The sustainable development is a priority for Codelco, a company that produces future.

For the Corporación Nacional del Cobre de Chile, a business administration based on sustainability should combine an environmental, economic and social performance. The sustainable development in the productive activities is considered by Codelco as a value source.

The structure of the company shows the strategic value that Codelco assigns to the sustainable development. The Corporation has a Vice Presidency of Operational Excellence, Promotion and Sustainability, which is in charge of four corporate managements: Sustainable Development, Environmental Management and Sustainability, Market Developments and Operational Excellence.

The Sustainable Development Policy of Codelco, approved in June 2003, established that the commitment with the sustainable development and the social responsibility is an integral part of the business project. This is entailed in an administration directed to achieve, simultaneously, an adequate profitability over the invest capital, the concern for the employees, the environmental protection, the access to the markets and the acceptance and respect of the community.

This issue is especially important for a company dedicated to the mining industry, a productive activity that is generally associated to a high environmental impact. Nonetheless, the introduction of new technologies, the need of a better efficiency, the new requirements of markets sensitized by environmental aspects and the demands of a society that is more and more interested in its environment, has also influenced the mining business, and many companies are insisting in achieving a clean production.

At Codelco, the activities in that direction were assumed since the first half of the nineties, just when the demands for sustainable development became more and more persisting. Currently, sustainability is a basic part of the Company's activities.