When a mine makes a commitment to the Earth

5,000 years ago, even before the Romans developed the Empire's great mine here, our ancestors began to take advantage of the metallic wealth of the Rio Tinto Mining Basin. That is why the landscape is unique, almost lunar, with winding roads that open into huge crevices in the earth and rivers of red water that emerge from the bowels and bristling with mineral. A place in Huelva where entire generations of families have lived from the production of metals for as long as people remember.

I grew up here, in the village of La Dehesa, in Minas de Riotinto, no more than 500 metres from the mine. This is the landscape I have looked at since I was born. I am the son, grandson, great-grandson and probably more generations of miners. In this area we are tough, like the terrain. We have played a leading role in the development of this industry, from the times when it was almost craft work, to the present, where we have the latest technology, including robots and artificial intelligence.

But just like the work we have here, all of us are aware that the mines had a beginning and they will have an end, although today it can hardly be seen. That is why my parents sent me away to study when I was 14. But in the end your roots are strong and even though I have been to different places, always linked to mining, a few years ago I was given a chance to come back, so here I am. With the challenge of continuing to transform a sector that out of pure ignorance, in certain circles has a bad image. Those of us lucky enough to live in mining areas understand the reality: Respect for the environment and the importance we give to every gram of earth we take from mines, opencast or underground, copper or any other mineral.

Technology and how things are done have changed. We are abreast of the times, or even ahead them because when you are exploiting a mine, as an engineer you are already designing how it will look when it stops being a mine. This is where the concept comes in with which we are fortunately all familiar: Sustainability.

When I started at Atalaya Mining that was my main goal. A commitment to a sustainable mining company. At first, those who were descended from generations and generations of miners looked at this proposal with suspicion. Today it is a concept that has already been accepted, it is in our DNA and we apply it on a daily basis. Now we have gone a step further by making a commitment to self-consumption, with the installation of a photovoltaic plant of about 50 MW.

The installation will be high up on one of the tips at the mine, that is, where they dump the ore that cannot be processed because it does not contain any copper. When you go up to this area you see the past, the present and the future: Here they will install solar panels that will provide us with clean energy while contributing to reducing emissions. And we are doing this for ourselves too, and here I speak as someone who is from this area. My mother used to live right next door, she is now 97 years old and when I tell her these things she nods in wonder at the changes we are experiencing nowadays.

And this is what I hope my legacy will be: Commitment to the earth. I like to think that I will leave a legacy that will last because it benefits us all. Not only materially, because I firmly believe that this mentality has filtered down to the people with whom I have had the pleasure of working. After all, people are the most important resource that any company can have. It is true that you also leave other more tangible legacies, such as the Social Responsibility Foundation attached to the territory; but it is people with a commitment who make it possible for an activity like ours, which has been here since the ancient Roman Empire, to continue to work and get better and better. 

Enrique Delgado

CEO of Atalaya Mining