In its commitment to promote education and human capital, El Teniente welcomed 148 students of mining specialties from the following high schools: Machalí; Francisco Antonio Encina, from Las Cabras; Ernesto Pinto Lagarrigue; Bernardo O'Higgins Polytechnic; and Presidente Pedro Aguirre Cerda, from Rancagua, to do their internships at the Division.

Ignacio Salinas, acting manager of Human Resources at the copper company, explained that “this is an activity aimed at communities, in which high schools from different towns in the region participate. Students receive training and present a final project. Its objective is to motivate them with mining careers so that in the future they can join the workforce in this industry.”

During the meeting, it was highlighted that female participation reached 43%. “We are satisfied because it has been a beneficial process. As a Division, we had the opportunity to welcome and meet a group of young people from our neighboring community. In turn, they have taken advantage of this opportunity to learn and become more familiar with this industry,” said Germán Sandoval, Sustainability and External Affairs Manager at El Teniente.

The regional secretary of Education, Alyson Hadad, said that “it has been a very successful process. It is about highlighting the importance of technical-professional education, where we provide development opportunities at an intermediate level of teaching. This approach seeks to meet the growing demand for highly trained technicians in our country, with a particular emphasis on the O'Higgins region.”

On the final day, students presented group work they developed during their internship and the most outstanding students were recognized.

María Fernanda Márquez, a student at the Bernardo O'Higgins Mining Technology Institute, explained that “I specialize in extractive metallurgy, but this internship allowed me to learn about other topics such as underground mines and open-pit mines. I got out of my comfort zone, learned new things and met classmates.”

For Waldo Aliaga, a student at the Francisco Antonio Encina Armanet High School in Las Cabras, “it is a source of pride to have been part of one of the largest copper producers in the world. I believe that these processes are important to motivate more young people to work in the mining sector.”

Arianna Gil, a student at the Bernardo O'Higgins Mining Technological Institute, said that “this was an experience that enriched me as a person. These internships help me because they allow me to explore the world of work, reaffirm what I want to do in the future and acquire knowledge empirically.”

The program lasted 240 hours of theoretical and practical training. In six modules, students learned about metallurgical mining production processes, operations in underground mines, concentrator plants, smelting, the Sewell Pit mine, safety management, health, operational risks and effective communication.