Challenges of deep mining: why safe technology matters

Gonzalo Ramírez is a Civil Mechanical Engineer with postgraduate studies in Mechatronic Systems and Innovation. Throughout his career, he has worked across diverse industries, consistently addressing the intersection of sustainability, technology, and business. With more than 15 years of experience fostering innovation within the copper value chain, he currently serves as Innovation Director at Codelco. In this role, he leads the company’s strategic sustainability innovation portfolio, tackling key challenges such as decarbonization, particulate matter control, and reducing risk exposure in underground mining activities. These initiatives are essential to advancing Codelco's purpose of being a pillar of sustainable development in Chile and globally.

The journey to electrified, autonomous operations underground

Dr. Rikard Mäki has a strong research and R&D management background in on-road and off-road vehicle engineering, and has managed people and projects in areas such as Mobile fleet investments, Electrification of vehicles, Mine automation, Fleet management and Mining equipment. Rikard is currently leading the team responsible for implementing Electrification and Automation solutions for Boliden Mines Mobile Equipment fleet. This includes both machines and supporting infrastructure in Underground, Open Pit and Public Road applications. Rikard is also supporting the external research portfolio at Boliden Mines with projects related to mining methods, digitalization, automation and electrification.

Driving technological transformation with change management at the core

Sebastián Ríos has led Pucobre for more than two decades, steering the company through a profound shift toward safer, more efficient, technology‑driven mining. With an engineering background from Universidad Católica de Chile and executive studies from Stanford, he brings a steady, future‑focused vision to Chile’s mining sector.

Driving technological transformation with change management at the core

Senior Vice President, Operations at Eldorado Gold, Niklas Frank is responsible for operational support and is the primary lead for Eldorado Gold’s site general managers in Quebec and Türkiye, as well as operations support in Greece. With over 26 years of experience in the international mining industry from Trafigura Mining Group and Boliden Mineral AB, Niklas has managed mining operations in Sweden, Canada, the United States, Peru, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cuba and others.