The infamous Aznalcollar mine in Sevilla WILL reopen for business, it has been confirmed, despite major outcry from environmental groups.
The announcement comes some 24 years after the site was closed following a meltdown that caused one of the biggest ecological disasters in Spanish history.
On April 25, 1998, a tailings dam at the Los Frailes mine, operated by the Swedish-Canadian company Boliden-Apirsa, collapsed, releasing up to five million cubic metres of toxic sludge.
The waste included heavy metals like cadmium, lead, zinc and arsenic and flooded the Argio and Guadiamar rivers, contaminating thousands of hectares of farmland and killing tens of thousands of animals, mostly fish and birds.
It came dangerously close to the Doñana National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of Europe’s most important wetlands, home to endangered species such as the Iberian lynx.
Though the park was spared from direct contamination, the surrounding ecosystem suffered extensively.
Now, ‘the heart of Aznalcollar beats again’, say local politicians, after announcing the mine will reopen under the leadership of a new company.
Today, the Regional Minister of Industry, Energy, and Mining, Jorge Paradela, delivered the resolution approving the new Los Frailes mining project.
It comes 12 years after the Junta de Andalucia first approved the re-opening of the mine, which has been delayed by a series of legal challenges spearheaded by eco-activists.
Paradela said: ‘This is one of the most complex projects we have processed at the Junta de Andalucia… the road to get here has not been easy.’
The new mine project is under the control of the Los Frailes mining company, belonging to Grupo Mexico and Minorbis.
The reopening represents an investment of almost €500 million and will create around 2,000 direct and indirect jobs over 20 years.
It is expected to see the extraction of 45 million tonnes of polymetallic sulfides, including copper, zinc, and lead until at least 2045.
Now, a years-long ‘preparation phase’ begins, that will include the construction of a new treatment plant to address one of the project’s main challenges following the 1998 disaster: water management.
In total, the project’s hydraulic infrastructure will cost around €60 million.
The treatment plant will have a 30km pipeline to carry the treated water to the Guadalquivir estuary, near the Cartuja Stadium.
To prevent toxic spills from recurring, Los Frailes will build an infrastructure network to store water in a new reservoir in the event of extraordinary rainfall, among other measures.
Organisations like Greenpeace and WWF have previously warned that the reopened mine could discharge toxic water into the Guadalquivir River over its 17-year operational period.
This, they claim, poses a significant threat to the Doñana National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and other downstream ecosystems.
