“My great-grandfather was a railway worker in Sewell. My grandfather was a shovel operator and an engine driver on the Rancagua – Sewell train. My father, Ambrosio, was also a shovel operator on the Coya – Rancagua route and later worked in the mine. I continued this family continuity as a railway worker,” he says.

What is your job about?

I am a dispatcher for the trains that transport the mineral. I work both at the Integrated Operations Center in Rancagua and at the repeater we have in the dispatch room inside the mine.

Here we have four trains with twelve 50-tonne wagons, which transport the mineral from intermediate stations to the emptying stations. The pace is intense: coordinating maintenance, controlling trains, watching the track-changing personnel who are on the ground, and also coordinating the “burnings”, which are the explosions we carry out so that the manholes continue to have emptying capacity. In addition, we control 60-tonne trucks for the exploitation of the northern sector of Esmeralda.

Finally, the dispatching action is similar to that of an airplane controller. At an airport, airplanes take off and land after consulting the controller in the control tower. Here it is the same, but with the railroad, which transports the mineral. All traffic coordination is done through the dispatcher.

How did you come to El Teniente?

I arrived in 1986 as a student on an internship at the concentrator plant in Colón. I have already spent 36 years in the El Teniente Division. I finished my six months as a student and applied to become what in those years they called the 'day laborers'. I was 19 years old when I entered the mine, my first position in the mine was in sector 4 North, where I stayed for about three months until they sent me to the Railroad, in 5 North. That's how I had the experience of getting to know mining.

In the 90s I started taking the course to operate LHD (front loaders) and I worked in a new mine in those years, called Quebrada Teniente, where I learned more about the railroad and I went for that specialization, because I was always interested and I liked it, and I come from a railroad family.

What do you like most about your job?

Interaction with colleagues. Communication is good today, we understand each other very well, which makes everyone do their job as they should, in accordance with procedures and safety, and this allows for a favorable work environment so that things go well.

How would you describe all these years you have spent at El Teniente?

When I joined, they were just doing tests with the first computers to begin automating some areas. We walked around with the shovel on our shoulders, we loaded it manually and we went in to clean the area to clear the train tracks. Today there is equipment that allows us to clean the areas mechanically and we operate with autonomous trains.

Over the years, I have been fortunate that the administration has given me the opportunities to get to where I am. I am passionate about working here. El Teniente is everything in my life, because I started at 19, with no expectations, I was a skinny kid, and I saw the immensity of the mine with all the equipment of that time and the number of people who welcomed us in a good way. El Teniente has given me everything and also thanks to that effort and his, my son was able to study, so I feel proud to belong to this Corporation.

What does it mean to you to work for a company like Codelco, which delivers its surpluses to all Chileans?

I feel proud to belong to this company. On a personal level, I always say that we have tried to do things well. Our production, our company contributes to Chile and its future, to the new generations and in a clean way, with an administration focused on sustainability and that is evident.