Since its inception in 1998, the Mining Council has been linked to Expomin, as sponsor, exhibitor and as part of the Fair Organizing Committee.
Since he assumed as Superintendent of Administration in Codelco in 1975, until he began the presidency of the Mining Council in June 2004, the career of Francisco Costabal has been linked to the mining world.
His concerns and challenges have been widespread, for example the future of energy supply, water issues, the strengthening of good relations between workers and employees of industry and mining cluster consolidation, consolidating the Mining Council as a major organization for the Large Scale Mining, appreciated for its leadership in economic, environmental and social topics.
Today, the companies members of the Mining Council, which groups public and private mining companies in the Chilean, producers of copper, gold and silver, both domestic and foreign capital, represent over 20% of GDP and over 60% of country's total exports.
Expomin, a cascade of opportunities
"The Mining Council has participated since the beginning of Expomin as well as sponsor and exhibitor," says Francisco Costabal. "The fair is our partnership as we believe that it is an extremely important initiative for mining and for the country. As for our Mining Council booth at the fair this year, we are still in the planning stage but will certainly have a very strong presence and our 16 partner companies will also give coverage to the Miners of Chile campaign: "Beware, the wealth of Chile is you”, he adds.
In Expomin 2010 the Mining Council will spread the campaign 2009-2010 "Beware, the wealth of Chile is you," which seeks to strengthen the culture of care that daily governs in the work of miners. It must be underlined that security is an issue and a priority for the mining companies since they must manage and meet stringent global standards in this area. Thus it seeks to project the culture of care to the rest of society, strengthening security in different areas of daily life, such as using seat belts or protection against UV rays. "We believe in this campaign because it gives a positive message of confidence, which involves the whole society and makes us responsible for taking care of each other," says Costabal.
- What is the contribution of the Fair Expomin to the Mining Council?
- Mining Fair Expomin is a cascade of opportunities for both suppliers and customers of the mining companies that are members of the Mining Council. In Expomin there are, among other things, new technologies that serve the mining sector, new products and important information like face to face meetings, forums and business conferences. It also allows us to position ourselves in the concert of Latin American nations as a sector, so we can reaffirm the concept of Chile, a mining country. Expomin is attended by the largest global mining suppliers and this is directly related to the fact that Chile considered a country of very high mineral potential.
- What are the expectations of the Mining Council for Expomin 2010, as space of confluence of the major providers and public bodies and private sector?
- Expomin is an excellent opportunity to raise awareness of the mining sector and the institution we are. The fair is important for Mining Council in order to make known who are our partners. All this take place in front of an audience that is interested in the mining sector and also represents much of the value chain of mining.
- What are the problems and challenges of the mining sector in the coming years?
- The mining sector has several challenges in the coming years, which occupy much of the agenda of the Mining Council. For example: mining compete today in a global market with increasing structural costs. That fact presses us to reduce our costs without losing our competitive level. Other important challenge is the increasing concern about the future sustainability of water and energy diversification in the country. We must also continue to support exploration in Chile and continue the progress of research and development of advanced technology. Finally, I must mention the importance of continuing to support the creation of a strong and consolidated mining cluster, an area in which fairs are very important, like Expomin and Exponor.
- In the context of next Expomin, which takes place in the Bicentennial, what is your assessment of "Chile Mining Country" in this decade, compared to the previous.
- Our assessment of this "Chile Mining Country" is very good, basically because we are aware of the importance of this sector, its contributions to the country (both in monetary and social, among others) and the standards that the mining has reached in important areas such as relations with communities, health and the environment. But I also add that we have upgraded the mining sector with government and parliamentary initiatives aimed to solve the major challenges of mining, such as the development of the competent person, the mine closure, the new environmental institutions and security performance (area in which we are certainly at the top of the productive sectors and where we give great importance to the care of people, as reflected in the campaign of the Mining Council, "Beware, the wealth of Chile is you ").
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