News wires reported that the court accepted an appeal filed by environmental groups and reversed a decision earlier this month by the Aysén Region’s Environmental Evaluation Commission giving the project the green light.
The court said that the project should not have been approved without giving consideration to the National Geology and Mining Service's recommendation that further soil studies be carried out. These studies must now be undertaken before the project can move forward.
The 640MW project is to be built by Energía Austral, a company owned by Australia’s Origin Energy and global mining firm Xstrata Copper.
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