As part of the Winter Climate Contingency Plan of Codelco El Teniente Division, representatives of the Quilamuta Residents' Association and the Hijuelas de Pincha Rural Drinking Water Association visited the Carén reservoir facilities in the commune of Alhué. This program of visits aims to publicize the international safety standards in tailings management that the company has signed up to.

During the day, attendees toured the El Teniente Dam, Tailings and Water Resources management where they observed real-time monitoring of the reservoir's operations and resolved doubts about technical aspects, data, indicators and projections.

Cristián Sanhueza, director of Community Development at El Teniente, explained that “we wanted to invite the neighbors so that they would feel calm in the face of climate emergencies. The idea is to maintain contact and regular visits to the reservoir. We will continue with visits and the doors are open to the community, to give them peace of mind and show the standards that the Division meets.”

María Paz Fuenzalida, president of the APR Las Hijuelas, stressed that “there is always an invitation, and we are happy because seeing how they work gives us peace of mind. At Codelco they listen to us, we are well received and that gives us confidence that things are being done well.”

International requirements for tailings management

Thanks to its commitment to sustainability, last year Codelco met the requirements of the Global Mining Tailings Management Standard (GISTM) at both corporate and divisional levels. This standard includes 77 requirements covering various aspects such as design, operation, governance and communities, among others.

Germán Sandoval, manager of the Division's Dams, Tailings and Water Resources, explained that "it is a standard that almost all mining companies in the world adhere to. El Teniente is part of that community and therefore we adhere to that model. This implies that we are prepared, and we constantly verify this together with regional and local authorities."

The GISTM is a result of the Global Tailings Review, convened in 2019 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) and the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM).

This standard is supplemented by periodic reviews and maintenance, the instrumentation of tailings to maintain online records of their activities and levels, and checks such as those carried out annually by the Independent Tailings Review Board (ITRB), made up of international experts.