On the visit of the highest representatives of the University of Queensland, the Australian Ambassador to our country, Andrew Martin, together with SMI-ICE-Chile, received prominent figures from the mining and academic worlds at his diplomatic residence, including the Minister of Mining, Aurora Williams.
Once again, the Australian Embassy in Chile opened the doors of its residence to build bridges between Australia and Chile.
The reception was hosted by the Australian Ambassador to Chile and Ecuador, Andrew Martin, and brought together approximately 50 guests, including the Minister of Mining, Aurora Williams; the President of Sonami, Jorge Riesco; the Vice-Rector of International Affairs at the PUC, María Montt; the Executive Director of the Clean Technologies Institute, Patricio Aguilera; the Vice-President of Mining Resources, Development, and Innovation at CODELCO, Julio Díaz; the Manager of Climate Action at Codelco, Pablo Contreras Silva; the Dean of Engineering at the Universidad del Desarrollo, Fernando Rojas; Alejandro Palma Rioseco, from the Queensland Trade and Investment Commissioner for Latin America; the Country Manager of Río Tinto, María Soledad Jeria; and the General Manager of Mitsubishi, Shu Kato.
Representing the University of Queensland (UQ) were its President and Vice Chancellor, Professor Deborah Terry; Peter Varguese, Chancellor; Brett Lovegrove, Pro-Chancellor; Kayla Warner, Manager of Strategy and Partnerships; Rick Valenta, Director of the Sustainable Minerals Institute; and Mark Noppé, CEO of JKTech, a UQ-affiliated technology company.
The SMI-ICE-Chile team was represented by its Executive Director, Doug Aitken; its General Manager, Francisca Rivero; and leaders from the Center’s work streams.
In his welcome to the UQ mission, the Australian Ambassador to Chile highlighted the strong ties between Australia and Chile, particularly in the areas of education, one of the most fluid in the Oceanic country internationally, and responsible mining, where the collaboration between UQ and SMI-ICE-Chile demonstrates the strength of this relationship.
Deborah Terry, UQ Vice Chancellor, thanked the embassy and Trade and Investment Queensland for their valuable support of UQ’s work in Chile, and highlighted Chile’s efforts to promote responsible mining. «Your leadership,» she said, pointing to the minister, «in promoting sustainable mining is widely recognized, and as a university, we are honored by the collaboration we maintain in the responsible production of natural resources (…) We are firmly committed to continuing to strengthen our collaboration with Chile, and what SMI-ICE-Chile has achieved certainly reinforces this commitment.»
Addressing the Minister of Mining, the Chancellor also highlighted the enormous progress made by Chile in integrating women into the mining industry. «Chile today has 23% female representation in this industry, and Australia has 22%… It’s impressive! Congratulations!»
The Minister of Mining, Aurora Williams, concluded by highlighting the enormous bonds of friendship between the two countries and their long-standing shared mining tradition. «Chile has always looked to Australia as a mining benchmark,» she noted. «We have had ties with the University of Queensland for years; the fact that its center of excellence is located in Chile and has more than 30 projects under development speaks to the strength of this relationship.»
The highest authority on national mining added that Chile’s challenge goes beyond being the world’s largest copper producer and the second-largest producer of lithium. «We must be a reliable partner and a responsible producer for the global market of these critical minerals,» he stated. «In this sense, the link between Australian and Chilean academia is undoubtedly very fruitful. Addressing climate change requires more mining, but responsible mining, with traceability, with measurement of the water and carbon footprint. We must be able to generate secondary mining through our tailings and mining that builds social ties with the territories (…) One of the greatest challenges facing industry today is defining governance for the national lithium strategy, a social task where UQ can undoubtedly support us. It is in these areas that we have great opportunities for collaboration, especially because the standards for national mining activity will be the standards for global mining.»
