Case studies in Chile: Thickened tailings and the Center for Mathematical Modeling

Thickened tailings

One of the main problems associated to mining is disposing of “tailings”. These residuals are a mixture of rocks, minerals, water and earth. The thickened tailings technology allows a higher rate of water recovery from the tailings, while also producing less harmful environmental effects (flying dust, risk of liquefaction, etc.). In terms of our conceptual framework, thickened tailings are a “repairing” technological alternative.

One of our case studies has been the development of this technology in Chile, for which we interviewed, between November and January, executives at two suppliers of engineering services associated to tailings, a South African expert that was in Chile as visiting professor, executives from a mining company that is using this technology, as well as other experts in the Chilean copper mining sector that have observed what has happened with this technology. We conducted in-depth interviews with all of them, trying to understand: how this technology has been difused and adapted to the local reality; interactions between different actors during this process; the way in which this technology produces less environmental problems, and the challenges and future prospects for the technology. Our next report will include a detailed analysis of our conclusions.

 

Center for Mathematical Modeling

We are also interested in knowledge-intensive activities that could help diversify the Chilean economy starting from the accumulated experience in natural resources. The case of the Center for Mathematical Modeling at Universidad de Chile falls in this category. Their mission is “to create new mathematics and use them for solving problems of other sciences, the industry, and public policies”.

Our study focuses specifically on the Laboratory of Geomechanics for Mining, that has worked chiefly in the problem of rock blasting with Codelco’s Teniente Division. The rock blasting phenomenom is one of the worst risks in underground mining operations, and a better understanding of it would produce two very important improvements: avoiding deadly accidents and allowing for a higher rate of mineral extraction.

We interviewed the leader of this research group, as well as his counterpart in the El Teniente mine, in Rancagua, and other experts in the mining and academic sectors. We obtained interesting conclusions regarding the role of big mining companies in the development of cutting edge research and knowledge creation at universities; the potential role for Chilean research in the world context; the characteristics of successful collaboration between mining companies and research centers; and in general the possibilities to develop and commercialize new, knowledge-intensive technologies starting from the experience the country has in mining.

Case studies in Brazil

The high rates of deforestation in the Amazon are closely linked to the road-wood-agribusiness cycles model of natural resources exploitation. However, it is recognized that the road-wood-agribusiness model does not exhaust the set of factors, and causes of deforestation in the Amazon. The factors responsible for deforestation in the Amazon include (i) tax incentives and policies of colonization, which triggered a strong migratory flow associated with 'recurrent land disputes motivated by the lack of land tenure and the pressure of agrarian reform', (ii) advance exploration of the wood, (iii) livestock and agribusiness boom, 'notably the expansion of soybean on pasture areas', and (iv) investments in infrastructure,' which promote the economic viability of agriculture and logging in central Amazonia, with subsequent recovery of their lands. However, we believe that this set of factors is articulated in a unique traditional model of exploitation – the road-wood-agribusiness cycles model. 

The order of the model cycles do not necessarily respond to the sequence road-wood-agribusiness, since there are cases where landowners related to agribusiness establish agreements with logging companies to fell trees and 'clean' the land for grazing or planting. The revenue earned with the timber exploitation thus financing the system where the owners of the land start their activities relating to agribusiness.

In our research it is considered two alternative models of sustainable exploitation of natural resources in the Amazon: (i) logging techniques based on sustainable forest management; and (ii) the exploitation of raw materials for the cosmetics industry. We believe that the conclusions obtained in this second case can be generalized to other industries of biodiversity, such as the food and herbal medicines. Finally, we analyze how this set of sustainable exploratory activities could be articulated in a new exploration model with the ability to replace the traditional model of Amazon exploitation.

Project presentation at SPRU and INGENIO

We are glad to diffuse a recent presentation that Phd. Anabel Marin, the project leader, has made in February 2012 both at a seminar in Science and Policy Research Unit of the University of Sussex and at the Instituto de Gestión de la Innovación y el Conocimiento (INGENIO) of the University of Valencia.

You can access the presentation directly Here or from our Documents section.

Case studies in Chile

We choose copper mining as the sector to analyze in Chile. We describe the dominant socio-technic regime, and we study the productive, economic, environmental, and social problems associated to it.

There are important productive problems (falling ore grades and problems with energy and fresh water supply) that demand constant technological improvements. On the economic side, the country has an excessive dependence on this non renewable resource that is extremely pollutant in its extraction and processing. The sector’s R&D investment is insufficient compared to other mining countries, and the sector has not produced much linkages to the rest of the economy. Environmental problems are well known, and include water, soil and air pollution, high demand for fresh water, and indirect pollution due to an ever increasing demand for electricity. Finally, there are social problems associated to employment, as well as other social problems derived from the environmental ones (health problems, lack of fresh water for consumption and agriculture).

Regarding the alternatives that could help solve these problems, the relationship between productive and environmental problems is interesting. Some technologies developed to tackle productive problems, such as biolixiviation or the use of seawater, have at the same time much better environmental outcomes than traditional technologies. The problem is that these technological alternatives are not always technically feasible. With respect to the social problems identified, there are not many initiatives directly addressing them at this time. Finally, there have been a series of public and private initiatives that aim at fostering the development of the sector’s suppliers, the collaboration among the participants of the sector, and increasing the investment in technological R&D. All of these are part of a national strategy that aims at making innovation the growth engine of the Chilean economy.

Four cases have been chosen for the study, two of which correspond to the development of knowledge intensive suppliers, and the other two to technologies that “repair” some of the problems associated to the dominant regime.

The cases that are being studied are:

·         the Center for Mathematical Modeling at Universidad de Chile

·         the biotechnology firm Aguamarina

·         the thickened tailings technology

·         the use of seawater in the productive process

Besides, there have been a series of interviews to actors with extensive experience in the sector but not directly involoved in these cases. These will help us contextualize the results obtained in the cases under study.

COOPSOL

During the last two months, the Argentinean research team conducted the fieldwork in Santiago del Estero to study the cooperative COOPSOL. The firm was established in 1992 and is now made up by 14 members. COOPSOL is mainly dedicated to honey production, which it exports both to national and international markets.

The fieldwork consisted of more than 10 interviews with actors involved in the initiative, and culminated with the accomplishment of two focus groups. The first one was organized for beekeepers, both organic and conventional, belonging to COOPSOL and with members of other honey firms in the region.

While in the second one, several leaders of various beekeeping organizations and governmental departments participated in order to exchange opinions and ideas of the pathways the sector is following.

 
In sum, the fieldwork has allowed the team to know in detail the capabilities developed in the firm, its innovative ways of acting in the region and the challenges that lie ahead, issues that will be developed in a forthcoming report on the case studies in Argentina that will provide details on sustainable development alternatives based on natural resources.

Case studies in Argentina

Based on the Sectoral Report on agriculture in Argentina, we have identified that the dominant pathway is industrial agriculture focused in grain production, in which currently the cultivation of GM soy dominates.

The report reviews the literature that mentions both positive and negative aspects of this specialization. Among the former, there are large economic benefits, a technology package easy to use, the development of nearby industries such as agricultural machinery, among others. While in the latter, adverse effects were detected: a trend towards a monoculture, a reduction in biodiversity, economic and knowledge concentration, health problems, access and use of water, among others.

For these reasons, these side effects that have already been noted by several analysts suggest that the current production system is not sustainable. And by way of providing knowledge about experiences that are traveling alternative pathways that respond to the challenges of the dominant one, we are investigating in detail the following types of cases:

•    Path Breaking: Cases where there is a break with the dominant system.

     o  Coopsol: a cooperative dedicated to honey production in the province of Santiago del Estero, which exports conventional and certified organic honey, and also has certified as Fair Trade.
    
     o  Cooperativa Agroecológica del Litoral: A cooperative of  cotton producers, implementing agroecological techniques in their production process. They also have a fair trade certification.

•    Path Repairing: A case where some of the challenges of the dominant pathway are faced, but without changing the prevailing system: We are studying the Agricultores Federados Argentinos Cooperative.

•    Path Creating: A case in which the benefits from the dominant production system opened new possibilities in other industries: Specifically, we are studying firms in the seed industry in Argentina.

Objectives of the Project

The dominant view in development studies in Latin American Countries (LAC) is that Natural Resources (NR) are problematic (or have low potential to contribute to development), and that we should induce structural change away from these industries towards more knowledge intensive sectors. This view is based on ideas coming from the sectoral innovation literature, which assumes that industries posse intrinsic characteristics which make them more or less dynamic (in terms of innovation), and therefore with more or less potential to contribute to development. In this study we test this view.  In line with the socio-technical transition literature, we believe that industries or activities, which are problematic, can get transformed (or transitions can be encouraged, so that economic, social and environmental challenges are addressed). Our interest is thus not so much how to move away from NRs but how to transform NR activities, so they can best serve economic (resilience), social (justice) and environmental (sustainability) priorities in the region.

Industries get transformed and re-structured; the literature on innovation tells us, through the creation of alternatives, or new projects which propose technologies and organisational practices that depart from the conventional ones in a given industry. Within each industry there are dominant ways of solving problems, and alternative ways of addressing them. The dominant ways are the ones more widely spread that privilege the mainstream, and are highly institutionalised, benefiting typically from a historic accumulation of technological, institutional, infrastructural and social supports. The alternatives are practices that departure from these highly institutionalised ways of solving problems, and typically promise different economic, social and/or environmental results than the dominant ways. Alternatives can be more or less radical. The more radical ones, will be truly path- breaking, in the sense of transforming the industry and eventually taking it in a different direction of change - or pathway. The less radical ones, instead, will be of two types:  path-repairing, when they offer partial solutions to some of the problems of the dominant regime, but do not challenge its main logic of development, and path creating when they create new pathways for innovation in sectors or industries closed but different to the dominant one, augmenting the density of links among different industrial sectors.

The overall aim of this proyect is to: 

(a) identify different types of alternatives (more or less radical, we are interested in both) within selected NR based industries,

(b) study the evolution of different types of alternatives in relation to their capacity to survive, expand, and eventually transform problematic NR industries, either through path repairing, creating or breaking processes.

We have selected to study in Argentina, the exploitation of land for agricultural purposes, in Chile the exploitation of copper mines, and in Brazil, the exploitation of the Amazonia. In the first stage of the project we have studied in detail the dominant trajectory of the selected activities in each country. We have identified the main problems and challenges faced by these activities and, have provided a first overview of the alternatives existing that could possibly be studied.

During the second stage of the project (now we are working on it) we have two main aims:

1. Study in depth selected alternatives, to assess whether current dynamics have the potential to significantly influence the transformation of dominant trajectories, or how those dynamics need to be augmented (e.g. through policy interventions) in order to enable the alternatives to play a bigger role in transformations.

2. Get a general overview of the characteristics of available alternatives in the sector/country.