Conversion to Chuquicamata underground could postpone their entry into motion
Leaders proposed to change the program of the transition of the mine, exploiting new open pit phases and delaying the entrance of the new method of exploitation. The administration undertook a study to assess the feasibility of this idea
The committee formed between Codelco workers and management, committed after the national strike last April, has been advancing stealthily and has also reached agreements.
A few days ago, the leaders of the unions 1, 2, 3, 5 and Chuquicamata Mining met in Calama with the chief executive of state mining, Thomas Keller, to advance the agenda of issues put on the table by the unions , among which include retirement plans, health issues and, crucially, the operational continuity of the division.
On this last point, the unions have been hard to raise that in their opinion, it is urgent redesign the entire transition program from open pit mining and underground, change that is scheduled for 2018, year that mineral depletion her casting surface level, it is expected, and then completed a Chuquicamata Underground Project.
The proposal is to exploit the trade unions before the following step, mining phases 51 and 52, which according to the union proposal, would allow an optimum transition and, what is most relevant to the unions, would give peace regarding the employability of workers. In addition, it would give Codelco more time to implement the project, which has a cost of U.S. $ 4,156 million.
While the state company has conducted studies that confirm that the chosen plan is the best for Chuquicamata, Keller was willing to create a new program, although this requires proven technical grounds that the proposed option is more profitable than it is now running.
According to a union official document of Chuquicamata, Keller told them that since 2004 has been studying various alternatives in relation to this transition, and several studies have confirmed that the chosen option is the one that ensures profitability. “These plans were developed with the most value for Codelco (…).They have been revised on several occasions, one of them by the current directory, technically concluding that existing and current plans are the most robust execution to efficiently finance the transition, says the document resulting from the union leadership.
There also arises that under Keller’s response to the proposals of the unions, this would have indicated that to facilitate the work of the technical committees that will be formed between management and leadership, Codelco stands ready to hire a technical expert who was not involved in the analysis previously conducted. If such work arises an alternative to improve the business plan and proven to deliver greater economic value to Codelco, will analyze modify the program.
Source: Pulso
