Codelco presses ahead with automation plans to bolster copper production
2020-08-31 09:46:05 [Print]
Chile's state-owned Codelco will press ahead with plans to roll out automation of its mining operations as it seeks to maintain production levels into the future amid declining ore grades and the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, its chief executive said last Friday.
The progress of Codelco's digitalization agenda has strained relations with the unions because of the potential for technological advances reducing the need for manual labor.
Technological development is however critical to ensuring the longer-term viability of mining, Codelco CEO Octavio Araneda said in a seminar hosted in the capital Santiago.
Copper miners are struggling globally with the ongoing disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, while in Chile they are also facing a combination of declining ore grades and costly overhauls of aging mines.
"We are committed to a program of introducing autonomous trucks in the pits. That's a potent and challenging goal in terms of automation," he said.
Codelco, which delivers all its profits to the state, increased production by 4.7% in the first half of the year even as it reduced staffing and adjusted shift systems to slow the spread of the COVID-19 in its operations.
The progress of Codelco's digitalization agenda has strained relations with the unions because of the potential for technological advances reducing the need for manual labor.
Technological development is however critical to ensuring the longer-term viability of mining, Codelco CEO Octavio Araneda said in a seminar hosted in the capital Santiago.
Copper miners are struggling globally with the ongoing disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, while in Chile they are also facing a combination of declining ore grades and costly overhauls of aging mines.
"We are committed to a program of introducing autonomous trucks in the pits. That's a potent and challenging goal in terms of automation," he said.
Codelco, which delivers all its profits to the state, increased production by 4.7% in the first half of the year even as it reduced staffing and adjusted shift systems to slow the spread of the COVID-19 in its operations.
Copper Conc. TC 25%min CIF China
Unit:USD/mt
China copper concentrate producers' output statistics by province by month
Unit: mt
