Q&A – ‘Chile’s geological potential, the same as Peru, make both very attractive’ (bnamericas.com – November 9, 2020)

https://www.bnamericas.com/en/

Johannesburg-based Gold Fields is advancing with two projects in South America, extending the life of the Cerro Corona mine in Cajamarca, Peru to 2030, and the Salares Norte project in Chile’s Atacama region.

BNamericas talked to Luis Rivera, executive VP for the Americas at Gold Fields, about how the pandemic affected the Peruvian operation as well as the Chilean gold project, what kind of changes the company has implemented amid the digital transformation of the industry and how the company sees the copper price outlook.

BNamericas: What has been the pandemic’s effect on Salares Norte and Cerro Corona?

Rivera: Since March, as a consequence of the pandemic and government restrictions, we’ve been coordinating with health authorities in Peru, but once we received permits operations resumed and now we’re 100% operational.

In Chile it was the same. Despite the pandemic, in October we started pioneering works at [Salares Norte]. We also finished the first phase of the mine camp which has capacity for 750 people and started work on phase 2. That must be finished at the beginning of 1Q21.

BNamericas: The workforce was reduced during the pandemic?

For the rest of this interview: https://www.bnamericas.com/en/interviews/chiles-geological-potential-the-same-as-peru-make-both-very-attractive