Chile Forum

Apologies if this is the wrong place for this...

We've been reading articles about the gold-mining activities in the Espolon Valley lately on allsouthernchile.com. While we were there March-June, and on April 21st, we spied a shiny, royal blue helicopter setting in a field just outside Futaleufu, maybe only 2-3 k's out of town. It had NO identifying marks, no numbers, nothing. Since it was off season - not a time when anyone would be flying in for fishing, etc., it caught my interest and I took a picture of it. It obviously wasn't a medical mission or evacuation - it sat there for an entire day. And again, it was odd that it didn't have any identifying marks on it. I wonder now if it was related to the gold mining company. Anyone have any ideas, or information?

Vicki

I believe I recall seeing the same chopper when they were installing the new cell tower.

I do have to say though the mining company managed to be very very stealthy about buying up those rights. We never heard a peep about it, and we where on the lake and in the Espolon valley several times a week dealing with properties last summer. We where there sometimes twice a day, talking to the locals, working with surveyors, negotiating transfers, and you know how in that rural area people love to talk. The grapevine in the Futa area is faster than the phone system.

Looking back, the only hint that we had that anything was going on was regarding the road project through the Futa valley, and that government surveyors where back trying to settle on where the road will go around the lake. Now I have my suspicion that they were there for the gold company, and simply told the locals that they were working on the road. The road already had the reference marks placed along the lake a long time ago, and there is very little by way of geographical options as to where it can go.