Anglo American’s Quellaveco copper project in Moquegua, Peru, embodies its FutureSmart Mining™ blueprint. FutureSmart Mining™ is technology, digitalization and sustainability working together to more efficiently, effectively and sustainably connect metals and minerals with all who need and value them.
The Quellaveco project is an important project for Peru, which is the world’s second-largest producer of copper. Mining represents about 10 percent of Peru’s GDP and 60 percent of its exports. Anglo American has earmarked $300 million for local development for its expected 30 years of operations and has already purchased goods and services from local suppliers in the amount of $274 million since August 2018. The company will continue its commitment to working hand-in-hand with community programs in the Moquegua region.
“We are grateful for the strong support we have gained from our host communities and at the national level. Quellaveco should bring very significant opportunities and sustainable benefits to the lives of those we employ, our business partners, the surrounding region and Peru as a whole, for decades to come.” – Mark Cutifani, Chief Executive Anglo American
Investing in Local Communities
Investing in the workforce
Quellaveco will be a fully digital mine with a safe and positive working environment. Anglo American is investing in extensive training programs to prepare local personnel to develop skills and expertise to manage automated technology. Technicians will analyze real-time data and predictive modeling to track and improve operational efficiency and safety, from the removal of the ore to its processing and shipping. This work will be conducted at the Integrated Operations Center.
When production begins in mid-2022, Quellaveco will maintain a workforce of 2,500 people, making Anglo American one of Peru’s 10 largest employers. Quellaveco’s workforce will include some of the best-trained professionals in the mining industry.
Community Impact
The company has earmarked $300 million to support local communities in Moquegua over a 30-year period, establishing a vast array of programs with diverse public and private sector organizations and interest groups.
In 2011, Anglo American conducted dialogue roundtables with representatives of 31 civil society organizations, grassroots groups and governmental bodies. Technical experts at Anglo American drew on this series of discussions, which lasted over a year, to inform the design of the mine and social impact programs. They established 26 formal agreements to address water access, environmental protection and economic development.
Following these consultations, Anglo American established training and capacity-building programs to support private sector companies and civil society in taking advantage of the opportunities that Quellaveco will bring. Through its $10 million Quellaveco Fund, Anglo American awarded grants to 30 civil society projects in the fields of education, health, nutrition and agriculture to assist an estimated 25,000 people in the region. The Fund has supported the establishment of new networks to increase the sales of produce and herbs grown by area farmers, with some participants reporting up to a 65 percent rise in revenue. It has additionally sponsored training in water optimization techniques for agriculture, leading to a 60 percent rise in grapevine yields per hectare at one farm in Omate.
Quellaveco is also making major contributions to the economic development of the region. By February 2022, Quellaveco had purchased $274 million in goods and services from businesses in Moquegua.
In 2021, Anglo American launched the “Moquegua Crece” Collaborative Regional Development (CRD) program alongside the key platform partners: the Regional Government of Moquegua, Mitsubishi Corporation, M.C. Inversiones Perú (MCIP) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC)—a member of the World Bank Group—Engie Peru and Forest Trends. Moquegua Crece, or “Moquegua Grows,” is a new private-public sector partnership in the region where the Quellaveco copper project is based.
The partnership was set up to create sustainable and inclusive development initiatives that support Moquegua’s population to maximize the potential of their region and help Anglo American fulfill its purpose of re-imagining mining to improve people’s lives. The partnership works with leaders and local governments to strengthen the public investment process and improve services and infrastructure for communities in the region. It also collaborates with the regional government on the 2030 Regional Development Plan, which incorporates the voices of the population in the identification of development priorities.
Anglo American recently launched an innovative digital program targeting local leaders in the region that aims to reduce gaps in access to information and training related to mining and local development opportunities.
Moquegua Crece also aspires to generate employment and income by strengthening and developing value chains with high potential in the region, such as agriculture and aquaculture, that encourage the use of sustainable renewable resources. As part of Anglo American’s partnership with Forest Trends, Moquegua Crece supports initiatives that improve natural infrastructure in the region, aiming at enhancing water quality and availability.
Conscientious Engagement for the Future
Anglo American’s community engagement approach highlights the importance of local involvement for positive societal and economic impact. Anglo American is committed to developing and investing in its regional workforce, protecting not only workplace wellbeing but also jobs through sustainable technological innovation. Through its regional and national partnerships and locally led initiatives, Anglo American will continue to ensure its operations strengthen its host communities, both now and in the future.
About Anglo American
Anglo American is a leading global mining company, and its products are the essential ingredients in almost every aspect of modern life. Its portfolio of world-class competitive operations, with a broad range of future development options, provides many of the future-enabling metals and minerals for a cleaner, greener, more sustainable world that meet the fast-growing, everyday demands of billions of consumers. With people at the heart of its business, Anglo American uses innovative practices and the latest technologies to discover new resources and to mine, process, move and market its future-enabling products to its customers—safely and sustainably.
As a responsible producer of diamonds (through De Beers), copper, platinum group metals, premium quality iron ore and metallurgical coal for steelmaking, and nickel—with crop nutrients in development—Anglo American is committed to being carbon neutral across its operations by 2040. More broadly, the company’s Sustainable Mining Plan commits Anglo American to a series of stretching goals to ensure it works toward a healthy environment, creating thriving communities and building trust as a corporate leader. Anglo American works together with its business partners and diverse stakeholders to unlock enduring value from precious natural resources for the benefit of the communities and countries in which it operates, for society as a whole and for its shareholders. Anglo American is re-imagining mining to improve people’s lives.
About the Quellaveco copper project
Quellaveco lies in Peru’s southern Moquegua region 3,500 meters above sea level. The project, located in the Andes mountains in the south of Peru, will utilize open pit mining and flotation processing to produce copper concentrate, along with molybdenum. The operation will yield an average of 300,000 tonnes of copper equivalent annually, with the first copper expected in 2022.
About the International Copper Association
The International Copper Association (ICA) brings together the global copper industry to develop and defend markets for copper and make a positive contribution to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., ICA has offices in three primary regions: Asia, Europe and North America. ICA and its Copper Alliance® partners are active in more than 60 countries worldwide.