Since 2005, El Morro has provided information and received feedback from local people about the project.  Between 2005 and 2008, it has held four rounds of consultation with 44 community organizations, attended by almost 1,200 people.  The final project design included in the EIS is the result of this participatory design process with local communities.

The availability of water was identified as a priority concern, particularly in the Huasco River basin.  In response, El Morro incorporated into its design the installation of a desalination plant to meet the requirements for  potable and industrial water during the construction and operation of the project.  Built on the coast at Totoral, the plant would safely provide 640 litres per second of desalinated seawater via a 190km pipeline to the operation located at 4,000m above sea level.

The project design incorporates thickened tailings technology which would allow the project to maximize water recovery from the tailings for recycling in the process plant and reduce the final volume of the tailings deposit while contributing to its stability.

Local Focus

El Morro respects and values the cultures, customs, interests and rights of its local communities and is committed to contributing to their sustainable development.   To this end, El Morro seeks to form alliances with public and private entities and local interest groups to define and develop social projects to improve the quality of life of local communities and strengthen their cultural identity.

This process of joint design, together with El Morro's vision of sustainable development, makes this project a pioneer amongst Chile's new generation of mining projects.