Collapse in Chile will spur safety changes.

• Position: Mining Industry

The San Jose mine collapse will alter small mining operations throughout the world, claims Chilean native Joaquin Cortes, a visiting assistant professor of geology in the State University of New York system. 'The global mining industry will never be the same after this," contends Cortes, who worked in Chile's Los Sauces copper mine early in his career as a mapping geologist.

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"Knowing the operating conditions of small copper and gold enterprises in Chile and, in particular, those that have been active for more than 100 years, the miners were quite lucky throughout the whole ordeal. Nevertheless, the disaster has put a major focus on safety in these small mining companies, not just in Chile, but throughout the world. Situations like this mere often end in tragedy, such as the recent examples in China and West Virginia."

Cortes points out that there are over 800 mines in the Copiapo region alone and several...