Chairs for the
day: Jay Timmons, Greg Steele, and Ron Moore light the way in El Teniente
|
We began day eight by traveling three miles horizontally
and ½ mile below ground into El Teniente, the world’s largest underground copper
mine. Carlos Cabezas, the mine’s production manager, showed a short informational
video providing general information about the mine and the things they are doing to
improve the environment around the mine. Copper mining is the largest industry in Chile.
Chile produces 4 million metric tons of copper per year. This represents 45 percent of the
world’s production.
El Teniente produces 358,000 metric tons of copper products per year. They are
spending $200 million on a sulfuric acid plant that will reduce their emissions of sulfur
dioxide by 50 percent the first year and, ultimately, by 90 percent in years to come.
There are 6,300 employees working at the mine. More than half of these employees work
underground on three 8-hour shifts. |
The mine has developed new machines and technology for use
in their mine as well as for export to other countries. Shown above is an example of
this remote control technology; a worker operates a jackhammer from 1.5 kilometers away in
a control room with a monitor and hand controls that are a lot like a Nintendo game. These
machines were developed to keep employees out of unsafe working conditions.
After eating lunch at a local polo club with Mario Sanchez, regional sales manager
for Pioneer Chile Ltda., we traveled to Agro Super/Super Pollo, a vertically integrated
company that produces and processes poultry, swine, fish, fruit and cereal grains.
|
Class
members Toni Dunker and Stephanie Dickson observe the operation of the remote controlled
mining equipment. |
Chairmen
of day 4, Jeff Townsend and Rick Schramm.
 |
They utilize 600,000 metric tons of grain
to feed 8 million chickens, 60,000 sows and their offspring of PIC pigs, as well as 4,000
metric tons of salmon and trout annually. They import 45 percent of their grain needs from
the United States and Argentina. Total sales for the company amount to $355 million, with
$50 million of this in exports.
As we were leaving Agro Super, we stopped by a local grade school, where they teach
children from kindergarten through 6th grade. Ten teachers instruct 110 students at the
school. This is a public school with no high technology teaching aids. |
| Our next stop put us at the largest seed corn production
facility in the world. Pioneer Chile Ltda. operates this plant to produce 20,000 acres of
seed corn with help from 400 local farmers. They also produce 2,000 acres of soybean seed
and 2,000 acres of sunflower seed. They were 20 days into harvest with an estimated 30
more days to go. |
Pioneer
Hi-Bred Chile |
Pioneer
Hi-Bred Chile
 |
They harvest and process 24 hours a day, 7 days per
week. Containers of seed are shipped daily to the United States for the 1998 season. The
plant is identical to seed corn plants in the United States with the latest technology.
This plant is one of the primary research facilities for Pioneer. Fernando Ruiz, General
Manager, greeted the group and answered some questions. Fernando helped set up many of our
Chilean appointments and accommodations. |
