Focus on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic was a critical situation. As the team leader of the regulatory and permits sub-management, and member of the in-house legal team of a mining company, we faced the health situation as an opportunity to rethink our working style.

The area I lead is responsible for monitoring and supervising the company’s regulatory compliance, mainly in the areas of mining occupational health and safety, environment, and mining infrastructure. The team is responsible for compliance with all regulatory obligations derived from the regulations and commitments assumed in the different permits and licenses currently held by the Cerro Corona Project.

Our team is also responsible for the management of environmental permits and licenses to ensure that the mining unit can operate without any setbacks, an objective that our team has positively achieved throughout the Cerro Corona Project.

We focused on the principle of continuous improvement to optimise processes that would allow us to continue fulfilling our work obligations, as well as to generate personal wellbeing by seeking a balance between work and personal life.

Due to the confinement decreed by the Peruvian government, our homes became our offices from one moment to the next; interactions and coordination meetings became virtual.

We were required to manage all sorts of difficulties virtually. Consequently, we redefined the permit management plan in order to comply with the business agenda, to minimise and reduce the risks of delays in obtaining the permits and licenses necessary for the development of the operation and the construction of new facilities within the mining unit. Thus, we have been able to process and obtain in a timely manner, on average 60 permits and licences, approximately ten supervisions.

We have also concluded administrative sanctioning procedures, maintenance and certification audits, and recertification of ISOS 14001, 45001, 50001, throughout these 820 days during the pandemic. For example, we have obtained four environmental management instruments, 40 licences and renewals for the use, purchase, handling, mixing, and storage of explosives (eleven annual permits for storage, one annual permit for purchase and use, two annual permits for factory trucks for mixing, and twelve handling licenses).

We have also obtained, and renewed water use and discharge licences, water quality control plans, mine dump and pit expansions, operation of each stage of growth of the Tailings Dam, and use of chemical inputs, amongst others.