Chile’s mining industry — a vanguard in climate change adaptation

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The persistent and proactive adaptation of Chile’s mining sector to these evolving climatic conditions has not only fortified its resilience but also established the nation’s mining industry as a vanguard in climate change adaptation, largely attributable to the innovative strategies implemented by its engineering, consulting and construction firms.

Heavy rainfall in 2023 dampened productivity efforts. State-owned Codelco suffered losses of 7,000 t in 2023— 2,000 t from the El Teniente mine and 5,000 t from the Andina mine—due to June’s heavy rainfall. “The flooding increased operating costs by 10%, and reduced annual production by 5%,” highlighted Juan Ignacio Guzmán, CEO at GEM Mining Consulting.

Heavy rainfall is not uncommon in Chile, given the region’s exposure to the El Niño phenomenon, which disturbs normal weather patterns, leading to periods of intense precipitation in some areas and drought in others. Yet recent years have seen heightened effects of the changing climate.

“The El Niño phenomenon has existed for centuries since it has to do with the heating of the water and currents. The difference today is that these processes are happening more quickly. Before the climate would fluctuate between the El Niño and La Niña phenomenon every few years. Now, the climate alternates between these two phenomena twice in the same year. It is not that there are new events, but rather these events will be more intense. Rains will be more intense. The heat will be more intense. The industry must manage its design criteria to associate with this intensity,” said Mario Lazo Emparanza, regional manager at Knight Piésold.

An example was seen in 2023. “In 2023, recorded rainfall at Minera Valle Central (MVC) was 780 mm, which is around six times more than we experienced in 2019,” said Aurora Davidson, CEO at Amerigo Resources.

Amerigo Resources produces copper and molybdenum through its wholly-owned subsidiary MVC, utilizing waste materials from El Teniente. “Given the impact of the rains, MVC saw a 10% drop in production in 2023 in comparison with 2022.”

Disruptions at MVC have the potential to be devastating, as it is the direct link between the El Teniente mine and tailings deposit. Adaptive measures, therefore, were implemented. “We installed flotation equipment around the pipes that connect Cauquenes to our plant. We wrapped kilometers of pipe infrastructure in protective equipment. Without these measures, the flooding incident would have necessitated a complete halt in production from Cauquenes,” said Davidson.

To operate in the future, climate change mitigation will not be a choice, but a necessity, said Carolina Páez, mining manager at WSP: “Rains and floods are going to happen with higher frequency and intensity. Visible effects of climate change are bringing the industry to agree with our vision; projects must be designed with the effects of a changing climate considered.”

At WSP this consideration has become a methodology called Future Ready, said Juan Ignacio Ríos the firm’s general manager: “Future Ready is WSP’s global innovation and sustainability framework. It enables us to design to both the current code and for our future world.”

Ausenco is also helping clients understand the long-term impacts of changes in climate on the design and operation of mines. According to Florencio Castro, the president of minerals and metals in South America: “Chilean clients have been very proactive in addressing these issues, and we see many operations already taking steps to mitigate those risks.”

Heads or tail-ings Floods are not the only climate change induced phenomenon Chile’s miners have to adapt to. The country has officially been in drought since 2010— water availability is down 37% in the last 30 years and is predicted to drop by 50% in northern and central Chile by 2060. Lack of water supply led Anglo American’s Los Bronces production to drop 32% to 57,200 t/y in 2023. Scarcity induces change. “Chilean engineering firms are helping reduce water consumption, using water recirculation in the plant, covering industrial pools to reduce evaporation, and exploring new supply sources such as desalinated water,” listed Iván Rayo Villanueva, general manager at JRI Ingeniería. “However,” he continued, “these solutions also have limitations in terms of cost and availability.

To mitigate water loss, Anglo-American’s Los Bronces operation tasked LEN Ingeniería with preventing water evaporation from tailings tanks, resulting in the world’s first floating solar plant on a tailings tank. “This innovation links an environmentally questionable area with a green solution, making use of otherwise wasted and contaminated space” said Julian Alvear Fernandez, the CEO. “Covering the tailings tank with floaters can save up to 80% of water,” he continued.

Other mines are also exploring alternatives to mitigate water loss. Luis Arcos, mining leader and key account manager of BHP at Stantec, said: “One way is through minimizing the size of tailings deposits. At Spence (BHP), for example, tailings deposits were designed in cells, which reduces the amount of evaporation that will occur.”

Chile’s miners are also adopting alternatives such as paste, co-disposal, filtered, or thickened tailings. Dry stack tailings permit the recovery of the maximum amount of recycled water. At Anglo American’s El Soldado 150,000 cubic meter Hydraulic Dewatered Stacking tailings facility water recovery measured 80%. “However,” said Arcos, “a challenge with filtered tailings is their lower production rate compared to standard mining operations. The largest filters can process 20,000 t/d, meaning multiple units are required to scale up to the operational volumes typical of major mines, such as 200,000 t/d.”

“Instead,” noted Andrade, “large-scale copper mining is exploring alternatives such as thickened tailings – a middle-ground technology that reduces water content by approximately 10%.”

Another alternative, being used at Mantos Blancos (Capstone Copper), is tailings treatment plants that use hydro-dewatering screens. Dolores Requena, general manager at ERAL, said: “This circuit offers several advantages compared to conventional methods, such as paste thickeners and belt filters. It is more economical and cleaner, with low energy consumption and maintenance, and enables the recovery of a significantly larger volume of water.”

Desalination has gained traction as a viable solution to counteract the water crisis, which will be explored in depth in the subsequent article.

Solutions in action More frequent and severe extreme climate events increase the vulnerability of infrastructure and escalate annual maintenance costs. Systra-subterra developed Climateplus, a web-based solution to anticipate the evolution of long-term climate conditions according to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change scenarios and validated climate models. “This tool evaluates the impact of climate change on specific geographical locations by varying temperature parameters, wind speed, and other climatic indicators to ensure our designs are resilient to climate impacts,” explained José Miguel Galera, CEO of Systra-subterra, a part of the Systra group.

Climate change adaptation means taking decisive steps, says Andrea Casciano, country director and vice president operations Chile at Worley: “Our ambition is to be recognized globally as a leader in sustainability solutions in the next five years, and for that we have a global target of deriving 75% of our revenue from sustainability related work by 2026.”

Equans extends the option of change to their clients. Diego Clavería, the company’s chief commercial officer, said: “Equans has integrated the option of reforestation into all its technical and commercial proposals as a core environmental initiative through tree planting efforts in Patagonia. Every proposal we submit includes a commitment to mitigate CO2 emissions generated by our fleet, which currently comprises 800 vehicles.”

Expertise kindled in the mining industry can be used to drive change. Cummins Chile collaborates with the Nature Conservancy Chile on a project for water resilience in the Maipo basin. Miguel Flores, the general manager, said: “Cummins invested US$450,000 over 18 months in this project, leveraging technologies and telemetry to monitor key wetland variables remotely. It involved applying the technology developed for the mining industry to wetland conservation, demonstrating Cummins’ dedication to safeguarding vital natural resources.”

Mining’s climate strategy: more women Adapting to climate change across the industry requires substantial shifts in its foundational structure, including increasing the representation of women in leadership roles. A study from BloombergNEF indicates that companies with higher female representation on their boards tend to enhance energy efficiency, lower environmental impacts, and invest more in renewable energy. Furthermore, women-led firms are more proactive in reducing emissions and achieve superior ESG scores compared to those led by men, according to a study by the European Investment Bank.

According to Ailie MacAdam, president of mining and metals at Bechtel: “Effective leadership of diverse teams leads to better outcomes. Female leaders often understand what it is like to feel excluded and can foster an inclusive culture where everyone can thrive.”

MacAdam is right. In February 2024, copper giant BHP reached 40% female participation across its Chilean operations and performed a study to measure the effects. According to the analysis, the teams with more women increased productivity by 11%, in addition to creating more inclusive, safe, creative, and high-performing spaces.

These findings underscore the potential leadership role of the Chilean mining industry in global climate initiatives in mining. The industry-wide average of female participation reached 14.8% in 2022, above the global average of 12%.

However, in Latin America, women only occupy 11.2% of leadership positions in publicly traded mining and metals companies, according to an analysis by S&P Global. To confront climate change this will have to change, but optimism abounds.

“I am very proud to have been chosen as the first female CEO in the company’s more than 60-year history. As both the CEO of Sigdo Koppers Ingeniería y Construcción and as national counselor in the Chilean Chamber of Construction, I see a transformation of culture at the national level, with Sigdo Koppers acting as a pioneer,” said Caroline Vender. “The company trained nearly 6,000 women, encompassing professionals, frontline leaders, supervisors, and direct labor. Notably, we have initiated female welding programs in Brazil and Chile, along with electrical training initiatives,” she added.

“Increasing female representation is a choice,” highlighted Agustín Cabañas, general manager at R&Q Ingeniería, a firm that achieved 25% female participation in 2023. “It involves training and including women in all aspects of operations. In recruitment processes, there always must be a female option. This approach opens the door for either gender to be selected, moving beyond a male-dominated selection process. It is about making a conscious decision to hire a specific number of women. Mining companies, like BHP, are openly committing to women constituting 40% of new hires. This policy is not just a statement; it is a deliberate strategy to ensure gender diversity.”

The climate will continue to change, and its effects will heighten across the globe. Chile serves as an example to the global mining community: to move forward the industry must adapt.

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