Anglo American PLC said on Tuesday a Chilean regulator has formally rejected its environmental assessment for its expansion project at the Los Bronces mine.

The Environmental Assessment Service of Chile issued a formal decision to reject the environmental permit application for Anglo’s Los Bronces Integrated Project.

The decision follows last Monday’s announcement from the miner, noting the regulator had recommended the application be rejected.

‘Anglo American is examining the details of the [decision] and expects to continue following the regulated permitting process in Chile, which includes the potential to request a review by a minister’s committee to evaluate the full breadth of merits of the project,’ the miner said.

The project is an expansion of the open pit within the operating site of the Los Bronces copper mine in central Chile. It is targeting higher grade ore from a new underground section of the mine.

The SEA’s recommendation against the project stemmed from its view that insufficient information had been provided to evaluate whether the project would be a risk to public health, Anglo noted last week.

The miner at that time had stressed the process ‘allows for further review’ if the application were to be rejected.

‘Anglo American will continue to work with SEA and the other appropriate regulatory authorities to make available any additional information or clarity that may be required in order to provide further reassurance of the positive impact of this project,’ the company said on Tuesday.

Shares in Anglo were up 0.2% to 3,594.50 pence each in London on Tuesday, and up 1.4% to R 723.38 each in Johannesburg.

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