The Ministry of Mining has called a Mining Safety Roundtable for this Friday. Participants will include unions, executives from operating companies, industry associations, lawmakers and the National Geology and Mining Service (Sernageomin). The meeting follows the deaths of 13 workers at mining sites during 2026.
According to Emol, the ministry described the measure as an urgent response to the series of fatal accidents in recent weeks. The stated goal is to agree on concrete actions and effectively enforce existing regulations, with the aim of zero fatalities.
Minister of Economy and Mining Daniel Mas called on the entire industry to reflect deeply. "Every life lost at a mining site affects us all," he said. He also said the accidents require a transparent review of what went wrong and what urgent measures should be taken.
Undersecretary of Mining Álvaro González warned that the roundtable "will not be for passive assessments." In his view, prevention must involve companies, workers, suppliers, workers' compensation insurers and regulatory agencies every day.
Sernageomin's acting national director, Mauricio Lorca, announced more inspections and an increased regional presence. The service will ask all companies for concrete measures, with named people responsible and verifiable deadlines, to control critical risks.
Regional offices will have a maximum of seven working days to launch the Regional Mining Safety Committees (Coresemin). According to CNN Chile, these will bring together prevention specialists, joint worker-management committees and industry associations around a plan to curb fatalities.
Another requirement concerns daily work. Every shift at mining sites across the country must begin with a dedicated session to review hazards and check critical safeguards in the workplace. In Tarapacá and the far south, where there are fewer mining sites, technical teams will conduct unannounced inspections and meet with mine managers.
CNN Chile added that Sernageomin will continue to impose immediate preventive shutdowns of any area, equipment or mining site where it detects imminent danger to people.
The backdrop is a string of seven deaths since September 23, four of them in just 72 hours. On Sunday, two contract workers aged 34 and 53 died after being trapped by an avalanche while clearing snow in the open pit at Codelco's El Teniente Division, in the O'Higgins Region.
The following day, a 66-year-old man died at the Nueva California plant in Illapel, in the Coquimbo Region. Initial information indicates that he fell into the crushing system.
The most recent case occurred this Wednesday at the Aguilucho mine in Taltal, in the Antofagasta Region. A 61-year-old bulldozer operator employed by Santa Elvira died when the machine plunged some 50 meters. Operations were halted, and the Homicide Brigade of the Investigative Police (PDI) is investigating.
Sernageomin's tally on Tuesday recorded 12 deaths: six in large-scale mining, five in artisanal mining and one in small-scale mining. With the Taltal death, the 2026 total already exceeds the 11 deaths in all of 2024. There were 20 in 2025.
The sources have yet to report the positions of companies or unions on the roundtable. Meanwhile, Senator Yasna Provoste, chair of the Senate Mining Committee, announced a special session with executives, unions and public agencies, and called for more resources for inspections by Sernageomin and the Labor Directorate.
