Revista Nueva Minería

The mining will receive the Carlos Vial Frightening award for good relations next June 6th. The company maintains an open door policy and none of their collective bargaining, in its 12 years, has had a strike

Until 2030 the Luksic group expects to extend the life of El Tesoro copper deposit located in Sierra Gorda, II Region, at 2,300 meters high, which was opened in May 2001, date on which the copper reached a record low of 59.7 cents. That, says the chief executive of Antofagasta Minerals, Diego Hernandez, the greatest challenge of this mining, which by good relations receive Carlos Vial Frightening award on June 6th.

With 622 workers themselves, two unions and 1,071 contract workers, the company is working on two fronts: with the project Oxides Meeting, which will require U.S. $ 600 million, will extend its operation until 2022 and will generate, through a process of leaching, 50% of the 100 thousand tons of annual cathodes with which is waiting to continue in the coming years. “After that year we have other oxide deposits, in exploration today, which probably are to integrate the mining plan,” he says.

In the short term, the goal points to the competitiveness of El Tesoro. Of course, both management and workers face a 2013 lower production, after a 2012 when it reached a record 105 000 tons of copper cathodes. Another important point in the strategy is to maintain its level of costs. In 2012 was U.S. $ 1.47 per pound, a figure described by the company’s general manager, Sergio Parada as competitive. “Unlike the rest of the mining, the cost of El Tesoro has gone down in the past two to three years, because we agreed to higher grade ore. But it will go down and costs will go up, “he says. Last year, the mine had a grade of ore which averaged 1.7%, much higher than 1.4% expected for this year. “The law can lose 1% in five years,” he says.

Teamwork

Operate El Tesoro is not easy, because it has an “exotic” mineral with higher clay content, which makes the production process longer. This is because after extracting the mineral, to dry and prevent thickening and damage machinery must be left outdoors for one month. “The mining plan is more complex because you have to remove material from different points to have a mineral acceptable”, according to Hernandez. It is therefore important teamwork. “All this complication created a group of workers, both its own and contractors, closely aligned, as a team managed to overcome the difficulties,” he says.

In the 12 years of the deposit, Antofagasta Minerals has never had a strike at El Tesoro. Union president MET 1, Luis Redlich, points to the future is not expected to stoppages. “Today the administration knows that the aspiration of workers is forward, not backward,” he says.

His last collective bargaining was in 2011, and was performed as an advance. “Like any negotiation, is part apart, but conversing agreement was reached in less than 25 days,” said Parada. Union president MET 2, Hector Collao, stands in turn we find an open door policy. “All issues are conversing” he says.

Increased presence on labor

Hernandez took in Antofagasta Minerals in 2012, at a time with strong production problems in the mining holding company. One of his first acts was to systematize the visits to all the sites it operates. “Now there are two visits per year, where all the vice presidents are for a couple of days in each of the companies,” he says. The former Codelco’s CEO explains that in the first half visits focus on the long-term view, the potential for development, the performance to meet the goals of the year, and addresses issues of sustainability and security, among others. The second half, meanwhile, focuses on five years growth plan, the budget for the following year and the completion of annual performance. “The visits are now part of the annual management cycle of the company”, he says. In fact, next week, they have to travel to Esperanza and El Tesoro.

Source: La Tercera