Andre Sougarret speaks during a news conference a few weeks after 33 miners got trapped in the copper and gold mine in Copiapo, some 725 km (450 miles) north of Santiago, on September 23, 2010. File Photo / Reuters
Santiago: The engineer who led the rescue of 33 trapped miners in Chile more than a decade ago will now oversee the biggest copper-producing company in the world.
Andre Sougarret will take over from Octavio Araneda as chief executive officer at Codelco on Monday, the Chilean state-owned company said in a statement. Araneda steps down due to health reasons, ending a 36-year career at Codelco.
Sougarret, who won global acclaim and a slew of awards for his work freeing miners at The San Jose mine in 2010, takes the helm as the company faces a string of operational setbacks. Mines around the world are dealing with logistical challenges exposed by the pandemic and exacerbated by the invasion of Ukraine and Chinese lockdowns -- at a time of ballooning costs.
In recent years Codelco has spent billions of dollars to upgrade its aging deposits in a bid to maintain production and control costs, thereby maximizing state payments at a time when the government is boosting social spending to address inequalities.
Sougarret takes the top job after serving as Araneda’s deputy. He previously held positions at Antofagasta Plc and Minera Fresnillo Plc. Araneda has been off work for the past three months for health reasons that weren’t disclosed.
