Can you provide an update on your main activities in Chile?

STRABAG and ZÜBLIN combine the expertise of both companies to focus on mining, civil engineering and renewable energy projects, like hydropower and wind farms. In Chile, we have an expert team of about 5,500 employees. We are one of the most experienced underground contractors in the world. Our expertise in mechanized tunneling, gained in civil projects, is unusual in mining and has enabled us to bring new technologies to the industry and improve performance and safety.

One of our most significant contracts at the moment is at Chuquicamata in Northern Chile, CODELCO's largest open pit mine in the world, where we are expanding our portfolio with vertical tunnelling. We are in the process of building a shaft with a depth of 650 meters; one of the deepest shafts being built in the country.

What are the main challenges of working underground?

Our priority and main concern are always the safety of our workers. However, the statistics say the most common injuries in the mining industry are caused by interactions between people and machines. The limited space is a challenge in terms of safety, which is why we have taken an active role in the protection of our personnel, in line with our goal of zero accidents from the start.

How do you deal with talent shortages?

To face this challenge, we conduct extensive training and consider hiring employees without industry experience. STRABAG and ZÜBLIN is willing to train our employees from scratch. We are confident in our capacity to develop our employees and provide them with excellent upward mobility in Chile or others countries.

What would you consider the biggest challenge for the sector?

Sustainability is a main priority for our company and for the industry. Our clear goal is reaching carbon-neutrality by 2040. The company has a variety of targets to achieve that. In terms of suppliers, we seek environmentally friendly ones. In our internal sphere, we aim to electrify our equipment, so we are working hard with clients and suppliers to enable this switch.

However, logistics is still a challenge in electric mobility, especially underground. These vehicles run on batteries, and it is necessary to adapt the mine configuration to the electrical equipment's needs and vice versa. The idea is to switch to environmentally friendly equipment and at the same time keep or increase productivity. I´m convinced that this is possible.

How do you innovate?

Technological development in the construction industry as a whole has been slower than in other sectors. In our case, we have an innovation manager, who engages within the company and externally to determine needs and seek solutions with the help of our full workforce. We use digital technologies to be more efficient and facilitate communication in different areas, and we are incorporating tunnel monitoring technologies on our computers.

Acquiring tools that help us work more productively and safely is worthwhile. However, some innovations in digitalization and automation have not significantly increased our productivity. Therefore, we need to ensure that the tools we use help us work more efficiently or solve a particular problem, rather than implementing a technology simply because it's fashionable and digital. Our strategy to ensure meaningful change is that when we introduce a different technology, we ask three times how we can ensure that our employees can use it to improve productivity and safety and how it is linked to our profit equation. Our people have to be convinced in the first place that it makes sense and that adds value to their tasks.

What are your goals for 2023?

We are expanding our services to the renewable energy sector, where there is significant energy and momentum. STRABAG and ZÜBLIN is currently building two wind farms in northern Chile, one of which is the largest in Latin America. In this way, we can contribute to the green future of Chile while simultaneously providing cleaner energy to the mining industry; this is aligned with both our sustainability goals and market demand. Chile has unique opportunities for renewable energy, which align with the needs of the country’s crucial mining sector. We are actively engaged in participating and growing in this space. Green energy is the future.