The gold of San Juan shines again from the hand of Hualilán, the “blessed deposit”

Golden Mining delivered the Environmental Impact Report (IIA) for the exploitation phase of the project on April 27, 2023. The evaluation began on August 4, 2023, highlighting the addition of geological resources of 796,467 ounces of gold equivalent (Oz of AuEq) .

In August 2023, the Mining Environmental Assessment Commission (CEMAM) met in an extraordinary session to review the project, with the participation of the company. In the subsequent months, several requests for additional information were made to complete the necessary assessment.

The scope of the EIS covers 19 mining rights, including Hualilán Mining Groups No. 1 and No. 2among others. The project’s environmental management incorporates significant innovations, including an automated environmental monitoring network. surface and ground wateralong with an early warning system for the prevention of environmental impacts. A revegetation plan will be implemented that will cover 60% of the influenced area and a specific program for the protection of native flora and fauna.

With the social license to operate in your hands Sonia Delgadowho is also vice president of Golden Miningspoke with Energy Report about the challenge of putting a gold mine into production in the province. “The company was visionary, it delegated the construction of a project to a woman and we are obtaining results, which shows that capacity has no gender”he sentenced.

Journalist: San Juan had to wait 17 years for a gold mining company to obtain the Environmental Impact Statement (DIA), what does the company feel about this situation?

Sonia Delgado: The truth is that we are very happy, because the work was worth it. After 17 years, the province grants an EIS to a new gold project, since the previous time it was for a copper project, we are very satisfied. Today we have the DIA to move on to the next stage, it is the kickoff of other stages that are coming, which are going to be very important and will take us to production.

Journalist: With the arrival of Governor Marcelo Orrego, was the process to obtain the DIA accelerated?

SD: Yes, Governor Orrego took the flag of mining. It can’t be any other way. We live in a province that is made up of 78% hills. We have extraordinary geological potential, much of it unexplored. And we also have large copper projects that will boost the economy, not only of San Juan, but of the country.

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Journalist: If we talk about boosting the economy, the project is located in Ullum, a place where people have many needs. What expectations exist regarding the specific possibility of developing the project?

SD: Yes, Ullum is a department with many economic needs, with many shortcomings of all kinds and they are very expectant with the possibility of producing Hualilan. However, we are very cautious and very responsible in terms of transparent communication and the work we have been doing with the community. Our idea is to do responsible and sustainable mining and that is what we have been doing. This means that we are not going to generate a dependency, the idea is to develop entrepreneurs and suppliers so that they can work in any activity and any industry, not only with mining.

Journalist: Are you already working with local communities to prepare for when construction and then production begins?

SD: We have been working for a long time, we are like an exotic bird. We started doing community relations since 2018. And Hualilan drilled its first wells with a very typical campaign, 2,000 meters, at the end of 2019. Then 5,000 meters in 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, and then continued non-stop for 30 months, with a national record with 250,000 meters drilled, more than 800 diamond wells. But we started doing community relations and social work in 2018, and from there we haven’t stopped. We have created the School Orchestra in Ullum, and it was a pleasure to see a video of the 7-year-old boys playing violin. We have also worked in introductory jewelry workshops, which have done spectacular work, including ceramists. We have done work on entrepreneurship programs with the Catholic University of Cuyo. And everything from scratch, from teaching them how to put together a project to following up. We have financed the only fire testing laboratory in the country. We have made a water well for the Ullum community. 700 homes have been delivered and since they did not have water, we have built all the infrastructure so that they have access to something as fundamental as water.

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Journalist: Are the community aware of the benefits that can come with the development of Hualilán?

SD: Without a doubt. In addition, we also have 60% of our staff who are from Ullum, who were trained by the company and rotated from places where they have acquired different skills and today are able to work on any project.

Journalist: How many people will work on the construction and when will work begin?

SD: I can’t say that yet, because the reality is that we are working on other contracts. These would slightly modify the times normally taken in mining for production or construction. We are also in the sectoral permitting stage. And if these contracts I’m talking about are closed, we will surely be making other notes later. Regarding the start of construction, it depends on what I am telling you, I cannot tell you in advance about these contracts because I have a very important confidentiality clause and that would give us the possibility of trying to put ourselves into production sooner.

Journalist: Why do you say that Hualilán is a “blessed” mine?

SD: Hualilan It has many characteristics that make it say that it is blessed: it is only 90 minutes from the capital city of San Juan, which makes logistics easier for us in an extraordinary way, by paved route. In addition to that, we do not have environmentally sensitive areas: we do not have glaciers, periglacials, or rock glaciers. We have water, pre-existing electrical infrastructure, a 500 kv line passes through Hualilán; We do not have weather problems because we are in the foothills, only 800 meters above sea level; We work all year round without stopping, we are a practically blessed project that anyone would like to have. In addition to all this, the discovered deposit is totally new, it has nothing to do with the Hualilan old, is 3.5 kilometers away, open to all directions. As of today we have obtained 19 mining properties, but we have formed a mining district and we have many more properties to explore and that is what we are doing at that moment.

Journalist: What do you base your claim that you are going to carry out responsible and sustainable mining?

SD: I always say that we do responsible and sustainable mining, because we are always working in line with the Global Compact. We have met the objectives of the Global Compact, for example, we are the only mining company that has managed to measure its carbon footprint and for the second consecutive year we were able to internationally certify 100% carbon neutral. I think that is important because if we talk about new mining, the new mining has to demonstrate that we are environmentally sustainable, that we are socially inclusive and that we are economically profitable.

Hualilán Golden Mining Challenger Gold San Juan

Journalist: The report presented by the company mentions the employment of 800 mining workers for production. What is the dialogue like with the AOMA union?

SD: I have an excellent relationship with Iván Malla (the general secretary of AOMA San Juan), with his brother Raúl. They are miners who have a lot of experience, so we will surely work very well together.

Journalist: It is not common to see women in decision-making in mining companies and it is to celebrate it. What were the first glances like when receiving that responsibility?

SD: Challenger Gold made a decision that was very important for everyone, talking about gender. Including a woman on its board of directors, as executive director, is something historic. And today I sit on the board of an international mining company. We know that mining is a traditionally male industry and the insertion of women is difficult. Although we are making progress, women are still not seen in hierarchical positions of real decision-making. In that sense, I think that Challenger Gold It was visionary. It is a company that delegated the construction of a project to a woman and I believe that we are obtaining results, which shows that capacity has no gender and that it does not matter when it comes to managing and carrying out a project and obtaining results.

Journalist: How much does the bonus of having worked in the provincial Ministry of Mining add to your job? Does that prior knowledge help you when making decisions?

SD: Yes, I have that plus, I already know the part of the State quite well, for many years I worked there, I know what the needs of the State are, I was the Secretary of Sustainable Mining Development, I covered a lot of territory and it is a plus that I have that is useful to me Now for the private part, I think it is a perfect combination.

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Journalist: You are an example so that other international and national companies can see that women have the ability to lead a mining project and that gender has nothing to do with making decisions. Do you see it that way?

SD: Without a doubt, what is missing are opportunities. It’s not that we don’t have the capacity, what we don’t have are opportunities. I do not believe in a female quota for anything, neither for political parties nor for companies, I do recognize that unfortunately they are necessary, and I say unfortunately, because it is the only way to access, but I believe that capacity has nothing to do with a quota I access a certain position, a certain place or should it be that way due to capacity, because of what I have and not because I am a woman, I would not like to arrive at a place and have a position because I am a woman, to fill a quota, because if That’s why they put you anywhere and the quota is met. What we need is to have the opportunity to access important hierarchical positions, to make real decisions, and not to mention integrate an international holding company, which would be fabulous for the industry and for Argentina.

Journalist: What we can say is that women are going to have easier access in Hualilán, having you leading this mining project…

SD: Yes, of course, of course, in fact it is my dream, and they are working in the areas of community relations responsibility, social responsibility, environmental responsibility as well, financial managers, accountants, in the area of ​​geology, there are many women in Hualilan.

Journalist: What final message from this interview would you like to leave?

SD: I believe that Argentina, at this moment, is faced with a unique possibility of being a mining company. We have minerals that are strategic for the world and that is an opportunity that we cannot waste. We must generate tools so that investments arrive. In that sense, I want to highlight that RIGI is a tool, but it is just another tool. It helps, but there is a lot of work ahead. We must continue to generate confidence so that investors continue investing in the province and the country in general.