A workshop to exchange good practices and learn about the main challenges associated with the transition from underground to open pit mining in terms of blasting, held by Codelco Salvador with the company Enaex.
The workshop is part of the transition process in which the Salvador Division is, after the exploitation of an underground mine for 63 years, they are now preparing for the entry into the operations of the Rajo Inca project, which will allow the life of the deposit to be. extended another 47 years.
Gonzalo Romero, superintendent of Drilling and Blasting at Codelco Salvador, explained that the main objective of this workshop is “to establish what will come to us as a challenge in the operation of Rajo Inca with the increase in the movement of extraction, open to new phases and management of minerals. Weigh all the improvement opportunities to be implemented, to guarantee the good fulfillment of our goals in the coming years. We have a great challenge in the areas in geotechnics, geology, operations, electronic initiation, productivity, costs and various technical issues, so it must sit down to communicate and build work plans with the best practices in the industry that support the an excellence. and contribute to the business of our Division.”
The workshop called “Exploring Technological Options in Open Pit Mining” had the participation of various exhibitors, with the intervention of the general manager of Codelco Salvador, Christian Toutin, who indicated that this opportunity comes to “strengthen and provide with all the actions that allow us to bring the blasting area to its highest performance, with challenging KPIs and achieve an efficient and effective process in this New Salvador.”
Luis Manríquez, head of the Enaex EMTS Fragmentation Unit, emphasized that “we have experience with all types of rock and conditions, we have people, supported areas, and this workshop is precisely part of the areas that support that we work on various contracts. . ., regarding technical, geological, geotechnical knowledge and of course, from the point of view of blasting engineering.”
