The SMI-ICE-Chile office in Santiago reopens

The ICE-Chile team have kept in touch virtually during the lock-down

After a prolonged period of lockdown, the Chilean government has started a gradual easing of restrictions, and the SMI-ICE-Chile office in Santiago has finally reopened, giving the team an opportunity for face to face conversations.

The lockdown of various Chilean regions meant re-structuring the way the SMI staff in Chile operate. They have worked hard to ensure internal communications are regular and active, and engagement with local partners maintained and effective. While some projects that required site-based work have been delayed because of the pandemic, a shift to desktop-level activities has enabled project progression to continue and new initiatives to be identified, all in close association with colleagues across the respective disciplines in the Brisbane office.

Webinars have become ubiquitous, and as part of the SMI Webinar series, Doug Aitken presented an overview of the Codelco El Teniente project on the future management of water and tailings. This will also be presented through the Chile-Australia Chamber of Commerce (Auscham) in the near future. Romke Kuyvenhoven presented “New professionals for the new mining industry” at the Chilean Mining Chamber’s colloquium focused on learning about research and postgraduate study opportunities. She will also share her thoughts on “Impact of Technological Development and Innovation on Increased Sustainability in the Global Mining Industry” at an event hosted by Universidad de Chile’s MBA program.

Several Chilean thesis students are scheduled to work with SMI-ICE-Chile and SMI mentors in the next few months, strengthening the network of relationships with local universities.

Through its interdisciplinary and partnership research model, new areas and opportunities where the Centre could provide added value to the local ecosystem continue to be identified. Like water, dust - its sources, measurement and control – is a topic that has touch points across all SMI Centre disciplines. The recent success of Camilo Rodríguez in the BHP Expande Zero Dust Challenge has stimulated a lot of industry interest in the SMI and is an example of a fully integrated project area ripe for development.