Technological Foundation for Mining

PROJECTS

 

During 2017, the Technological Foundation for Mining focused its management on identifying and developing articulation and facilitation activities aimed at promoting R & D + i technology transfer projects, focusing on the challenges of the industry, particularly in the field of productivity, security, cost management, operational continuity and sustainability. In this context, we collaborated with universities, research centers and companies in various application processes for programs financed by the Development Corporation (Corfo), in the line of strategic public goods for competitiveness, as well as in the programs of the Commission National Scientific and Technological Research (Conicyt).

As part of the 2017 activities, two cooperation agreements were signed, work was carried out with the Alta Ley Program and actions were carried out to link with various institutions such as the Ministry of Mining, Corfo and research centers in order to facilitate and collaborate in the concretion of R&D projects towards the mining industry.

 

PARTICIPATION IN R&D PROJECTS IN PROGRESS

 

During 2017, the SONAMI Foundation worked on the formulation of the project “Somos Minería”, an initiative aimed at creating educational material that can be used in the teaching-learning process of basic and secondary education, meeting the learning objectives defined in the Ministry's Programs. of Education.

This project seeks to contribute to increasing the knowledge, understanding and appreciation of Chileans towards the mining sector, starting this process from the school classroom. This will raise awareness and educate students in Chile and the community as a whole regarding the mining industry in our country. To do this, it contemplates the enabling of a digital platform with educational material and methodological guidelines, which allows teachers and students to work on content aligned to the national curriculum in the context of mining. In parallel, a set of training, dissemination and transfer actions will be developed for the beneficiaries under an associative management model that will make the project sustainable over time.

 

SMALL MINING ADVISORY PROGRAM

 

In conjunction with the Universidad Tecnológica de Chile – INACAP, Copiapó headquarters, the first stage of the Cerro Negro project was carried out, the objective of which is to help raise productivity and safety standards for the producers who operate the field with this name, and that they belong to the Chañaral Mining Association.

The first stage of this initiative, which was executed between the months of October and December 2017, consisted of raising gaps and opportunities for improvement in the areas of extractive processes, security, and facilities. In this phase, the team of professionals and specialists from INACAP Copiapó together with students from the careers of Mining Engineering and Risk Prevention, made three visits to the site that allowed the identification and evaluation of a total of 17 extractive operations . As a result of this work, an Evaluation and Recommendations Report was delivered to each producer. The next stage of the project will consist of formulating improvement projects that allow the identified improvement gaps and opportunities to be closed.

 

CORFO PROGRAM OF PILOTING CENTERS AND VALIDATION OF TECHNOLOGIES FOR MINING

 

In the framework of the call made by Corfo's Technological Capabilities Management for the award of the Mining Technology Pilotage and Validation Centers, the Technological Foundation actively participated by collaborating in dissemination and evaluation activities of the proposals. Initially, the Program was presented to the SONAMI Medium Mining Committee, whose members had the opportunity to learn about the scope of this initiative. It also participated in a dissemination workshop of the Program held in Corfo, where the vision of SONAMI and the industry was presented in relation to technological challenges and the relevance of installing local capacities to be able to tackle them. Additionally, the Foundation integrated the evaluation panel made up of representatives of various entities related to the industry. As a result of this process, Corfo decided to award the subsidy to the two pre-selected consortiums, incorporating some adjustments and reformulations, in order to take advantage of the complementary strengths and capacities of both proposals. In this context, the award of the program to the National Mining Technology Piloting Center (M2TC), a consortium led by the University of Chile, and to the Integrated Mining Technology Piloting Center (CIPTEMIN), a consortium led by the Catholic University, was approved. from North. Finally, and as part of the award, both teams were required to work on a unique “certification seal” at the national level, validated with the mining industry and with international approval. incorporating some adjustments and reformulations, in order to take advantage of the complementary strengths and capabilities of both proposals. In this context, the award of the program to the National Mining Technology Piloting Center (M2TC), a consortium led by the University of Chile, and to the Integrated Mining Technology Piloting Center (CIPTEMIN), a consortium led by the Catholic University, was approved. from North. Finally, and as part of the award, both teams were required to work on a unique “certification seal” at the national level, validated with the mining industry and with international approval. incorporating some adjustments and reformulations, in order to take advantage of the complementary strengths and capabilities of both proposals. In this context, the award of the program to the National Mining Technology Piloting Center (M2TC), a consortium led by the University of Chile, and to the Integrated Mining Technology Piloting Center (CIPTEMIN), a consortium led by the Catholic University, was approved. from North. Finally, and as part of the award, both teams were required to work on a unique “certification seal” at the national level, validated with the mining industry and with international approval. The award of the program to the National Mining Technology Piloting Center (M2TC), a consortium led by the University of Chile, and to the Integrated Mining Technology Piloting Center (CIPTEMIN), a consortium led by the Catholic University of the North, were approved. Finally, and as part of the award, both teams were required to work on a unique “certification seal” at the national level, validated with the mining industry and with international approval. The award of the program to the National Mining Technology Piloting Center (M2TC), a consortium led by the University of Chile, and to the Integrated Mining Technology Piloting Center (CIPTEMIN), a consortium led by the Catholic University of the North, were approved. Finally, and as part of the award, both teams were required to work on a unique “certification seal” at the national level, validated with the mining industry and with international approval.

 

OPEN INNOVATION PLATFORM IN MEDIUM MINING

 

In order to link and publicize the Open Mining Innovation Platform, this program managed by Fundación Chile was presented to the SONAMI Medium Mining Committee. This program aims to identify and characterize technological challenges so that they can be addressed by suppliers or applied research centers, thus achieving an effective response to industry problems. This instance made it possible to publicize this program, which is part of the initiatives that have emerged under the “Alta Ley” National Strategic Mining Program, and to identify opportunities for collaboration and joint work.