On January 11, Minera Centinela, the copper miner and part of Antofagasta Minerals, held the inaugural ceremony of its autonomous operations in the Esperanza Sur pit. This is an initiative that involved an investment of approximately $60 million dollars and training of nearly 100 people to ensure they have the skills required for the mining of the future.
A modern training and training centre implemented on site, a robust telecommunications network, a control centre from which 11 Komatsu 980E-5 trucks and two Epiroc PV351 drills are operated, allow the virtualisation of routes and circuits, the programming of these unmanned teams and the coordination with the other teams that work in the mine area. The mining company said: “All this technology and the labuor conversion work that is behind this achievement reaffirms its purpose of doing world-class mining, thinking of a better world.”
“Since our beginnings, we have tried to be recognised as a modern, innovative and sustainable company, which we have been capturing through various actions, such as the use of thickened tailings on a large scale, the use of 100% seawater and the use of all renewable energy, to mention a few examples. Today, following this same trajectory, we are inaugurating a project that puts us at the forefront of technology and innovation, and that contributes to safety, sustainability and competitiveness,” said the General Manager of Minera Centinela, Carlos Espinoza, during the ceremony held at the site.
For Iván Arriagada, Executive President of Antofagasta Minerals, “there is a myth that autonomy means less work, and we have realised with this project that, on the contrary, what it allows is a tremendous opportunity for development and improvement in skills and capabilities of our teams. A large part of the people who work autonomously with us today are those who previously operated a conventional fleet.”
Along these lines, at the inauguration ceremony, the authorities present highlighted the efforts to implement this transformational project that made Centinela the first Antofagasta Minerals company to train people with skills required for automation and to have safer sites.
“This generation of new jobs, which come to prepare people for the mining of the future -which is already present- undoubtedly makes us very satisfied and also leaves us with great challenges to continue generating training, which is consistent to the workforce that is currently required in mining,” stressed Camila Cortés, Minister of Labour and Social Welfare of Antofagasta.
The project execution plan had five stages, all accompanied by a Change Management Plan to ensure the adaptation and preparation of the people involved. “Just as the safety of people is one of the great benefits of this project given its lower exposure to risk, the initiative also allows boosting productivity by improving key indicators for competitiveness, such as the effective use and greater durability of equipment. teams. Esperanza Sur represents a part of Minera Centinela’s plans. The next step is to scale this system in its new pits to face more challenging production scenarios and the ongoing competitiveness challenges of the industry.”
