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While the INCO project works, suspended as part of the preventive measures for the spread of Covid-19, are progressively resumed, Mauricio Larraín, general manager of Minera Los Pelambres, is already thinking about the next stage of the company’s development. This is the “Los Pelambres Futuro” initiative, which considers relevant changes in the way of operating of the largest mining company in the Coquimbo region.
According to the executive, in the coming months they will present an Environmental Impact Study with a set of investments to adapt mining activities to the transformations experienced by the province of Choapa and the region since Los Pelambres was built more than 20 years ago. Among the main changes, it contemplates stopping using water from the Choapa River and wells located in the same sector and starting to operate mostly with desalinated seawater. It also proposes the construction of a new concentrate transport system between the mine and the port.
-Is the decision to stop using water from the Choapa River due to pressure from neighbors?
“No, we have been working for many years together with the inhabitants of the Choapa Valley, with the irrigation organizations, the rural drinking water committees and the authorities. We have seen how water scarcity is an increasingly recurrent phenomenon and that is why we actively collaborate to face its negative effects, enabling irrigation wells, improving canals or helping to improve the operation of APR systems. At the same time, we promote the efficient use and care of water in our processes. Today about 85% of the water we use is recirculated water, that is, it has been used before.
The decision to use seawater has to do with a long-term perspective, to begin to imagine Los Pelambres of the future, for which we must integrate learning and adapt to the changes that have occurred in the province, in the region and in the country”.
-When do you think you will be able to start operating with desalinated seawater?
“If the investments that we are going to present are approved, we expect that by 2025 around 95% of the water used by Los Pelambres will come from recirculation or from desalinated seawater. It is a concrete way of collaborating to face the episodes of drought that affect the region in an increasingly recurrent way, because we will stop extracting water from the Choapa River and from wells located in the same sector. For this, we have to expand the desalination plant that is currently under construction, in addition to other works ”.
-What will happen to the water that they are going to stop using?
“There is no definition taken, it is an issue that we still have to analyze within the company.”
-In addition to using seawater, what other changes are you going to introduce in the current operation of Minera Los Pelambres?
“In this same EIA, which we have called Operational Adaptation Investments, we are going to include the construction of a new copper concentrate transportation system, which will be far from the most populated areas. The current concentraduct was designed when much fewer people lived around it and, although it works well, we believe that it is necessary to build a new one, with a different route. For this we are going to use a large part of the same platform that is already enabled for the transport of tailings or desalinated seawater. In this way, we reduce the interference of our activities with the daily life of the neighbors, which now happens on some occasions when we carry out maintenance ”.
-Does this EIA consider an increase in production?
“No, unlike the INCO project, where there is an increase in the mineral treatment capacity to face the greater hardness of the rocks we process, the Operational Adaptation Investments do not consider increasing the capacity of our facilities. These are investments that we make thinking of reducing the possible impacts of our operations on the environment and preparing for the future ”.
-Why prepare for the future?
“Because Minera Los Pelambres has a mining plan to operate until 2035 and, therefore, we want to begin the necessary studies to think about the extension of its useful life beyond that date. We have a mining base with sufficient potential to think about it, we generate a positive impact on both employment and regional economic activity that we could sustain well beyond the current plan and, therefore, evaluating this option seems to us that it may be of interest, also counting on the participation of our neighbors and the authorities ”.
-What is the amount of the Operational Adaptation Investments and what benefit do they have for the region?
“These are investments that are around US $ 1 billion over a ten-year period and we estimate that their execution, in the most intense period, will reach 2,000 jobs. We believe that both figures are relevant for the province and region because, as with the INCO project, our commitment implies having the participation of the local workforce, as well as prioritizing business opportunities for local and regional suppliers.
Our commitment to the region and to Choapa is long-term and both INCO and the Los Pelambres Futuro projects ratify it, especially in an economic context like the current one ”.
-Six months after the arrival of Covid-19 in Chile, what assessment do you make of the measures taken by the company during the pandemic?
“This pandemic has put our culture of safety and health to the test. I think we were very forward-thinking, because we began implementing measures in February, increasing actions as the virus began to spread.
Already in mid-March we announced the reduction of staffing for the regular operation, in addition to establishing control points, such as sanitary barriers, where we control our workers. In addition, in coordination with the community, we stopped using accommodation services in the towns and reduced the passenger capacity of the buses by 50%.
In the case of the INCO project, we temporarily suspended most of the works, but ensuring a salary of $ 500,000 for most of its workers.
-They are announcing two new initiatives when the INCO project is still under construction, in what state is it?
“In April we suspended a large part of their works. Today we are progressively resuming its construction, with 36% progress. We integrate new health protocols that allow us to minimize the risks of contagion. In addition, during that period we tried to maintain the employment of many workers ”.
-As a result of the type of relationships you have with the Choapa community, how do you expect this announcement to be received?
“In our more than 20 years we have built a relationship that is based on open and transparent dialogue and joint work with neighbors and local authorities. For this reason, we are convinced that our activity is an important contribution to the development of the inhabitants of the Province of Choapa. Without a doubt, the towns today have a different face than they did two decades ago and most of their inhabitants have a better quality of life. This contribution that we feel as part of the integral development of the communities that host us is reflected in the progress that we have had in recent years thanks to the Somos Choapa program, now deployed in the four communes of the province, and lately in the role support that we have carried out in the framework of the Covid-19 health emergency.
“Precisely to know the opinion of the community, we are initiating the voluntary process of Early Citizen Participation for Investments in Operational Adaptation, in which we will hold conversations with local, regional and provincial authorities, leaders and, in general, neighbors. We hope to have a broad arrival throughout the province and to be able to integrate their points of view ”.
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