During the Expomin 2021 Fair, the Panel “Future of Mining and Energy” was held with the moderation of the executive director of Aprimin, Sergio Hernández, who presented the programmatic managers of the candidacies of Gabriel Boric, Yasna Provoste, Sebastián Sichel and José Antonio Kast. In the introduction, the EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR of Aprimin urged them to talk about their proposals and address issues in energy, regulatory frameworks, investments, research, challenges and opportunities. In that sense, he said that “anyone who becomes a government will have to talk about their program with Parliament and we understand that the 4 candidacies want to converge in great agreements to carry out the development of mining, a fundamental lever to carry out the development of the country we want” The first to present was the engineer and director of the Department of Mines of the University of Chile, Willy Kracht on behalf of the candidacy of Gabriel Boric, who stated that “we understand mining as an important part for the country and we share the concern about climate change. We agree that we are in a very special moment. We want to build a new narrative in mining. We do mining not only for consumption, but it is also to face the climate crisis” “An alternative that we like is to develop local productive chains. We have a share in world production of 30% copper. We have unique operations and challenges at the local level. We want to pay attention to local impacts and that this is done together with the communities and pay close attention to the territorial impacts,” said the mining engineer. He stated that the presidential command of Gabriel Boric proposes “a new role for the State in order to be more present, but with a more entrepreneurial role.” As a novelty, he said that his candidate proposes “the installation of a National Development Bank that is not only a figure for the mining sector, but for the other sectors relevant to the economic development of the country: what he seeks with this is to channel these efforts and generate the conditions for clean development.” He stressed that his program does not seek to alter the current mining model that has worked well with national and foreign investment. “There is nothing in the program that points in the opposite direction of what is being done. Another relevant thing we have unrestricted respect. We already have a robust institutionality that we want to take care of and strengthen.” Then it was the turn of the candidacy of José Antonio Kast. Representing him was the expert in business development, Mario Marchesse, who emphasized supporting and promoting technological development in mining and private initiative as a key driver for the development of the country. “We must also promote and give legal certainty to long-term investors who seek stability and tranquility to bring their capital. This is not free, it is not at the expense of our environment and that is why we have to see the impacts generated by mining activity, that is, we must control and monitor,” he said. The expert assured that the development of the different edges must take place in conjunction with all the actors of the mining chain: suppliers, industry, academia and small and medium-sized enterprises. In addition to strengthening education in high schools and technical colleges. “We want to give everyone opportunities to get into this industry.” He said that in terms of small and medium mining, a new impetus must be given. “Enami more has to sustain small and medium mining through subsidies and promotion programs can also be a contribution in technology knowledge and support to develop a much stronger mining than we have today.” Representing the campaign of Senator Yasna Provoste, economist, mining expert and member of the so-called Green Table, Annie Dufey, who agreed that the mining sector is the most important in the country. We want to turn our mining into a leader in global copper production and not only that it provides employment and that instills productive chains in the territories and seeking the creation of sustainable value beyond the logic of the benefits of the transactional that has prevailed in the political,” he said. He said that there are challenges that must be addressed to move to the second stage in mining development: how to produce more copper and minerals in addition to exporting knowledge and new technological models to meet the productivity challenges of the sector. “And we have environmental and social challenges in working together with the communities with which we have to continue working side by side,” he said. He said that “one of the tasks that must be changed is that those entering from the sector do not agree with what reaches the communities. That is why we must advance in green mining and value creation. We have a consensus that mining activity can contribute more to the state without affecting competitiveness with much more with contributions of greater knowledge, technologies and quality jobs.” Regarding the future of water, the expert of the Yasna Provoste command said that it is time to continue promoting that mining companies use seawater through desalination processes. And he announced that if they reach the government they will resume the plans that CORFO was making for the sector. She also emphasized that it is necessary to increase women’s participation in mining and leadership positions. On behalf of the candidacy of Sebastián Sichel, explained the economist, Gabriela Clivio, who said that “mining must be at the service of the country, that is, we want a state that accompanies mining development and especially small and medium mining.” He spoke of generating green mining and promoting sustainable development “based on the objectives defined in the concept of sustainable development of the United Nations.” He commented that Sichel’s mining program consists of 5 pillars: Social and territorial development; Care for the environment; Technological development and female participation. Regarding this last point, she agreed with the representative of Yasna Provoste in the sense that more women must be integrated into the industry and especially into important positions.