El medio ambiente en la minería

Protección del medio ambiente y desarrollo productivo. El caso de CODELCO Gerardo Muñoz Different perceptions concerning the environmental problem~ exist in developed and developing countries. Nevertheless we experiment an authentic environmenlal revolution, encouraging further technological developments and business opportunities. PotentialIy, metallic mining is a highly destructive activity. It renders the goals of a responsible mining activity linked to the minimization of adverse impacts through the reduction of risles or adequate restoration measures. Notwithstan– dig, it is not realistic to ensure the ceasing of aD kind of emissions. Since its establishment in 1976, CODELCO has invested more than one billion dolIars in technological reconversion to control the environment and to support measures in ibis field. A similar figure shalI be invested during the next decade amounting approximately to 15 % of total investment foreseen. In occasions, environmental protection creates a lack of competiliveness, specially in the field of gas control in smelters situated far froro the consumption markets. CO])ELCO exhibits two good examples in this field. One is the treatment ofwater in El Teniente Dívision, by a system of solvent extraction and electrowinning. The otber one is the technological reconversion at tbe Chuquicamata smelter, concentrating S02 gases and making easier its recovery as sulfuric aeíd. INTRODUCCION Han pasado dos décadas desde la primera Conferencia de las Nadones Unidas sobre el Medio Ambiente y desde que el estudio financiado por el Club de Roma, "Los LÍmites del Crecimiento", dimensionara la capacidad limitada del planeta para absorber contaminantes. Desde entonces y hasta la fecha, el mundo ha ido pasando por diversas etapas, desde la denuncia ambiental y la polarización de posiciones, hasta la búsqueda actual de un consenso en torno al concepto de "desarrollo sustentable". Aun