【Ferro-alloys.com】：Founded in 2016, Fundación Minera de Chile has helped disseminate mining know-how to boost the energy transition and constantly improve the sector so it can provide resources to satisfy social demands and spur development.

Similar foundations have been created in other countries of the region, or are in the process of being set up.

BNamericas talks to the foundation's president, Francisco Javier Lecaros, about the social importance of the sector, regulatory and tax challenges, and more.

BNamericas: What did you think of the mining provisions in the constitutional proposal that was rejected in the plebiscite on September 4?

Lecaros: It was not appropriate for the future of the country. Several economic sectors, such as fishing, forestry, mining and agriculture, were left uncertain by establishing water rights or mining concessions as simple administrative rights. In addition, it threatened the stability of mining investments.

BNamericas: What do you expect from the new constitutional process and how should mining be addressed in the upcoming debates?

Lecaros: The debate is now in congress, but there should be a new consultation with citizens. Personally, I believe that the positive provisions that were established in the constitutional proposal should be considered in congress through a broad debate between the political parties.

It will be necessary to analyze the costs of re-discussing a constitutional text and express it to the citizens so they have it clear when deciding if they want a new constitutional convention or if they prefer reforms [to the current constitution].

BNamericas: What do you think of the proposal on the mining royalty that is part of the government’s planned tax reform?

Lecaros: Investments in and the economic growth of the mining sector can generate more resources for the State than a tax increase under current conditions. Chile cannot lose competitiveness against countries with which there is a canon of comparison, such as Peru, Canada, Australia or the US.

The mining sector is open to a higher tax burden, but without losing competitiveness, because the true heritage of the country must be virtuous and sustainable mining, capable of facing climate change and developing electromobility and green energy.

BNamericas: What’s the national mining investment panorama?

Lecaros: We have around US$69bn in projects. Chile is the first global supplier of copper, but we must increase production due to rising demand as an effect of electromobility and green energies.

We should explore more cobalt options, for example, which is another essential element for electromobility. Regarding lithium, we have a long way to go, because Australia is the world's leading producer, but it has fewer reserves than Chile. In the case of titanium, due to Russia's war with Ukraine, supplies were cut off globally. Chile has deposits that could supply the aeronautical or medical industries. We must increase production and develop new projects in a sustainable way.

I am concerned that projects such as Anglo American's Los Bronces and El Soldado are being rejected by political authorities, despite meeting the environmental conditions of the technical authority. We must remove politics from technical decisions. This delays projects and investments in a world that requires minerals so much.

BNamericas: You have also been investing in water desalination to meet increased environmental demands...

Lecaros: The sector has spearheaded investments related to desalination in Chile. One of the key elements for sustainability is the reduction of the water footprint. Today, 80% of the water in large mining is reused. I hope that the State promotes the creation of multipurpose desalination plants to supply the agricultural, residential and industrial sectors, and take charge of the water scarcity decrees established by the public works ministry.

Mining has also committed to moving forward with renewable energies. I am convinced that large-scale mining will be one of the first productive sectors to meet the carbon nautrality goal.

BNamericas: How do you evaluate the lithium plan, including the creation of a national company and public-private partnerships?

Lecaros: Chile has the technological conditions and knowledge to increase lithium production. But we are trapped in the debate about new institutions. We are large producers of rhenium and molybdenum, and we are not creating a national rhenium or molybdenum company.

[State miner] Codelco has assets and could expand its capacity to act in relation to lithium. National mining company Enami can also participate. The important thing is to develop sustainable mining to generate value for the country and meet social needs.

BNamericas: What global initiatives could be beneficial for Chilean mining?

Lecaros: The green copper certification granted by the Copper Mark. More and more companies are adhering to this way of working. Companies like Volvo and Volkswagen have announced that they will only make electric cars by 2030. Therefore, Chile has to make its cathode and concentrate production more sustainable to supply demand with higher environmental standards.

BNamericas: What projects do you have?

Lecaros: Chile not only exports minerals but also mining know-how, human capital and institutional aspects. Our foundation has been doing a great job of transferring knowledge and promoting human capital.

In other countries, foundations similar to ours are being created with the aim of addressing the local mining reality and being the voice of Latin American mining. Fundación Minera de Ecuador and Fundación Minera de Argentina are already up and running. In Peru and Colombia, they are being created.

And we have talked with the Inter-American Development Bank and with the Organization of American States, because the development of mining will mean the delivery of the necessary resources to satisfy the social demands of the countries and their people.

• [Editor:Alakay]