Penguins put $2.5 billion mining project in Chile on ice

[Judi Lynn]

Ministers veto the plans because they ‘would damage the ecosystem where the protected seabirds live’

Jeff Farrell 5 hours ago



A group of Humboldt penguins stand on the rocks at Damas Island in the Coquimbo Region where the firm wants to mine for copper and ore AFP/Getty Images

A waddle of penguins has stopped a $2.5bn (£1.9bn) mining project in Chile.

The creatures, which have been protected since 1990, live in the National Humboldt Penguin Reserve, in the Coquimbo Region, almost 300 miles north of the capital, Santiago.

Andes Iron had planned to build a mine and a port near the site, where it planned to churn out up to 12 million tonnes of copper and ore every year.

But the company's planning permission was challenged by Oceana, a conservation and advocacy organisation.

More:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/penguins-mining-project-chile-stopped-conservation-sanctuary-national-humboldt-reserve-andes-iron-a7999041.html

[NNadir]

1. This is yet another reason why so called "renewable energy" sucks.

It is really, really stupid to invest copper to connect to generation systems that operate at less than 40% capacity utilization at maximum, and as low as under 10% in other circumstances, all the while requiring copper to be invested in back up systems when the wind doesn't blow and the sun doesn't shine.

The big lie about so called "renewable energy" is that it is sustainable, and that it is environmentally benign. It is neither.