Chilean MP, NGOs demand halt to Nutrex exploration project at Juncal Andean Park

Nutrex
requested
Chilean
authorities
a
deadline
extension
to
present
the
required
documents
to
start
working
in
the
area,
as
it
had
until
April
16,
2024,
to
establish
its
presence
on
the
site
by
setting
up
equipment
and
some
infrastructure
but
couldn’t
do
so
after
being
blocked
by
environmental
activists. 

If
the
extension
is
denied,
which
is
one
of
the
aims
of
the
appeal
for
protection,
activists
would
have
more
time
to
build
their
case,
as
Nutrex
would
have
to
restart
the
whole
process
and
this
could
take
up
to
a
year. 

“We
have
gained
some
time,
but
we
also
know
that
they
have
been
able
to
enter
the
park
and
that
is,
of
course,
a
threat
not
only
to
biodiversity
and
a
particular
park
but
to
a
fundamental
issue
that
is
water
in
our
region,”
Bello
told

local
media.

Juncal,
whose
heights
range
from
2,200
metres
to
more
than
5,000
metres
above
sea
level,
is
a
private
protected
area
owned
by
the
Kenrick
family
since
1911.

The
park
extends
for
over
13,700
hectares
and
is
located
in
the
Aconcagua
Valley,
in
Chile’s
Fifth
Region.
It
provides
access
to
the
Juncal
Glacier
and
surrounding
mountains
and
hosts
several
estuaries,
wetlands,

ice
and
rock
glaciers,
and
a
wide
range
of
native
and
endemic
species
of
flora
and
fauna.
It
is
also
the
place
where
the
Juncal
River,
a
tributary
of
the
Aconcagua
River,
is
born.
Both
are
important
sources
of
freshwater
for
the
region.

According
to
Chile’s
laws,
however,
owners
of
surface
rights
do
not
own
what’s
underground,
which
is
why
Nutrex,
an
American
gold
and
copper
explorer,
is
allowed
to
request
access
to
explore
the
area.