Dominga $2.5B Andes Iron project: permitting risk insights for mine planners
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell

First reported on MINING.com
30 Second Briefing
Andes Iron’s $2.5 billion Dominga project has been pushed back into legal limbo after the Antofagasta Court of Appeals annulled a First Environmental Court order instructing Chile’s Committee of Ministers to re-vote on the mine and port, ruling the enforcement move inadmissible and procedurally flawed. The 26.5-year project, comprising two open pits and a dedicated port in Coquimbo, is designed to produce 12 Mt/y of high-grade iron concentrate and 150,000 t/y of copper concentrate near the Humboldt Penguin National Reserve. The case returns to a ministerial committee that has already rejected Dominga three times, reinforcing investor concerns over Chile’s $105 billion mining project backlog and permitting risk.
Technical Brief
- Supreme Court’s September instruction required the Committee of Ministers to issue a fresh Dominga decision, not an approval.
- Antofagasta Court of Appeals ruled unanimously that the First Environmental Court’s enforcement order was procedurally inadmissible.
- Appeals judges held the prior judgment created no enforceable right because no final decision on Dominga existed.
- Main technical objections centre on biodiversity impacts and absence of a robust spill mitigation and response plan.
- Site’s proximity to the Humboldt Penguin National Reserve and other protected areas drives ecological risk concerns.
- Andes Iron claims Dominga complies with current Chilean environmental regulations after “years of review” and iterations.
Our Take
With Dominga in Chile facing repeated ministerial rejection, copper-gold growth in the Southern Cone is tilting further towards Argentina, where projects like First Quantum’s Taca Taca have recently shown robust economics in our coverage.
The proximity of Dominga to the Humboldt Penguin National Reserve means Chile’s permitting stance here will be read as a benchmark for how strictly future coastal iron ore and copper projects in Coquimbo and Antofagasta are scrutinised on marine and biodiversity impacts.
Given Dominga’s 26.5-year mine life and multi-commodity profile (iron ore, copper, gold), prolonged uncertainty effectively removes a large, long-dated supply option from the Latin American project pipeline tracked in our database, which may support higher-cost greenfield developments elsewhere in the region.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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