SQM Prevents the Spread of COVID-19 among Older Adults

After identifying the most urgent needs of the municipalities and towns near its operations in the Antofagasta and Tarapacá regions, the mining company has formulated various initiatives to help local residents, particularly the groups that are most at risk. The goal is to help them to stay at home and thus minimize the likelihood that they will contract the virus.

For over ten years, SQM has been cultivating a close relationship with the residents of the towns and municipalities near its operations in the Antofagasta and Tarapacá regions through a wide range of local development initiatives and projects. In the context of the COVID-19 health crisis, the mining company is further strengthening its connection to the community because it views this alliance as key to addressing and getting past this healthcare emergency together.

A first line of assistance has involved delivering basic items to older adults and their families. SQM has toured various municipalities and towns, delivering food to homes in Pozo Almonte, Quillagua, María Elena, Tocopilla, Toconao, Talabre, Camar, Peine, Santiago de Río Grande and San Pedro de Atacama. The goal of the efforts is to keep members of this risk group at home and thus minimize the likelihood that they will contract the virus. The action was replicated in Colonia Agrícola de Pintados and the former Salitrera Victoria, the Macaya indigenous community and Chañavayita and Caramucho, both fishing villages in the Tarapacá Region.

In addition, SQM has participated in the efforts promoted by the San Pedro de Atacama Parish to help and protect the most at-risk groups from contracting COVID-19. One of the measures that has garnered the most praise is the soup kitchen, which is helping keep residents in the city instead of traveling to Calama or other towns to purchase supplies. An average of 60 guests are served each day.

As SQM’s Director of Communications, Sustainability and Public Affairs, Pablo Pisani, explains, “In addition to distributing personal protective equipment to healthcare workers in hospitals and to residents of Tocopilla and María Elena, SQM is promoting a prevention campaign in the field, on social media and through several radio stations in order to increase public awareness and contribute to the efforts of the Health Ministry, municipalities and other social institutions to address the health crisis.”

The company also has made efforts to protect older adults and the community at large by sanitizing healthcare facilities and public spaces in the municipalities of Tocopilla, Pozo Almonte and San Pedro de Atacama. Employees delivered 96 liters of quaternary ammonium disinfectant to María Elena and Quillagua, which can be diluted to yield 19,200 liters of sanitizer.

Circular Economy

SQM also brings fresh hydroponic lettuce to various communities near San Pedro de Atacama. The produce is grown by a group of entrepreneurs in Socaire whose initiative supports the local economy and has been able to provide supplies to other communities in the area during the health emergency. Socaire farms have produced nearly 6,000 heads of hydroponic lettuce every month since 2016 with the support of the Atacama Tierra Fértil farming program.