TIERRA AMARILLA, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Residents in the

mining town of Tierra Amarilla in the Chilean desert are hopeful

that a new court ruling will allay their fears about a giant

sinkhole that opened near their homes more than three years ago

and remains unfilled.

A Chilean environmental court this month ordered Minera Ojos

del Salado, owned by Canada's Lundin Mining ( LUNMF ), to repair

environmental damage related to activity at its Alcaparrosa

copper mine, which is thought to have triggered the sinkhole

that appeared in 2022.

The ruling calls on the company to protect the region's

water supply and refill the sinkhole. The cylindrical crater

originally measured 64 meters (210 ft) deep and 32 meters (105

ft) wide at the surface.

That has provided a small measure of relief to those in arid

Tierra Amarilla in Chile's central Atacama region, who fear that

without remediation the gaping hole could swallow up more land.

"Ever since the sinkhole occurred ... we've lived in fear,"

said Rudy Alfaro, whose home is 800 meters from the site. A

health center and preschool are nearby too, she said.

"We were afraid it would get bigger, that it would expand,

move toward the houses."

The sinkhole expelled clouds of dust in a recent earthquake,

provoking more anxiety, she said.

The court upheld a shutdown of the small Alcaparrosa mine

ordered by Chile's environmental regulator in January, and

confirmed "irreversible" damage to an aquifer, which drained

water into the mine and weakened the surrounding rock.

"This is detrimental to an area that is already

hydrologically stressed," said Rodrigo Saez, regional water

director.

Lundin said it will work with authorities to implement

remediation measures.

(Writing by Daina Beth Solomon, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)