Killing two birds with a single law. That is exactly what the Chilean president Ricardo Lagos is up to. A new law proposed by him aims at the creation of a research fund from royalties paid by the mining industry. According to the draft bill submitted by Lagos to Chile's congress, mining companies would be required to pay the government 3 per cent of sales of metallic minerals, and 1 per cent of sales of non-metallic minerals.

The government's key argument is that, at present, private mining companies make free use of non-renewable resources. The new law is meant to compensate the country for the