Between November 8 and 10 Enviromine-Srmining took place, for the first time joining the 5th International Seminar on Environmental Issues in Mining and the 4th International Conference on Social Responsibility in Mining. The union of both events was valued by the over 200 delegates, among which were mining companies and indigenous communities.
“The joining of both areas provided the possibility for participants to learn and interact with presentations outside their areas of focus, nonetheless related and of high relevance for their work,” emphasized the technical coordinator of Enviromine and Senior Consultant Environment / Mine Closure, Doina Priscu.
Likewise, the Chair of Enviromine-Srmining and Executive President of Alianza Valor Minero, Álvaro García, rated the idea of joining both conferences as a “wise choice,” since it “generates a common vision and creates a bridge between sustainability and inclusivity.”
The Conference was launched with an indigenous ceremony of Payment to the Earth led by the representatives from the communities of Alto Loa. The official inauguration included a presentation by the School Children’s Symphonic Orchestra of Ventanas, and the inaugural keynote “New Scenarios, New Challenges: Toward a Virtuous, Inclusive and Sustainable Mining for Chile" by Executive President of Alianza Valor Minero.
The program included 40 technical presentations by authors from 12 countries, 8 plenary presentations, and 2 panel discussions. On Thursday the discussion focused on “Community Dialogues in Alto Loa: Bridging Indigenous Leaders and Minera El Abra Together” where Carla Martínez, Community Dialogue Manager at Freeport McMoran, Minera El Abra, participated alongside representatives from Universidad Católica del Norte and the Communities of Chiu Chiu, Ollagüe and Cebollar Ascotán.
“The depth of the presentations, both national and international, surprised us with their high quality and status; specially for us as Valor Minero, since they align with the vision of development we have put forward in the last couple of years. I specifically want to point out the relevance of the presentations and interactions by communities and their declared goodwill to establish active dialogue processes, focused on the development of their territories,” commented Álvaro García.
“The primary issues that were prominent during the Conference were the constant concern by communities of preserving and understanding environmental aspects, and how they could contribute to the development of the project”, affirmed Doina Priscu.
The Conference closed with the panel discussion on "Sustainable Investment for a Responsible Mining", with panelists representing the Commerce Chamber of Santiago, EY Brazil, Chilean Ministry of Mining and Centro Vincular from PUCV. During the panel, participants had the opportunity to learn about opinions regarding the relevance given to environmental and social responsibility matters by investment officers.
