The five trucks containing mercury are already in Chilean territory

The five trucks that have been transporting 100 tons of mercury from the Veladero mine in San Juan since Wednesday have already arrived in Chile today to reach the port of Valparaiso, where they will be sent to Germany, according to confirmed sources. by the Secretariat for the Environment. As confirmed by the Secretariat, the trucks completed the customs clearance procedure this morning and headed for Valparaíso.

According to official information, "the operation is underway and we can guarantee success". The cargo consists of 48 large bottles of liquid mercury in four large trucks; a truck, four vans, vehicles and private security agents complete the caravan that transports the metal from the Veladero mine in San Juan to the Chilean port.

From there, mercury will be transported by ship to Switzerland – after crossing the ports of Peru, Panama, the Bahamas, the United States, the Netherlands, Belgium and France – where a process of solidification will be carried out to be driven to its final destination in one of the five salt mines that Germany has.

"This is the first case of hazardous waste export to the world under the Minamata agreement.We know that we are respected, but we rule out the success of the procedure," she said. he explained to Telam Juan Trebino, Undersecretary at the Inspection and Redevelopment Secretariat of the Environment and Sustainable Development of the nation.

Mercury is harmful to humans by inhalation, ingestion and contact because it adheres to the gold, it is used for its extraction because it forms an amalgam that is then separated by a process. evaporation.

The Minamata Agreement is a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from the harmful effects of mercury. It establishes specific guidelines regarding the temporary storage of this metal and its disposal once it becomes a waste.