While the heart of the mining process takes place in the Mine, Plant and Smelter, in Rancagua, dozens of kilometers from the industrial area, is the Integrated Operations Center (CIO), the brain of the remote operation with which Codelco División El Teniente promotes the safety of its workers and the improvement of their productivity and competitiveness.

This cutting-edge technology improves coordination, optimizes processes and increases production. It reached the O'Higgins 2023 Business Meeting, which was held at the Monticello Casino facilities.

Nelson Cantillana Flores, operator of the CIO Room, talked about his experience as the person in charge of explaining to the public how the innovation works. “It has been a rewarding and enriching experience due to the interest shown by people in learning about our work. Most of the attendees were surprised to see that we operate the equipment from dozens of kilometres away,” he explained.

“The important thing is that the public knows and understands that automation represents a key contribution in terms of safety, since it allows workers to be removed from areas with exposure to risk, in addition to increasing productivity,” added Cantillana.

El Teniente's Sustainability and External Affairs Manager, Germán Sandoval, explained that “automation is one of the fundamental pillars for the disruptive leap that we need. Technology advances so quickly that it pushes us to challenge ourselves and see how to implement it more quickly. In the CIO Room we are advancing in automated monitoring, providing more and better safety at work for workers with more efficient technologies and international standards.”