The National Mining Society (Sonami) regretted the approval in the Chamber of Deputys and Deputies of the project that establishes a mining royalty, which will implement a tax on mining companies for the extraction of all mining resources in the country, setting a minimum levy of 3% according to the sale value of the minerals.
“It’s very negative news for this productive sector,” Sonami President Diego Hernández said in a statement.
“On an issue of such importance to Chile, the electoral climate facing the country has prevailed and the national interest and strategic vision of country development has been forgotten,” Hernandez stressed, adding that, in his view, “there has been no serious and informed technical debate here.”
Hernandez said approving this mining royalty is to say that the country doesn’t want to “have more mining.” “This tax will immediately discourage investment and seriously jeopardize the competitiveness of our industry at a key time in our country’s lives, especially during the post-pandemic economic recovery period, when mining was called upon to play a fundamental and irreplaceable role,” he explained.
More importantly, he said this royalty “is going to have very serious consequences for mining and the national economy, because they are impossible-to-resist levels of tribute.”
That’s why the President of Sonami called on the senators, who will have to vote on the project, to act in the face of “the national interest”, weighing on his future decision that “the fate of an industry is played here.”
“Over the past fifteen years (the sector) has made a relevant contribution to the national economy and development, generating 13% of Chile’s GDP, which rises to more than 20% considering the effects induced, in addition, together with 20% of total investment, 60% of exports and 14% of all tax revenues” Closed.
