Within the Molymet group of companies we subsidiaries whose focus is not related to the production of molybdenum but on other sustainable activities. The first is an agricultural company producing organic nuts on 123 hectares and the second is a hydroelectric company which generates renewable hydroelectric energy through plants with an installed power capacity of 10,7 MW. We share details of how each subsidiary functions below.
Inmobiliaria San Bernardo S.A. (ISBSA)
Inmobiliaria San Bernardo is an agricultural estate with commercial production of organic walnuts on 123 hectares. Located in our green belt buffer zone around our MolynetNos plant it helps mitigate the impacts of our industrial activity on the surrounding communities.
Marketed under the Geonuts® brand, the nuts are mainly exported to Austria, Italy, Germany and Japan.
We frame our business as one of ecology and stewardship and a milestone in 2O21 was the signing of a Real Right of Environmental Conservation on our land. This has formalized our efforts to conserve the environmental and ecological heritage of the orchards within the San Bernado urban area.
2021 numbers
2021 Highlights
Investment
1) The installation of an artificially intelligent optical sorter (Sortbox) enabled us to discard defect products quicker which improved final product quality and reduced waste. This innovation allowed us meet delivery deadlines despite operational difficulties caused by the COVID-19 contingency.
2) We invested in irrigation security with the construction of a dam with 15,000 m3 effective storage capacity and a decanter for the elimination of mud with a capacity of 60 litres per second.
We investigated in equipment for the control of salts and excess chlorine in walnut irrigation water. This equipment radiates low-frequency waves into the irrigation water, modifying the arrangement of the water molecules and facilitating greater water efficiency by transferring salts to depths beyond the root zone.
3) We invested in automated remote management of an irrigation house and a flow meter to measure incoming flow. This improved control and management of water resources used for irrigation of walnut trees and water management in the face of the drought affecting the Santiago Metropolitan Region.
Community engagement
Using specialized personnel with fumigation equipment, we helped sanitize streets and common spaces in our neighboring communities for the prevention of Covid-19. With assistance from the MolymetNos subsidiary, the municipality and different neighbourhood councils, we sanitized around 5 km of streets and squares each day that the San Bernardo commune was in phase 1 of the COVID-19 step-by-step plan.
Organic Vegetable Garden Project
Together with Molymet, MolymetNos and community participation, we developed and executed an “Organic Community Vegetable Gardens” project in the communities of Cinco Pinos, Carbomet and Rinconada de Nos. The project helped us to get to know the communities surrounding the MolymetNos plant and raised awareness of how our organic nut production has a positive impact on the local environment. This project gave our neighbors the know how to produce their own food in a healthy and sustainable way. It was later extended to senior citizens where vegetable growing was used as part of occupational therapy.
Four greenhouses were built with the capacity to produce 20kg of organic food per m2, which translates into 500kg of vegetables per greenhouse per year. It benefitted 45 people (15 per neighbourhood council) and 18 senior citizens in the Rosita Renard Home. More than 640 hours of training were carried out in the theory and practice of organic production, irrigation methods, seeds, bio-remedies, fertilizers, environmental education and healthy eating.
Annual Certifications
- National organic certification for production, processing and export to the: EU, USA, Brazil, Switzerland and Japan (Ecocert) and China (Grit Cert).
- GlobalGap good agricultural practices certification (NSF).
- HACCP food safety certification (NSF).
All these certifications are issued annually and need to be renewed in March each year.
COVID-19 measures
Our careful measures for social distancing, sanitizing of workspaces and strict compliance with the step-by-step plan enabled continuous operations during the harvesting season.
Carbomet Energía S.A. (CESA)
Our subsidiary Carbomet Energía S.A. (CESA) is located in Puente Alto in the Santiago Metropolitan Region. This subsidiary generates renewable energy through two run-of-river hydroelectric plants. The two generating plants have nominal power of 5.6 MW and 5.1 MW each. For energy transmission, we connect to the National Electric System through the distribution network of Empresa Eléctrica de Puente Alto (EEPA) and Compañía General de Electricidad (CGE) respectively, under the modality of Small Means of Distributed Generation (PMGD).
Both the power plant and the rest of our facilities are located on land owned by the company and third parties. These were awarded via concession (DS 4350 of July 1944) with their corresponding easements. We also have water rights for 24 m₂/s of water not for consumption that is returned to the water course after being used in the turbine.
In 2021, three major factors impacted what we do at Carbomet Energía:
- Central Chile has been facing water scarcity for more than a decade
- Volatility of energy prices due to different factors throughout the year
- A national electricity system with increasingly tight capacity as a result of the water crisis, the low availability of gas and the unavailability of power plants
Despite these factors, we achieved the following results:
2021 numbers
2021 Highlights
Advances made in Occupational Health and Safety
We have made progress with implementing the management system for occupational health and safety, incorporating new training for all company employees and updating the risk matrix in our Operations and Maintenance area.
Operational Efficiency
We upgraded the monitoring system of our hydroelectric power plants, incorporating technologies that enable real-time remote operation management. This has allowed us to increase our cyber security measures an facilitate the operation of the plants. In the future this will also mean implementation of additional innovation measures for the the remote operation of company assets.
Adaptation to COVID-19
Even though we had to adapt to the new reality presented by the pandemic and modify our normal behavior, this had no impact on meeting our objectives.
Supporting out neighbors
We provide electricity supply for farmers located in the sectors adjacent to our Central Maipo operation. This is an area that is not currently serviced by a distribution company and while the community is negotiating with the distribution company GCE, we will continue this support providing a total of 65.15 MW per year until the community finalizes the regularisation process.
Evaluation, analysis and associated impacts on climate change
Due to the water scarcity affecting the Maipo River, we saw the need to revise and adapt the frequency of maintenance and operational activities. In addition, working together with members of the Supervisory Board of the First Section of the Maipo River, we participated in a diagnostic study of the operation of the water resources of the basin, which incorporates the variables of scarcity, water quality and sedimentology, operational variables along the river and its tributaries, in order to optimize and improve the information for each of the actors and the optimal use of the available flows by the different water users in the basin (Agriculture, Sanitary, Hydroelectric).
COVID-19 Measures
Our efforts have been aimed at maintaining the operation of our plants with the highest safety standards. Among others, we developed : sanitary operational protocols for internal and external employees at company facilities and COVID-19 control tools and record keeping of all cases. We introduced prevention measures associated with transport, food, visitor access and sanitization services in the workplace. Employees with morbidities and administrative personnel changed to working remotely from home. Throughout this time, we also maintained a constant education and reinforcement program creating awareness of risks and the use of correct protection measures. These measures allowed us to meet our planned 2021 objectives and maintain continuous operation of the plants while also carrying out maintenance work and committed projects. As we are an essential company (basic supply – Energy), we always have the corresponding ministerial authorizations for continuous operation based on special collective permits and safeguards when required by the step-by-step plan.
