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NEWS, INTERVIEWS AND EVERYTHING RELATED TO PERUMIN IN THE MEDIA

ÁNCASH, SEPTEMBER 20 2021Antamina's strategic decision is to act as a Social Catalyst for Territorial Competitiveness

NEWS, INTERVIEWS AND EVERYTHING RELATED TO PERUMIN IN THE MEDIA

Tamiko Hasegawa, Antamina’s Management System and Sustainability Manager, shares the various social tasks being carried out by one of the largest Peruvian producers of copper and zinc concentrates and one of the ten largest mines in the world in terms of production volume.


Heading to PERUMIN has focused on analyzing the challenges of mining in the regions. What challenges has Antamina identified in Áncash, the region where it operates?

Peru shows an uneven growth, for example, in terms of Human Development; showing better indexes in coastal territories in comparison with high Andean or Amazonian territories, and the Ancash Region has followed the same trend.

In the Ancash region, fishing and foreign trade activities are the most important activities on the coast, agricultural activities with high export potential in the inter-Andean valleys and low-productivity agriculture and tourism in the high Andean areas.

The EAP residing in Áncash and directly or indirectly linked to Antamina's mining activities has a per-capita income significantly higher than any other economic activity.

The distribution criteria of the mining canon generates situations of inequity between neighboring districts.

The challenges of the region require the coming together of various actors. Antamina has made the strategic decision to act as a Social Catalyst for Territorial Competitiveness.

How has Antamina been addressing the challenges identified in Áncash?

The following 5 pillars summarize the way in which Antamina has been addressing the identified challenges:

• Pillar 1: Promoting Mature Institutionality: solid structures of civil society and different levels of government. The growing inequality between private prosperity associated with mining revenues and public prosperity associated with access to basic infrastructure (drinking water, electricity, connectivity), and services (public health and education) complemented by a weak collective vision and citizen participation in territorial decision-making, drive community frustration and increasing levels of instability. In this sense, I highlight two FOGEL initiatives - Strengthening of Local Management and the technical support to GORE Áncash, which work with both the different levels of government and civil society.

• Pillar 2: Generating opportunities for future generations: Our activity is not labor intensive and is generally located in high Andean areas with high levels of poverty. The inequality of opportunities that is transmitted from parents to children, and from childhood to adulthood is called Intergenerational Transmission of Poverty (ITP). ITP studies focus on education as the critical mechanism through which this cycle is affected. Since it is necessary to break with this circle, the Pillar contains the Employability Programs through training, projects such as Ancash Effect to improve the quality of education, the More Education Project with a focus on internet connectivity and interventions that seek to reduce anemia and malnutrition, widely documented aspects that affect children's ability to learn.

• Pillar 3: Investing in closing gaps in social and productive infrastructure: Mining activity is generating significant resources and soon with the arrival of more resources to the region such as FONCOR, it is imperative to continue collaborating in an coordinated manner and with a proactive agenda to implement works to close gaps in access and quality of infrastructure.

• Pillar 4: Promoting local entrepreneurship and economic development: 70% of the population around the mining activity depends on agriculture and livestock. However, they face the problem of land atomization, so it is necessary to improve their productivity and market articulation through a broker's approach. In addition, Áncash is a region with valuable tourism assets. Áncash has a strategic geographic location, adjacent to the Lima market of 9.5 million people, La Libertad with 1.8 million and Huánuco with 720 thousand people that represent 41% of the population nationwide.

• Investing in emergencies in a timely manner: Preparing for events such as the El Niño phenomenon and currently the context generated by the Covid-19 pandemic. This pillar seeks a rapid response that saves lives and reduces economic losses.

What are Antamina's plans for the coming months of this year?

For the coming months, we plan to continue with the logistical commitment to guarantee 100% vaccination. We have been working with the Regional Government of Áncash in the vaccination process, demonstrating that coordination between the private and public sectors allows us to achieve valuable results and save lives. To date, 625,442 vaccines have been given in which 40% of the population has received the 1st dose and 32% have completed both doses. This effort is associated with both the Emergency Care Pillar and the promotion of a mature institutional framework.

Additionally, in October the implementation of the project to strengthen local management (FOGEL) will begin in 20 districts.

In the “Generating Opportunities for Future Generations” pillar, we will continue  with the Scholarship Program in short courses that will benefit 3,500 Young People from San Marcos, San Pedro de Chana, Huachis and Huallanca, as well as the Strategic Projects in education and health such as Áncash Effect and Witñansik that benefit 5,000 students and 992 children under 5 years of age.

The "Más Educación" ("More Education") Project, which seeks to reduce the gap in access to Internet connectivity and 4G technology for students and teachers in the districts of San Marcos and Chavín de Huántar, involves a multi-year investment of approximately USD 4 million.

In the “Closing gaps in social and productive infrastructure” pillar, we plan to continue with the works of the Huarmey Hospital (S/ 186 million) and the Llata Hospital (S/ 152 million), start the execution of the Huari Hospital, which involves an investment of S/ 204 million, the High Performance College of Áncash COAR (S/ 67 million) and the irrigation projects of Yamor and Valle Purísima (S/ 16 million).

In the "Local Entrepreneurship and Economic Development" pillar, we will continue to promote the value chains of the products with the greatest potential for the Southern Corridor, such as asparagus, avocado, peach, guinea pig, dairy products and tourism under a broker’s approach and attracting anchor companies. We are also working on a proposal for a Business Services Platform to be coordinated with the regional proposal of the Regional Development Agency.

What environmental and social programs are you currently developing in your areas of operations?

In the social programs, continuing with the strategy of coordinated fight against the pandemic, we have made available to the health authorities the FORS Project (Strengthening of the Health Response), which allows us to support the health response capacity in 20 districts, through the training and accompaniment of 40 local health committees, 40 health promoters and the support to 52 health establishments.

Continuing with the health promotion approach, we are contributing to the reduction of anemia in children under 3 years of age and chronic child malnutrition in children under 5, through the Wiñantsik Project; which provides technical assistance to 17 establishments in San Marcos, Chavín, San Pedro de Chana, Cajacay and Antonio Raimondi with the whole cycle of prevention and control of anemia with direct support in anthropometry and hemoglobin dosing and demonstration sessions. Likewise, 992 families with children under 5 years of age are being tele-accompanied by 68 community agents. Also, the coordinated work with the regional government institutions (DIRESA and GRA Social Management) as well as with the authorities of the 5 districts, to coordinate the interventions that protect maternal-infant nutrition.

In Education, with the Ancash Effect" Project, we are helping to improve quality and reduce the educational gap in the district, through the placement of 68 professionals who teach full time in 49 schools, and the training and continuous support to 70 directors and teachers, benefiting more than 5,000 students. Likewise, providing support to the teacher training offered by the UGEL Huari, which reaches all teachers of Communication and Mathematics specialties in the province.

In the case of Environmental Programs, we have been working with 4 Environmental Committees in the areas of Juprog, Santa Cruz de Pichiu, Ayash and Huarmey, with the support of prestigious institutions such as UNASAM, for some cases.

What technological trends are you applying in your mining activities?

Within the framework of the Antamina 20+ Program and our Innovation and Technology Roadmap, among the applications of technological trends I highlight the development of Machine Learning, a technology that uses (algorithmic) models that learn from the history of the plant to recommend actions that optimize the expected future results. Antamina is a pioneer in applying this technology in large polymetallic mining.

Analysts have highlighted the need to close infrastructure and social gaps to reduce conflict. How is Antamina contributing to this process?

Closing gaps in social and productive infrastructure is one of our Pillars of social intervention. Antamina ranks first in the Works for Taxes execution ranking with an awarded amount of S/ 1.36 billion investment since 2013, which represents 22.5% of the total nationwide in the use of this mechanism.

We have a portfolio of 97 projects that represents more than S/ 2.025 billion, of which 59 projects have been awarded for S/ 1.36 billion.

• We have concluded 28 projects for S/ 239 million.
• We have 8 projects in progress for an approximate S/ 463 million, among which the Huarmey and Llata hospitals are particularly noteworthy.
• In the technical file phase, we have 23 projects for a value of S/ 659 million. Among the main ones are the Huari Hospital, COAR Áncash, Huarmey Sanitation, Riego de Jarachacra and Yamor, as well as the Huarmey wharf.

The construction of this portfolio demands processes of consensus, trust and coordination capacity.

Newsletter PERUMIN 35

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