The Responsible Production and Mining Process Optimisation team began an important project with Antofagasta Minerals to increase energy and financial efficiency for the Centinela mining tailings pumping operation.
As part of the AMSA Centinela Energy Efficiency Project, the project aims to develop a stratified model to evaluate the sustainability of a new tailings pumping system at the Centinela operation, owned by Antofagasta Minerals.
The first stage took place today at the Antofagasta Minerals corporate building, with the goal of aligning the key areas involved in this energy efficiency process. To this end, a day-long strategic stratified economic evaluation workshop was held, with group work addressing the various variables involved: technical and operational aspects, safety, key indicators, and regulatory and corporate issues.
During this event, Claudio Rojas Fernández, Project Manager for this initiative on behalf of Minera Centinela, explained the magnitude of the challenge of achieving «a good technical and financial solution that makes sense for everyone.»
«The cheapest way to decarbonize is through energy efficiency… And we trust that this project will support us in this endeavor,» summarized Felipe Toro Vargas, Deputy Manager of Energy Efficiency at Minera Centinela.
Representing SMI-ICE-Chile, this workshop was led by Nathalie Jamett, leader of the Responsible Production and Mining Process Optimization area at SMI-ICE-Chile; José Alberto Ojeda Espinoza, a researcher in the area; and Carlos Cuello Ramírez, who facilitated this project. Also present was Doug Aitken, Executive Director of SMI-ICE-Chile, who thanked Antofagasta Minerals for its trust in developing this proposal.
«As part of the Sustainable Minerals Institute at The University of Queensland, we are driven by the search for solutions that contribute to responsible mining. Being able to collaborate with you on energy efficiency and decarbonization projects goes to the heart of our purpose and work, and we look forward to continuing to work together on these challenges.»
This project is aligned with the goal of meeting the highest sustainability standards, guided by Law 21,305 on Energy Efficiency, ISO 50001 Certification for Energy Management Systems, and Copper Mark Certification.
