Chile's Constitution Drafters Want to Annul Mining Concessions in Indigenous Lands
- Environmental commission passes proposal to annul concessions
- Plan needs further approvals to enter into constitution draft
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A proposal to suspend Chilean mining and forestry concessions that infringe on indigenous land was approved in the first instance by a committee as part of the drafting of a new constitution in the world’s top copper supplier and No. 2 lithium producer.
The motion is one of the first flash-points between a society looking to enshrine environmental and social issues in the magna carta and natural resource industries struggling to meet rising demand for the building blocks of a cleaner economy. The constitutional process is shaping up as one of the biggest threats to production since Chile’s emergence as a major mineral producer.