emphasis on the social aspects of mine closure or the specific use of land after mining activities cease.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (2021). Políticas sobre cierre de minas en América del Sur. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2021-01/igf-case-study-mine-closure-south-america-es.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. Políticas sobre cierre de minas en América del Sur. 2021. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2021-01/igf-case-study-mine-closure-south-america-es.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=Políticas sobre cierre de minas en América del Sur |date=2021 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2021-01/igf-case-study-mine-closure-south-america-es.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopment2021polticas, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{Políticas sobre cierre de minas en América del Sur}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2021}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2021-01/igf-case-study-mine-closure-south-america-es.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }