Just a few days away from celebrating its 119th anniversary (April 29), Codelco División El Teniente has established itself as a world leader in underground mining, standing out for its innovation and the use of cutting-edge technology in its operations.

More than a century after pick and shovel miners began drilling the first tunnels, experts from all over the world have come to learn in detail about the processes developed in the mine located in the mountain range of the O'Higgins Region.

Coinciding with the meeting of the International Organizing Committee of the 105th World Mining Congress (WMC) and the week of the Center for Copper and Mining Studies (Cesco Week) that took place between April 15 and 19, various experts wanted to learn about El Teniente's way of working.

The President of the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM); a delegation from the United States Defense University; the Undersecretary of Mines of India; representatives of the mining companies Elcowire and Boliden (Sweden), Southwire (United States); the London Metal Exchange and the multinational Metso, saw the progress of the largest underground mine in the world on site.

Shri VL Kantha Rao, Minister of Mining of India, who met with Codelco Chairman Máximo Pacheco, highlighted that his visit was focused on “exploring potential opportunities and fostering collaboration in business creation initiatives”.

“The global mining industry wants to learn from the experience of these 119-plus years because this deposit has been through all the challenges and all the variations in mining methods, fortifications and has learned the lessons,” said Rohitesh Dhawan, president of ICMM.

One of the challenges in underground mining today is to process harder rocks in more geologically complex environments. In this context, the block caving mining system, its lower associated costs and increased competitiveness compared to open pit mining, have attracted the attention of the industry as an alternative to exploit the deep resources of these deposits.

“Codelco División El Teniente, with more than a century of knowledge and experience in underground mining, has become a world leader in this field, at a time when many open-pit mines are evolving to underground operations,” explained Alicia Reyes, Head of Public and Corporate Affairs at El Teniente.

In addition to visiting the underground mine, people from all over the world come to the facilities of the El Teniente Integrated Operations Center, located in Rancagua.

“This center is an example of the mining of the future. Here we see the permanent innovation with which Codelco operates; the company's capacity to adopt new technologies that are not only at the service of productivity and a more efficient use of mineral resources, but also contribute to the safety of workers and oversee the care of the environment,” Reyes added.

During 2023, El Teniente received 56 corporate visits from mining institutions and companies from America, Asia, Europe and Oceania.