https:\/\/twitter.com\/INSOLENTES\/status\/1458059234919141381<\/p>\n
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The tweet speculated that this was at the Ministro Hales mine in Chil<\/a>e, which is operated by Coldelco. A second tweet suggested that the failure might have been “expected and controlled”.<\/p>\n Planet Labs<\/a> imagery of the Ministro Hales mine suggests that a large landslide did indeed occur at this site sometime between 8 and 9 November.\u00a0 An image captured at 13:55 UTC on 8 November shows no new landslide (although a smaller previous event is visible):<\/p>\n The Ministro Hales mine in Chile on 8 November 2021. Image Copyright Planet Labs<\/a>, used with permission.<\/p><\/div>\n .<\/p>\n An image captured at 14:42 UTC on 9 November clearly shows a large landslide:-<\/p>\n The Ministro Hales mine in Chile on 9 November 2021, showing the landslide. Image Copyright Planet Labs<\/a>, used with permission.<\/p><\/div>\n .<\/p>\n I have tried to include this as a slider below so that the before and after images can be easily compared:-<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n Based upon the imagery the landslide is about 700 m long and 450 m wide.\u00a0 It has encompassed the existing slide but is far larger. The mobility of the landslide does not seem to be exceptional.\u00a0 There are some large blocks visible in the head scarp region.<\/p>\n Large rock slope failures in high wall pits are not unusual, and this is not the largest event that I have described<\/a>.\u00a0 Big pits typically use radar and other monitoring methods<\/a> to detect potential failures, so it is credible to believe that this landslide was anticipated.\u00a0 It will be interesting to see better imagery of the aftermath of the landslide, and to learn about the transition to failure.<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/files\/2021\/11\/21_11-Ministro-Hales-1.jpg\")
![\"The](\"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/files\/2021\/11\/21_11-Ministro-Hales-2.jpg\")
<\/div>\nReference<\/h4>\n