- The activity that was held at our University had the presence of Timothy Kane, the Australian Ambassador in Chile; Ian Satchwell, the Director of the International Mining for Development Centre of Australia; Dr. Aldo Saavedra, professor at the Department of Chemistry Engineering and other local experts, who analyzed the alternatives to develop mining extraction operations that care for both the environment and communities. During his speech, professor Satchwell said “We have learned many lessons from our mining experience in Australia that can be applied to the mining industry in Chile and Latin America; for example, the responsible water management, which should represent one of our main challenges”.
Chile and Australia are two of the major mining producers worldwide. Both countries have a vast experience in the mining extraction industry that can be shared with the aim of developing a sustainable mining industry that respects the environment and communities.
To face this challenge, on April 8th, our University held a panel discussion that was presented by the Australian Ambassador in Chile, Timothy Kane and had the presence of Ian Satchwell, Director of the International Mining for Development Centre of Australia; Isabel Marshall, Director of the Sustainability Committee of CESCO; Jorge Sanhueza, Manager of Environment and Communities of CODELCO; Matías Desmadryl, a lawyer expert in natural resources regulations, and Dr. Aldo Saavedra, professor at the Department of Chemistry Engineering of our University.
During the activity organized by the Australian Embassy in Chile and our Department of International and Inter-University Relations, Ambassador Kane valued the importance of this initiative and said that it was a “privilege” to have the opportunity of being at this international meeting “in one of the best educational institutions of Chile and, together with other experts, seek answers to common problems for both countries.”
This panel discussion- that took place at the Auditorium of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science- was also attended by professors and students of the Mining Engineering program of our University, who had the possibility of asking questions to the panelists.
During his speech, professor Ian Satchwell said “we have learned many lessons from our mining experience in Australia that can be applied to the mining industry in Chile and Latin America; for example, developing methods for responsible water management, which should represent one of our main challenges for the future of mining industry in the world.”
“Our main challenge is the responsible use of natural resources, understanding their real value. For example, the value that water has for people in our countries, as it is a very scarce good,” Stachwell said.
This panel discussion on the challenges faced by mining industry was held at Universidad de Santiago, in the context of CESCO Week, the World Copper Conference that took place in Santiago.
Academic partnerships
Carol Johnson, Head of the Department of International and Inter-University Relations of our University described the meeting as “successful” and informed that conversations tending to strengthen the academic links between Universidad de Santiago and Higher Education Institutions in Australia were started.
“Ambassador Ken met with President Zolezzi and expressed his interest in creating collaboration links regarding priority fields, like mining industry, exact sciences, engineering and international studies,” Johnson said.
She said that the activity “met the goals proposed and it indeed exceeded our expectations.”
“Through this activity, links were strengthened between Australia and our University. Also, it opened the possibility of having new meetings and bringing renowned foreign academics to address contingent matters of national interest, as sustainable mining industry, in this case. This debate is of interest to both our University and our country, which are important leaders in this field,” Carol Johnson concluded.
Translated by Marcela Contreras
