27 June

Okay - firstly I admit that I should be updating this more regularly. I mean, what’s the point of having a blog if I’m not going to write anything?! Well, the excuse is that I’ve been a little busy. Although I was still staying in Antofagasta (and the same comfortable hotel), I was working at one of the copper mines out in the heart of the Atacama. This meant a 90 minute drive into work, and another 90 minutes back again. There goes three hours per day right there.

Besides that, I’ve been trying to write up documentation from the business analysis and interviews I was conducting. Actually, the interviews were the easy part - even if I did need to stumble along in poor Spanish for much of the time. I think the people who suffered most of all were my poor interviewees, who must have wondered what I was going on about most of the time - then had to display extreme patience explaining the basics of their work over and over again, simplifying it into the language of a two year-old so that the gringo could understand. They must have been wondering what kind of dummies we were sending out here. At any rate, with that part done, most of my time got spent sifting through Spanish languages reports, Excel spreadsheets, computer queries, and data tables. Besides it all being in Spanish, it’s dealing with a business and systems that I don’t really know anything about. Trying to digest it all, then summarize into something that other people can understand has taken most of my time over these last few weeks. It’s all been a crash course learning about the business and, like I’ve always said, if you really want to learn and understand a subject then try explaining it back to someone else who knows nothing about it. The process of interpreting something so that you can internally rationalize it, structure it, and explain it in your own words is what takes the time. I have a new-found respect for business analysts. Sure I’ve done business analysis before - but I’ve been on the receiving end of it for so long that I forgot how hard it is. It’s even worse for me since, being the computer geek and data specialist that I am, then I want to know all of the fine detail so that my brain fit the pieces together. If you give me anything too abstract it just seems way to warm and fuzzy. At any rate, I’ve digressed long enough.

Life out here in the Atacama is actually quite pleasant. Yeah sure, it killed all many of the early Spanish expeditions and conquistadors and upset them so much that they avoided it like the plague for several hundred years afterwards. It was only when nitrates were discovered in the area in the mid-19th Century that people started coming back. And that was largely thanks to the Brits who provides the finance, the engineers, and other resources to help make it all happen. After all - they had an empire to protect, which involved blowing things ups - and that needed nitrates. Life for them was still hard though and they probably hated the place to be honest. By contrast, my life here in the Atacama consists of speeding along through it along a highway (admittedly not that big) in a comfortable new twin-cab Chevrolet pick-up truck (which is big) and gazing at the scenery.

It helps that my traveling times coincide with the best viewing times. We leave Antofagasta at 6.30am every morning, just before dawn, so that we can get to work around 8am. That involves something I’ve always hated - getting up early - but the weather’s not cold, so getting out of bed isn’t the huge sacrifice like it is in NZ where the shudder of the wind hitting the house and the little puffy clouds that form when you breathe advise you that it’s just not a good idea. Admittedly, I exaggerate a little - but anyone who’s survived a Wellington winter will know what I mean. At any rate, hitting the road early when going out into the Atacama ensures you get all the pretty colours of the sky, and golden hues as the sun rises and hits the desert hills. You also get periods of icy-cold mists as moisture laden air from the nearby ocean makes its way inland, hits the cooler air in the desert from the night before, and condenses into tiny droplets. It never (or hardly ever) rains here but the thick mists are common in the early mornings. These help give the place a kind of ethereal feeling, and the mixture of mist, dawn skies, golden sunlight, and desert hills can be very pretty at times. Admittedly, the right light can make almost anything seem pretty - even the glint of golden sunlight bouncing off the big tankers hauling Sulphuric Acid as they go around the bends in the road up front can seem almost appealing. The only downside in all this is that I’m sharing a ride with several other people - and stopping for photos isn’t really much of an option. Speaking of which, each morning we drive past a train station in the desert, with a big sign loud proclaiming “PRAT” (the station’s name, named after Arturo Prat, one of Chile’s national heroes). I figure a snapshot of me standing underneath sign this with a suitably silly pose would make a fabulous pic for my Facebook profile ... but I haven’t really had a chance to do that one either. I’ll have to come back at some point and hire a car (or big American pickup) so that I can explore and do more of those things. Remembering my camera tripod would have been great too.

The ride back in the evenings is largely the same - except that its dusk, not dawn. We leave just after 6pm, and then spend the first 40 minutes on a small back road winding through the desert hills underneath fiery orange and purple skies. By the time we get back to Antofagasta (about 7.30pm) its well and truly dark, and ready for dinner. Since shops don’t close here till 9pm, and the malls stay open till 11pm, then town is still busy with people rushing around doing their after-work shopping or on their way home.

During the day I’m mostly stuck in the office. I’d like to go and have a wander around to see the mine - but in a place with lots of heavy machinery, crushers, chemical processes to bond the copper and separate it from the ore (hence all that sulphuric acid), dynamite, and monster trucks where the driver just won’t see anyone at ground level who gets in front of them - wandering around by myself unescorted just isn’t a great idea. The mines here take their safety records very seriously. The office, itself, is pretty secluded. It’s functional, and has a pretty industrial feel to it - but mostly comfortable. About my only complaint is that I spend pretty much the entire day sitting in a small office to myself - which is a shock after being used to open plan, constantly ringing telephones and occasional queues in front of desk. It also seems very cold at times such that I need to wear a jacket - but that might simply be a sign of me getting old. At least I have coffee, and a pretty zippy network connection back to the office and the outside world. The only real sign that I’m working at a large mine is monster truck I occasionally see chugging up the road in the distance carrying huge loads of ore, then chugging back down again about 15 minutes later, empty and ready for the next load. Outside my window there’s also a parking lot full of pick up trucks (each waving tall flags to ensure they don’t inadvertently get run over by aforementioned monster truck if they’re unlucky enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time).

About the only time I actually get away out of the office is going to the canteen - referred to in Chile as a “casino”. Rather than a den of vice, it’s actually a haven for some pretty good food. Okay, it’s not fancy and is unlikely to make an appearance in the Best Restaurants guide - but it is clean, well-run, friendly, and serves good food. It’s not fancy but its substantial fare - with rice, stews, pasta, chicken, salads, and desserts. Even more brilliantly, it’s free! This is one of the big things about the mining industry, and maybe Chile in general. They look after their workers. This isn’t the mines of old that I read about in that old Che Guevara Motorcycle Diaries book where the poor huddled masses of the working class need to suffer the cold winds from the Andes, subsisting on a few potatoes and boiled rodents! It’s a modern enterprise, and ensuring there’s a supply of professional, well-educated, and engaged workers is essential to survival. Looking after people is important as it means better production, a better working environment, and fewer downstream problems. From a worker’s point of view, it means sticking around is a much better proposition - you’re there because you choose to be, rather than being forced into the role by circumstances and desperate for an escape. Most of the workers that I’ve been chatting too are professional engineers and tertiary qualified. Even when they’re not, they’re often raising kids who are going through university and therefore help guarantee success for the next generation - not just in mining, but for Chile in general. In contrast to NZ slowly sliding its way down the OECD ranks, Chile has become the first South American country to join - taking it from developing nation to developed nation status, and looks set to continue its upward trend. Besides lunches, there are breakfasts and dinners for those onsite (or who live offsite but choose to go), and most everyone gets as plastic bag each day containing a muesli bar/biscuit, apple, yoghurt or jelly desert, and a drink. It’s little things like that which make you feel cared for (and especially since there’s no real option to pop out to the corner dairy or espresso bar when feeling peckish). I also had a quick look at the worker’s quarters when checking out the video projector set up which was being put in place ready for Chile’s first World Cup game this tournament. Those stay onsite have comfortable quarters, with TVs (or a shared TV lounge depending on the age of the building), a well equipped gym and an indoor basketball area. Again, its not five-star luxury, but a lot better than I’ve seen elsewhere.

At any rate - that’s pretty much my experience of things. It isn’t the most exhaustive report, and I can’t really claim to being any expert on the Chilean miming industry - but what I’ve seen indicates a strong sense of professionalism and underscores the constant mention that that gets made about social responsibility - not just in mining but as a common theme amongst pretty much all the Chileans I speak with.

Tags: Chile