Abstract
Untreated mining wastes, at the rate of 39,000 tons per day, are discharged through a semi-artificial canal directly to the marine shore from the El Salvador copper mine in northern Chile. The tailings were deposited on a sandy beach near Chanaral between 1938 and 1974 and since 1975 at Caleta Palito, 8 km north of Chanaral. Since no chemical analyses of marine organisms have been conducted along the 20 km beach area contaminated with tailings, a pilot study was initiated in the last weeks of November 1981 and March 1982 to determine cadmium and copper residues in discharged mine tailings on the beach deposits, algae, marine invertebrates, shorebirds and prey from their stomachs. The results of the analyses are presented here.
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