Our Executive Director Doug Aitken was invited to speak at CIIT Peru Latam 2024, the International Congress of Technological Innovation, which is targeted towards the mining, energy and industry sector in Peru, as well as at Water Week Peru 2024.
At the meeting on technological innovation in mining, Doug Aitken spoke on the topic: «Innovation in digital technologies and ESG practices to address sustainability challenges in mining». The presentation was an invaluable opportunity to show examples of innovation and new technologies that the Sustainable Minerals Institute is leading to address the industry’s challenges, focused primarily on sustainability.
The Executive Director of SMI-ICE-Chile showcased several technologies that can contribute to this task: drones for monitoring and exploration, the so-called «digital twins» for visualization and software tools for more efficient, integrated water supply systems.
«If we are going to take the climate crisis seriously, we need to greatly increase the supply of critical minerals. The mining industry also plays a role in reducing its impact and making the transition to a sustainable industry,» he said in his presentation.
«The industry faces enormous challenges to produce sustainably,» he explained. «Deposits are increasingly complex and difficult to exploit: technically and economically, the socio-environmental context is more complex. There is a sum of factors: water, pollution, community interactions, social value and the impacts of climate change that are already affecting operations. There are negative synergies in the system and, therefore, the traditional mining model has to change.»
«Technological innovation in sectors like mining, energy and industry are crucial to meeting current and future challenges where we seek to build a sustainable society,» remarked Doug Aitken. «By participating in this congress, we were able to meet, listen and generate exchanges with Peruvian companies. We hope to continue exploring new opportunities for collaboration with them, as we are doing in Chile.»
He then spoke at the Water Week Peru 2024, organized by the Peruvian Association of Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering, on the topic: «Moving towards water resilience in mining territories through integrated supply systems and efficient management.»
