As part of their ongoing preparation to be the first line in the face of events that may occur in the underground mine, 30 members of the Emergency Brigade of the El Teniente Mines management were trained in the CABO Operators course, which consisted of acquiring knowledge about the characteristics and capabilities of the Paus Minca CABO 02 emergency truck for extinguishing fires.

The head of the brigade, Iván Silva Pozas, explained that “along with the theoretical tests for safe operation and driving of the equipment, the brigade members carried out a practice to operate and learn on the ground how the equipment behaves, so that they can see the dimensions and how it enters the different levels of the mine.”

The training allowed participants to learn how the CAF extinguishing system works, which uses foam water to fight fires involving combustible, flammable liquids, and also the equipment for fires based on dry chemical powder, which has a capacity of 250 kilos.

Sergio Ávila, expert mine maintenance technician and member of the brigade for 30 years and instructor of the course, explained that “we teach the operation of the equipment so that they know its movements and can fight an emergency. The truck has four-wheel drive and can move to any part of El Teniente. It has two fire fighting systems in its rear, where a 750-liter foam water system is incorporated, with a 50-meter-long hose. We also have the Anzul system, which is dry chemical powder, with 250 kilos, with a 30-meter-long hose.”

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Fernanda Bastías, operator of the Hauling unit of the Teniente 7 sector, valued the course and highlighted “that it is very important to know how to operate it in order to respond promptly to a fire in the mine. We have to be prepared to know where to use it, what to use it with, how to use it , and to deal with any emergency that may occur during one of the shifts.

“I work as a secondary reduction expert and joined the brigade last year. We are part of the new generation and we are taking advantage of these training opportunities to make our work more efficient in preventing and dealing with emergencies,” said César Llanca, operator at the Esmeralda mine.

The Mining Management Emergency Brigade is made up of more than 75 El Teniente workers, both from Operations and Maintenance from the different superintendencies in the area.