FGV and Universidad de Chile’s Centro de Modelamiento Matemático (CMM) recently signed a cooperation agreement. FGV’s School of Applied Mathematics (EMAp) and CMM will work together in an ambitious project to streamline copper production.

Coordinated by EMAp professor Margaret Armstrong and CMM Director Alejandro Jofre, the project aims to create a mathematical model that allows the economic assessment of mining projects. The novelty is that the researchers, led by PhD Candidate Erick de la Barra, will assess the seismic risks generated by underground mining activities.

The purpose of the project is to gauge seismic activity and increase worker safety. EMAp will develop scenarios and prices for copper in order to simulate the commodity’s price changes within the global market. Universidad de Chile’s CMM will develop a model capable of linking production to seismic activity.

The technique will be employed at the ‘El Teniente’ mine, located to the South of Chile’s capital, Santiago, and currently the largest underground copper mine in the world. The initiative is supported by Codelco, a Chilean state-owned company and global leader in copper production. Subsequently, the developed model can be applied to other sites, including iron ore mining activities in Brazil.