The Business Year Special Report
Mauricio Martínez, Technical Director, Semaica
Rare is the company with the acumen and culture to finish historically important projects six months in advance.
• Interview
Semaica has been behind the construction of the tunnel of Ecuador’s first underground mine by Lundin Gold. How did the company make this successful incursion into the mining sector?
Our company is more than 60 years old. Once, we were asked what our specialization was, and my father replied, “we specialize in Ecuador.” We try to offer our construction know-how to provide what the country needs. With this mindset, the company has built schools, hospitals, hotels, sports fields, roads, and electricity power plants. We recently offered our expertise to the mining industry. We are proud to have been part of the sector’s birth in Ecuador. Some 25 years ago, we started working on road tunnels, which are similar to underground mining. We did the Guayaquil tunnels in partnership with the Spanish company OHL. This helped us to take a huge step in the technological aspect. We even built tunnels in Colombia. We have been following the development of Fruta Del Norte since its beginning. When tunneling was required for the construction of the mine, our challenge was to qualify as a provider of this service. Security was the emphasis of the project. With that, we realized that for the modern mining industry, an important aspect was not only speed and cost, but safety and the ability to work with zero accidents. We emphasized security in our qualification. One of the companies that also qualified was Mas Errázuriz from Chile. We established a consortium with them due to their extensive experience in mining, and the project was awarded to the consortium.
The speed of the construction on the tunnel was crucial to preparing Fruta del Norte for production earlier than expected. How was this achieved?
The project involved the construction of about 8km of tunnels, a large amount for Ecuador.
There was need for a large negative slope to access the bottom of the site and requirements to build a double tunnel, one in and one out, to be able to move some 3,500 tons per day. We got 100% of our equipment brand new and brought the best staff we could get from Chile, Peru, and Ecuador. Gradually, we were ahead of schedule even though the first 7m were difficult; however, we started to move fast soon after and completed 8km of tunnels in six months in advance. We started the work at the end of 2017 and finished in August 2019. The original completion date was set for February 2020. When Lundin saw that we were already done, it accelerated its plans, putting the mining project into production in record time. As an Ecuadorian, I feel extremely proud of having done that in Ecuador.
What are the expectations for upcoming mines?
Mining will be the most important new sector of Ecuador. The world is increasingly using less oil but more minerals. We want to tender and compete in underground projects and will try to be part of this industry’s development. We have highly qualified people that are ready. Some of our crews stayed in Fruta Del Norte, which is great. We work with zero accidents. Large-scale mining is the focus now, though there is also small and medium-sized mining that does not process large quantities but requires services. We see great potential in these segments, because there are likely more than 100 developments of less than 300ha or 300 tons per day.
How does Semaica train staff on safety issues?
For 25 years, we have invested countless hours in safety training, making more progress every year. We have a specific department for safety training in high altitude, support points, and even personal health. ✖