Safety in Chile: training in the mining metaverse 

Chilean lithium mining. Credit: Philipp Edler via Shutterstock

From autonomous trucks to robotic drilling, the Covid-19 pandemic stimulated a swathe of technological innovations in mining industries worldwide. With one of the highest number of cumulative days spent in lockdown, a heavy economic reliance on mineral exports, and perpetual reports of mining accidents and deaths, Chile’s public and private sectors have scrambled to refine their mining practices.  

One of these lockdown-born innovations is the “Miniverso”, a metaverse-based training platform for miners. Rodrigo González, founder of the Metaverso Limitada startup, says the immersive reality platform connects the mining industry and increases labour safety and productivity across Chile’s abundant copper and lithium mines.

As Chile’s most important industry, mining accounts for 11% of GDP, and more than half of the country’s total exports. Miner safety is a serious concern in Chile. The Copiapó mining accident in 2010 brought this to global attention, when 33 miners were rescued after spending more than two months trapped underground.

A recent government report shows remarkable improvements in mining conditions. Mining accidents and deaths in Chile have more than halved since 2010, as mines in the country adopt better practices and technology.

Gonzalez claims that the platform’s training “significantly reduces the risks associated with mining operations” through creation of “scenarios that are not presented in physical training, such as entering crushing machinery or simulating fires”.

Metaverse technology has been stuck in its infancy stage for several years, but some, including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, advocate its potential. So far, this has been a costly idea for the tech entrepreneur, whose net worth reportedly dropped by $71 billion in 2022.  

Apple’s announcement of its Vision Pro “mixed reality” headset brought some interest back to the metaverse at the start of June. But Apple was stringent in avoiding any use of the term “metaverse” in announcing the technology, and analysts labelled it as a step away from the all-purpose digital utopia platform touted by Zuckerberg and company.  

González, however, sees enormous value in the metaverse for training and development beyond the mining sector, envisioning its application in other sectors “such as banking, retail and construction”.  

For now, mining remains Metaverso Limitada’s forte. Companies such as FLSmidth and Metso have bought a presence in the start-up’s mining metaverse. The company's Miniverso contains themed showrooms where users can remotely explore mining sites, check machinery, complete virtual equipment repairs and even simulate explosions in deposits.

As the world’s largest producer of copper and second-largest lithium producer after Australia, Chile’s economy is heavily dependent on its mines. Chilean president Gabriel Boric is increasingly protective over their ownership, and his initiatives will define the industry over coming years.

In the late 1960s and early 70s, Chile nationalised its copper industry. Codelco, the state-owned company tasked with driving copper production, now has the task of assisting in nationalising the country’s lithium industry, as Boric announced in April. 

Mining policymakers and investors gained some clarity over this transition at the end of June when the Chilean government released its National Lithium Strategy. The document outlines specific timelines and targets of the critical mineral used for rechargeable batteries in cameras, phones and electric cars.  

Currently, only two companies mine lithium in Chile: US firm Albemarle and SQM, a Chilean firm that is nearly one quarter-owned by a Chinese company. Although the government in Santiago has been slow to grant permissions for lithium mining in the past, the new strategy promises to award more mining leases. It will also ensure that some of these new projects are joint partnerships with a state-owned company.

While González believes that Boric’s reform is “necessary and expected by the industry”, he called on the Chilean government to “bet on the incorporation of new technologies and approaches to mineral extraction… to ensure that the increase in taxes and royalties does not imply a loss of competitiveness for the industry”.  

Metaverso Limitada has partnered with Codelco to roll out its platform across Chile, and has future plans to expand into the US. Nationalisation generally brings smaller investments and payouts to private industry, but Chile’s public-private partnership model might allow for development of a private sector developing home-grown mining technologies, even those tackling areas as vast as the metaverse.