IN COMMUNITY

Social development

ATACAMA FERTILE LAND

In 2008, the Atacama Tierra Fértil Program was born through which SQM has promoted agro-productive initiatives in the driest desert in the world. The Tierra Fertil Program is present in the towns of: San Pedro de Atacama, Toconao, Talabre, Rio Grande and Hierbas Buenas, Soncor and Socaire. Its objective is to provide farmers with technical advice and collaboration, to develop their crops and production, through a team of their own multidisciplinary professionals, provide innovation tools to improve crops and commercialize products with added value or high quality . One of its hallmarks is respect for the cultural aspects of the ancestral agriculture of the Atacameño people.

Sport and Healthy Living

TOCONAO FAMILY RUN

The Family Run that takes place in the town of Toconao and that gives the possibility of enjoying beautiful natural landscapes, has the participation of a large number of runners who dared to be part of this circuit that is characterized by being a competition that it develops at 2.400 meters above sea level, with a unique geography in Chile and temperatures that generally border 30 ° C. This initiative is financed through the SQM Sports Competitive Funds and proposed by worker Marcelo Lobos and his team of Runners Salar de Atacama.

Education and culture

SUPPORT PROGRAM IN MATHEMATICS

For the eighth year, the collaborative work between SQM and the Crea + Corporation continues to bear fruit in qualitative and quantitative terms. The program, already consolidated, continues to obtain good results and is valued by the teachers and management teams of the institutions advised. 

During the 2019 financial year, the program taught in different establishments had a direct impact on 1.674 students and 49 teachers. The program generates internships in Finland, granting scholarships to professionals who stand out for their results and commitment to their students.

Education and culture

APPRENTICES PROGRAM

In recent years, the SQM Salar Apprentice Operators training program has prepared new professionals from the surrounding communities to perform a new job with high standards of management, efficiency and quality. The company has prepared a program backed with the know-how, knowledge, innovation and experience of SQM workers. The program considers four thematic axes: Awareness about safety regulations and organization of operational work; Understanding of the production stages and technical processes for the development of operational work; Knowledge in the field of the good practices of the operational or productive processes of Lithium; and Knowledge of the quality standards that allows working around the Continuous Improvement of the processes.

This program summons apprentices, men and women from the communities of Toconao, Calama, Peine, Socaire, Camar and San Pedro de Atacama. The participants have acquired soft skills and technical tools that were crowned with their permanent hiring and entry into different areas of SQM at their Salar de Atacama site.

Historical heritage

LOOM HOUSE

Casa Telar is a project promoted by Fundación ONA and SQM, and its objective is to recall textile art and the ancestral knowledge of the Lickanantay culture. 2019 was marked by important advances in the program, mainly in the working groups of the communities of Toconao, Socaire, Larache and Talabre, with the main objective of enhancing the value of the Atacameño Lickanantay textile industry. The first Textile Art Documentation Center operates in San Pedro de Atacama in the town of Toconao, a place that complements the work carried out by the women who participate in this initiative, which seeks to contribute to preserving the textile heritage of the inhabitants of the commune.