Andes Iron
Andes Iron is a Chilean exploration and mining company with two major projects in Chile.
The Dominga project is a proposed open-pit copper mine with accompanying processing plant, desalination plant, slurry pipelines and an export port. The project was challenged by environmentalists, including the marine conservation organisation Oceana, for its potential to impact the Humboldt Penguin National Reserve and the wider marine ecology of the area, which they describe as a marine biodiversity hotspot. The project's environmental license was rejected in 2017, then successfully appealed after a change of Chilean government. The company was expected to start work on the Dominga project by 2020. The company stated that it would be prepared to concede its proposed port at Totoralillo, Coquimbo if Compañía Minera del Pacífico, a subsidiary of Chilean iron producer CAP, was permitted to construct their proposed Cruz Grande port nearby.
The company's other project, Iman, is a prospective iron ore mine. It is owned in a 50-50 partnership with Minería Activa.
Andes Iron is majority owned by the Delano Mendez family, with minor interests held by the Garcez Silva family, and the company's directors.
