Mexico fines mine $1.5 million for spill, allows it to reopen

Mexican authorities have fined a mining company about $1.5 million for an Aug. 7 spill of copper sulfate and heavy metals that contaminated two rivers in northern Mexico.

The Attorney General for Environmental Protection found 55 violations at the Buenavista copper mine in the northern border state of Sonora.

The office said Monday the violations have been corrected and the mine will be allowed to reopen work areas that were ordered closed following the spill. The mine operated by Mexican conglomerate Grupo Mexico has also been ordered to pay $133 million into a restoration and remediation fund.

About 10 million gallons (40,000 cubic meters) of copper sulfate were spilled into the rivers and some ultimately traveled to a reservoir behind a dam that supplies water to the capital of Sonora.