Coal mine project in Chilean Patagonia

[gato andino]

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[oregon woodsmoke]

This is a very good time to be working towards energy independence. The world wide energy situation is not going to get any better.

If Chile uses the most modern coal technology, it's not such a pollution issue. If Chile uses the Chinese model, expect the local citizens to be poisoned.

They are going to mine the coal. Where will the power plants be located?

[admin]

likly on the boarder with Argentina.

[PenquistaDeCorazon]

Excellent post. Very informative as well. I am sure that, with regards to point number 4, it was merely an oversight that you did not mention that Methanex (private Cdn company) uses much more natural gas than the inhabitants of the region. 1.5 million cubic metres per day to be precise. All of which is exported out of Patagonia in the form of methanol, and makes Methanex a tidy profit. Kind of odd that all the futures contracts between Methanex and ENAP are confidential, no? What is known is that the price they pay is tied to the price of methanol. Well not odd if one knows how these things work.

But really thorough backgrounder as usual. I have to say that your depth of knowledge of the region is all encompassing. A+

[PenquistaDeCorazon]

And as usual, great pictures!

[PenquistaDeCorazon]

I have never really ascribed to the not in my backyard mentality.... What was the power outage the other day? Over an hour? Good chunk of the population. When there is drought and hydro reservoirs are low they are still going to want their power. My primary concern would be that once these things are up and running that things be run to first world standards. Coal mining is so dangerous when everything is done right and God knows sometimes they have a way of doing things wrong in Chile from government legislation and inspector (very low number in relation to say Canada) and so on down the line. They sound like big projects so hopefully worker safety will be paramount.

[gato andino]

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[gato andino]

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[gato andino]

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[PenquistaDeCorazon]

Coal mining is so dangerous

The proposal here is for open-pit mining, as has been done elsewhere in this region already, with a good safety history.

In addition, the Peckett open-pit mine co-existed very well with the nearby penguin rookery at Seno Otway, which is one of the best known tourist attractions in this region.

Yeah when I saw Gato's video I gathered that it would be open pit mining. That is good. Much safer and the quality of jobs/payroll is higher.

[gato andino]

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[gato andino]

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