Iris Fontbona

Minera Los Pelambres — wholly owned by Antofagasta PLC, the Luksic Group's London-listed copper miner — built the El Mauro tailings dam upstream of the Caimanes community in the Choapa Valley, Coquimbo. The dam stores copper mine tailings that contaminate the Choapa River and local groundwater. A 2012 independent investigation by the University of Chile found manganese, mercury, iron, nickel, and molybdenum in Caimanes water sources — permanent leakage through groundwater channels confirmed by the Medical College of Chile. The Chilean Supreme Court ruled Antofagasta guilty of polluting community groundwater. Los Pelambres also dumped 13,000 liters of copper concentrate into a local river — the highest number of toxic spills in the Coquimbo region among all operators.

• —2012: Andrei Tchernitchin (University of Chile) documented manganese, mercury, iron, nickel, and molybdenum contaminating Caimanes water sources — confirmed by Chile's Medical College.
• —Chilean Supreme Court ruling: Antofagasta guilty of polluting groundwater by siting the tailings dam upstream of community water sources.
• —Potential fine: $23.8 million for environmental permit violations.
• —Los Pelambres recorded the highest number of toxic spills in the Coquimbo region among all mining operators.
• —May 2016: Los Pelambres settled with some residents for ~24,700 million Chilean pesos (≈£30 million). The Caimanes Comité de Defensa — the community's resistance leadership — rejected the settlement as insufficient and refused to sign.
• —Community members were left with no access to uncontaminated drinking water other than purchased bottled water.

Minera Zaldívar — an Antofagasta subsidiary operating in the Salar de Atacama — extracts approximately 212.75 liters per second from the Monturaqui-Negrillar-Tilopozo aquifer, roughly half the aquifer's recharge capacity. The water table dropped over 25 centimeters since 2005. Chile's State Defense Council sued Antofagasta, BHP (Escondida), and Albemarle for the damage. Chile's First Environmental Court found the extraction caused "serious, permanent and irreparable deterioration of the aquifer, of the Tilopozo plains, of the fauna, and of the life systems and customs of the Peine Indigenous Community." The court further found the damage was foreseeable — the companies knowingly exceeded sustainable extraction limits.

• —Minera Zaldívar extracts ~212.75 liters/second — approximately 50% of the aquifer's recharge capacity.
• —Water table decline: over 25 cm since 2005 in monitored wells.
• —Chile's State Defense Council (CDE) filed suit against Antofagasta, BHP (Escondida), and Albemarle.
• —Chile's First Environmental Court finding: extraction caused "serious, permanent and irreparable deterioration of the aquifer, of the Tilopozo plains, of the fauna, and of the life systems and customs of the Peine Indigenous Community."
• —Court found the damage was "foreseeable" — the companies exceeded sustainable extraction limits with knowledge of the consequences.
• —The Peine Indigenous Community's traditional territory, water access, and lifeways were permanently altered to extract copper.

To build the El Mauro tailings dam — the largest in South America, with a 1.4 km wall, 1,800 hectares surface area, and capacity for 1.7 billion tonnes of mine waste — Minera Los Pelambres excavated and destroyed approximately 2,000 petroglyphs carved into 500+ boulders, buried a pre-Columbian cemetery, and obliterated approximately 148 documented archaeological sites belonging to Diaguita and Incan civilizations more than 2,000 years old. The mining company reported only 40 archaeological sites to regulators. Chile's Superintendency of Environmental Affairs sanctioned Los Pelambres in 2014 with over 1.2 billion pesos (2,595 UTM) for "serious non-compliance with measures to eliminate or minimize" environmental effects. The Chilean Archaeological Society declared it the biggest loss of cultural heritage in Chile's recent history.

• —El Mauro tailings dam: 1.4 km retaining wall, 1,800 hectares surface, 1.7 billion tonne capacity — the largest tailings dam in South America.
• —Los Pelambres reported 40 archaeological sites to environmental regulators. Actual count: ~148 sites documented by independent researchers.
• —~2,000 petroglyphs destroyed across 500+ boulder surfaces. Approximately 200 petroglyphs disappeared from the documented universe.
• —A pre-Columbian Diaguita/Incan cemetery was excavated and buried. Archaeological pieces found stored in cardboard boxes and private homes.
• —2014 Superintendency sanction: 1.2 billion Chilean pesos (2,595 UTM) for serious non-compliance.
• —Chilean Archaeological Society: the El Mauro construction was the "biggest loss of cultural heritage in Chile's recent history."
• —The dam and the extraction operation continue operating today.

Andrónico Luksic Jr. — Iris Fontbona's son and the de facto head of Antofagasta and the family's US operations — purchased a $5.5 million Washington D.C. mansion on Tracy Place, Kalorama Heights, in December 2016, immediately after Trump won the presidential election. One month later, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner — senior White House advisors — moved in as tenants at $15,000/month. Simultaneously, Twin Metals Minnesota LLC (Antofagasta subsidiary) was actively suing the US federal government to reinstate mineral lease rights near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in Minnesota. Richard W. Painter, White House ethics chief under George W. Bush, told Newsweek that Luksic was "trying to influence" the administration's mining decision by aligning himself financially with the President's daughter and son-in-law. No charges were filed. The FCPA prohibits bribing foreign officials — not senior White House officials through property arrangements.

• —December 2016: Andrónico Luksic Jr. purchased 2449 Tracy Place NW, Washington D.C. — a 6-bedroom mansion — for $5.5M, weeks after Trump's election.
• —January 2017: Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner moved in at $15,000/month rent — below market-rate for a $5.5M home in Kalorama Heights, two blocks from Obama's post-presidency residence.
• —Twin Metals Minnesota LLC (Antofagasta subsidiary) was simultaneously suing the US federal government for reinstatement of mineral leases near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, worth billions.
• —Richard W. Painter (Bush-era ethics chief): Luksic was "trying to influence" the Trump administration on its mining decision.
• —The FCPA prohibits bribery of foreign officials. The arrangement — a US mining company's foreign owner subsidizing the housing of senior White House advisors with direct authority over the relevant agency — fell outside the statute's scope.
• —No charges were filed against Andrónico Luksic Jr. or any Antofagasta entity for the arrangement.

After Biden's Interior Department imposed a 20-year moratorium on mining in 225,000 acres of Superior National Forest in 2023 — protecting the Boundary Waters Canoe Area watershed — Antofagasta mounted a systematic lobbying campaign to reverse it. The company retained Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, which employs former Trump Interior Secretary David Bernhardt — the official who would have overseen the original Twin Metals mining decision — as a paid lobbyist. Antofagasta spent $200,000 lobbying in Q4 2024, $230,000 in Q1 2025, and over $1 million during Biden's environmental review in 2022. A provision lifting the mining ban was inserted into Trump's 2025 budget reconciliation bill, opening a nearly $2 billion copper-nickel mining operation on federal land. The Lever reported it as "a Chilean billionaire strikes gold in the budget bill." Nothing about any of this was illegal.

• —Biden's Interior Department: 20-year moratorium on 225,000 acres of Superior National Forest, protecting the Boundary Waters watershed (January 2023).
• —Antofagasta lobbying spend: $200,000 in Q4 2024; $230,000 in Q1 2025; $1M+ during Biden's environmental review in 2022.
• —Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck retained — the firm employs former Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, who personally oversaw the original Twin Metals mineral lease decision.
• —2025 Trump budget reconciliation bill: mining ban provision inserted, opening the Boundary Waters-adjacent copper-nickel deposit worth approximately $2 billion to Antofagasta.
• —The Lever (May 2025): "A Chilean Billionaire Strikes Gold In The Budget Bill."
• —Total arc: mansion for Ivanka/Kushner → hiring the Interior Secretary who made the first call → budget rider lifting the ban. The mine will open.