Thais Chavez: new Mine Engineer graduated from Delphos Laboratory.

On December 23, 2020, Delphos Laboratory's Mine Engineering student Thais Chávez Avila passed her degree exam. The examining commission consisted of Enrique Jélvez, Alex Carpanetti Lanyon, Jonathan Tapia Espinoza, Esteban Marinkovic Núñez and Guillermo Bagioli Arce.

His work consisted of carrying out the decision of the contour of the final pit, A decision corresponding to the initial stage of economic technical assessment of an open pit mining operation, with the aim of incorporating in the assessment geological and market uncertainties associated, first, with the concentration of copper present in a deposit under study and, secondly, to commodity price volatility in the long-term. To incorporate market uncertainty, the study has incorporated techniques of econometric projections (Aracena, 2014) that allow to define different trajectories of the price of the long-term commodity and, to incorporate geological uncertainty, will work with a set of conditional simulations obtained through the application of the rolling band technique (Emery, 2017).

What would you stand out from your entire study process?

First, I would like to highlight the training I was able to obtain thanks to my study house, the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaiso. Alongside this is the companionship and support network between the students and teachers of the university. I would also like to highlight the invaluable moments I experienced with the friends I met thanks to this training process.

Could you tell us about your academic career?

I entered my career at 24th position in 2015, after completing my middle education studies at the Carlos Cousiño College located in the city of Valparaíso where I was highlighted as the best graduate of the 2014 generation and best student in the scientific area. During my years of study, I did other complementary activities such as being part of the ICMin student center during 2016-2017 as finance secretary, I also served as an assistant to the geology laboratory to support with aid classes in the field of Mining Geology, as I also participated in various volunteer activities such as collecting donations for those affected by the 2019 fire in the city of Valparaiso, among others.

Among the activities I did during my last year of training are to be part of the Summer School in Mine Planning and Operations 2020, where I had the opportunity to attend professorships taught by professors from different national and international universities. I also developed my professional practice in the Faena Minera Las Luisas located in Cabildo commune, where I had the opportunity to develop different activities among which I highlight the generation of an automated model for medium-term cost evaluation and risk assessment associated with the underground mining operation.

Why did you develop your theme with Delphos?

I developed my title project with the support of Mr. Enrique Jélvez Montenegro, academic researcher at Delphos. I had the opportunity to meet Enrique during the development of the Summer School in Mine Planning and Operations 2020 where, after concluding the experience, we discussed the possibility of him being my memoir guide. My main motivation to develop my memoir is in the specialization field of Delphos, since I want to guide my future professional development in mine planning, so when evaluating this possibility, I decided to commit to achieving this work. On the way I reinforced and learned concepts from the economic technical evaluation stage of a mining project, I also learned in the short-term new fundamentals associated with the area of econometrics. Finally, I would like to highlight the flexibility with which it was possible to carry out this project in a 100% online mode resulting from the difficulties of traveling from Valparaiso to Santiago because of health restrictions due to covid, without a doubt it was an interesting and possible challenge to realize.

What message would you deliver to future Delphos thesis students?

To future Delphos thesis students, I wish them every success at this stage, to do their best during the development of their work so that the results allow them to satisfactorily surrender their defenses and thus achieve their respective titles or degrees. It is a great opportunity, where you learn a lot and it is possible to test our own limits. We can achieve our goals with determination, trust, and discipline.

What are your plans?

Right now, I am taking advantage of time with my family. In May of this year, I will begin my studies, a post title Diploma in Geo-Minero-Metalurgia taught by the Faculty of Physical Sciences and Mathematics of the University of Chile. I aspire to begin my professional development so that, in the future, I continue my academic training.

Congratulations to the new Mine Engineer!