Mankuk Consulting & Services

Partner companies of Eco Mining Concepts propose innovative projects to Minera San Pedro

Eco Mining Concepts' partner company, Minera San Pedro, called on the network to present ideas for innovative green mining projects with the aim of thinking and creating pilots at its mine in Til Til. Among the ideas delivered by our members, Andrés Guerrero, general manager of Minera San Pedro, invited Fraunhofer Chile and Mankuk to visit their facilities.

While Fraunhofer Chile focused on solar energy for the mining sector, Mankuk proposed a tire revaluation project. In the interview, Alexander von Frey, CEO of the Mankuk company, tells us more about this project and his collaboration with the KonaFuel company.

In Chile, approximately 130,000 tons of disposable tires accumulate each year. A third of this amount comes from the mining and construction sector. With this percentage, the Chilean mining industry has a great environmental responsibility, since the vast majority of mining tires end up being treated as waste – not resources – and therefore end up in the environment or in landfills. To summarize, the recycling of mining tires represents a great advance towards more sustainability in the mining sector.

CAMCHAL: How and under what circumstances can discarded mining tires be reused?

Alexander von Frey: All available mining tires can be reused. Kona Fuel carried out a pilot, in which four Aro 63 tires were cut and processed successfully in one of its reactors at its plant in Talcahuano. One of the great advantages of the pyrolysis process is that any type of tire can be valorized. In the case of mining tires (larger size), a prior process is required to reduce their size and be able to process them in the reactors. In the case of the OTR rim 63 tire (the largest existing), it only needs to be cut into 8 sections to be able to process it.

The mining industry has great potential to convert its tires into fuel, or energy for its process. There is the experience and technology to do it. Seeing tires as waste in the mining industry is a thing of the past: tires are not only necessary elements for the production process, but they are a source of fuel and/or energy.

How do new technologies and digitalization contribute to tire recycling?

The sustainable and massive recycling of tires is a great challenge, in which new technologies can add great value. Currently pyrolysis is one of them, but without a doubt it must evolve technologically to increase the efficiency and quality of the fuel (refining) resulting from the process, in order to obtain a fuel of greater commercial value. Despite technological improvements, regulatory incentives in this regard are very important, since in general, the inertia of large mining companies makes it difficult to implement new projects along these lines, especially if it is a new and evolving issue. On the other hand, for successful projects in this matter, there must be a balance between the technological aspects (affects the cost) and the regulatory aspects (generates the need / obligation to implement this type of projects) and thus establish the bases to be able to open or expand the tire recycling industry.

In what way can not only the environment, but also Chilean mining benefit from tire recycling?

It is important to highlight that the fact that there is the possibility of revaluating tires during a mine operation will avoid the need to have stockpiles of tires and also the need for guarantee slips associated with closure, since this environmental liability will be revaluing, or processing, into fuel and/or energy to be used in the same process.

Another important point is that revaluation generates new raw materials/products, which, from a price point of view, are competitive. For example, the liquid fuel produced by the pyrolysis of NFU can replace diesel oil in generation equipment, allowing the use of an alternative fuel of good quality, but at a lower cost.

Not only large-scale mining can benefit from this technology, but also medium or small-sized mining operations, by implementing plants to convert tires into fuel and/or energy for their processes, by receiving tires from other industries, mainly the automotive industry. and the tire itself. In this way they will be contributing to implementing Eco Mining practices, by using unconventional energy in their process.

Mankuk is a partner of the tire recycling company Konafuel. How did you come to collaborate with Konafuel? What role does collaborative work have for innovation in the mining sector and how do you think greater collaboration could be achieved between the different actors in the sector?


The fact that the law is in process already generates an interest in identifying the alternatives that exist for the valuation of NFU and its validation. On the other hand, it has been seen that companies generate real actions when there is a demand, therefore, we will have to wait to see what happens and how the mining industry reacts to it. In any case, the REP Law is a starting point that raises awareness and the concern to look for alternatives, but progress must continue to ensure the commercialization of the by-products of the revaluation of NFU. Source: Eco Mining Concepts

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Mario Cortés

Business Development Manager

Mario Cortés is an Industrial Civil Engineer from Universidad de los Andes. He has more than 10 years of experience leading and developing commercial and project areas in the mining sector in national and international companies.

Mario has participated in important equipment supply projects for large-scale mining companies and has managed manufacture contracts, showing an outstanding strategic capacity, managing business risks and focused on the comprehensive progress of projects, areas and companies in which he has participated, focused on personal relationships and customer compliance. Currently Mario is a Business Development Manager, responsible of opening new markets and looking for synergies with other national and international companies in products and services.

Alexander von Frey

Managing Partner

Alexander is a co-founding partner of Mankuk. A civil engineer from Universidad de Chile. He has more than 16 years of experience leading environmental consultancy projects for the private industry and state-owned enterprises, in areas such as mining and energy.

Alexander has led countless projects related to archaeological management, environmental impact studies and statements, processing of sectorial permits, and engineering projects associated with sanitation, irrigation, and hydraulic projects. Alexander’s great leadership capacity allows him to deliver technical, environmental, and managerial solutions for the development of the projects entrusted to him, bringing great energy to the team. Today, Alexander plays a fundamental role as partner and managing director of Mankuk, providing direct support to clients throughout the different stages of project development.

Marta Aguilera

Senior Project Manager

Marta is a Lawyer from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and holds a Master's degree in Environmental Law from the Rovira i Virgili University. She has 10 years of experience in consultancy projects and legal advice in environmental matters.

Her areas of expertise include environmental, corporate, and real estate issues, serving sectors such as energy, industry, and mining, among others. Marta stands out for her leadership, management, and supervision of her teams, which enables the successful achievement of proposed objectives.

Loreto Rojas

Senior Project Manager

A geographer from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, with a broad experience in territorial planning, environmental assessment, and geographic information systems. She has actively participated in leading, coordinating, and supervising complex hydrology projects, fire assessment, environmental impact statements, and processing of sectorial permits for private and public organizations.

Her great charisma, optimism, and enthusiasm make Loreto a key member when it comes to overcoming the challenges, we face every day.

Miguel Burgos

Senior Project Manager

Miguel is an environmental engineer and holds a master degree in environmental sciences from Universidad Santiago de Chile. He has more than fourteen years of experience in participating, leading, coordinating, and supervising sanitation and environmental projects, permits processing, and issues related to highly complex projects in the areas of waste of all kinds, regulatory compliance control, and environmental rating solutions. Miguel is a professional who stands out for his commitment and excellent relationship with his clients and the entire Mankuk team which, combined with his professional qualifications, make him a key member for us.

Mauricio Compagnon

Managing Partner

Mauricio is an industrial civil engineer from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. He is a co-founding partner of Mankuk, with over 15 years of experience in consulting and developing environmental services for large-scale mining, energy and transportation projects, among other industries. Mauricio has a comprehensive and detailed perspective of the environmental requirements that capital investment projects are forced to comply with. His expertise and skills allow him to make accurate recommendations in the precise moment.

Currently, Mauricio has a key role in the administration and commercial management areas of Mankuk. He leads work teams dedicated to the study of bids and preparation of proposals. He participates directly as Consulting Manager for the different projects of the company.