Expomin 2018: Chile’s hosts Latin America’s largest mining fair

'Innovation in mining'

SANTIAGO – The 15th edition of Expomin, the largest mining fair in Latin America and the Caribbean, has kicked off in Chile.

“Innovation must be accompanied by value generation. Digital transformation came to stay, we must assume that from now on, we have to live with it,” Chilean Mining Minister Baldo Prokurica said on Tuesday.

Thirty-five countries and more than 1,300 companies are participating in the expo, well-known for attracting key decision makers from the mining industry in Latin America and other regions.

The United States, Spain, Australia and Peru stand out among the participants in the event, which is taking place under the slogan ‘Innovation in mining’ at the Espacio Riesco Events Center in Santiago.

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Peru is the special guest at the meeting and its delegation is headed by Deputy Mining Minister Ricardo Labó, and includes the chairman of the Peruvian-Chilean Chamber of Commerce, Carlos Fisher, and its general manager, Paulina Torres.

Other delegation members are Mario Ocharán, deputy director of Intelligence and Commercial Prospective in Promperu, and Julio Polanco, director of Peru’s Commercial Office in Chile.

Chile is taking advantage of this opportunity to promote its growing lithium industry and to consolidate its business platform with its star product, copper.

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Copper production by Peru and Chile accounts for more than 40 percent of the world’s output of that metal. However, Peru expects to further increase production.

Expomin is aimed at diversifying the sector with products and services in technology, automation, the movement of materials, energy efficiency and the development of hybrid vehicles for underground mining.