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The jail sentence against Chile-based iodine producer's manager, Carlos Quispe, for groundwater depletion and environmental damage, shows how critical is water management in the mining sector and poses high risks for mining companies developing projets in emerging economies.
A director of the privately-owned Chilean iodine producer Cosayach has been sentenced to 61 days in prison after the company was found guilty of counterfeiting water rights in the areas of Cala Cala and Negreiros, Tarapaca, northwest of the coastal city of Iquique.
Carlos Contreras Quispe was sentenced by a court in Pozo Almonte on 28 May and the company was ordered to close 38 wells, which the court found had been used to extract water since 2003 without use rights or legitimate title.
The owner of the company, Francisco Javier Errazuriz Ovalle, and two managers, Wlado Gonzalez Bravo and Alejandro Puelles Ocaranza, also accepted a conditional suspension from corporate proceedings.
Prosecutor Juan Zepeda said that the jail term had been handed to Quispe because "his responsibility is greater, for [he had] spent more time in office (...) and was also [involved in] operating the wells", according to a report by Mercury News.
The ruling against Cosayach's abuse of water resources in Tarapaca province is not the first time the family-owned miner has faced legal action over water.