The mining sector in Latin America has always been a great challenge for contractors worldwide. Getting to know each market individually and being able to meet all the specific needs of every project geographically, are some of the challenges that STRACON GyM (STRACON) has faced to build a solid reputation with its partners within the region.

Jose Luis del Corral, COO of STRACON, explained the scope of the services provided by the Company, last year's performance, ongoing operations and objectives set for this year in order to strengthen the expansion strategy.

 

2016 STRACON Results:

The results for STRACON have been positive, mainly because of the Company's growth within the region.

Regarding business development, STRACON has accessed a new market in Colombia, where it has participated in the development and mining of the San Ramon Project owned by Red Eagle Mining. This mine is located 2.5 hours from Medellin (Antioquia Region), commercial production started in March, this year. "The experience gained to date will help us win future projects in Colombia due to the country's mining potential", Jose Luis said.

"In Panama, we have been supporting our client Minera Panamá (First Quantum Minerals) with the construction of their Cobre Panama mine since 2012. During this time, the client awarded us more work within the civil construction scope of work. It is worth mentioning that this project has a CAPEX of 6 billion dollars" he mentioned.

He also added "We have started operations in Mexico, providing engineering services to the Peñasquito mine (Goldcorp), and have been invited to participate in several tenders for the different expansion stages of the mine. To date, several other mining projects within the country are being assessed".

From the commercial perspective, STRACON achieved its budget expectations; however, sales were less compared to 2015 mainly because of the mining industry's contraction due to the drop in metal prices.

STRACON's presence in Peru:

Currently, in Peru, STRACON is working with the following clients: Tahoe Resources (Tahoe), Hudbay Minerals (Hudbay), Cía. Minera Buenaventura (Buenaventura) and MINSUR.

The company is working with Tahoe in the execution of its ongoing projects, La Arena and Shahuindo. It is worth mentioning that, over the last two years, Shahuindo has been one of the few greenfield projects in Peru developed to the commercial production stage. STRACON has been part of the successful production startup within the timeframe established by its client.

"Regarding Hudbay, we have been working at the Constancia Project for almost five years. We have participated in the greenfield mine construction as well as in the mine operation. Nowadays, we continue to support our client with all civil earthworks required for the operation" said Jose Luis.

"Buenaventura is one of our oldest and most important clients. We have been working together for more than five years successfully operating at the La Zanja project, where we have just negotiated a contract extension until the end of 2018. Also, we have started operations at the San Rafael project, for MINSUR, and expect to strengthen our relationship with this client" notes Jose Luis.

STRACON's presence in Latin America:

The company is currently implementing an aggressive international business expansion. STRACON's growth strategy aims to find business opportunities throughout the Latin American Region.

We are currently operating in Colombia and Panama, developing business opportunities in Mexico, and assessing the possibility of entering the Brazilian and Argentinian markets.

As explained before, STRACON has been working at Red Eagle´s in Colombia since 2015, and is also a shareholder at the company. In Panama, STRACON has been working in the Cobre Panama project owned by its client First Quantum Minerals since 2012.

In Mexico the company has a small contract for engineering services for the Peñasquito Mine owned by Goldcorp. "We are assessing several opportunities to win open pit, underground mining and earthworks projects for existing mines within the country", Jose Luis explained.

Scope of the services provided by STRACON:

It is important to mention that the service provided to each client are tailored to the client's specific requirements; however, Jose Luis describes STRACON's services as follows:

• Open pit mining services which include drilling, blasting, loading, ore and waste haulage, and road maintenance works.
• Construction of civil earthworks such as: tailing storage facilities, haul roads, waste material storage areas, leach pads, etc.
• Underground mining services: mine development and operation.
• In addition, we offer mine closure services which involves the remediation and rehabilitation of mine sites.

"Our business is not a short-term business, we aim to establish long term relationships with all our clients, we know we will be a successful business if our clients have successful operations. For that reason, our aim is that both parties benefit in order to maintain and improve our commercial relationships and make our clients feel we are not only their contractors, but their associate or business partner", he stated.

You can watch the STRACON time-line video here:

 

Value Proposition of STRACON:

Jose Luis, words, the most relevant aspects of STRACON's value proposition* are:

First, safety, the most important value for us. We want our employees to develop a safety and leadership culture that enables them to return home safely, everyday. This value is highly regarded by our clients, therefore, we have developed practices and training programs, to give this value a very high emphasis.

We have a training program that enables personnel with little or no knowledge and experience in mining, to be developed and take on increased responsibilities within our operations.

Second, efficiency, reaching productivity ratios and targets required by our clients.

Third, our business versatility enables us to offer each client tailor-made solutions for different type of contracts.

Finally, but not less important, the respect and support that we show and provide when interacting with communities in all projects where we operate; these elements have enabled us to successfully implement strategies and programs focused on local employment, social responsibility and cultural heritage management to complement and support the Client's initiatives.

*You can check our previous article to have further information about our value proposition

Objectives set by STRACON for this year

At a national level, to stay close to their current clients, maintaining strong relationships and helping them to fulfill their cost-reduction objectives, their main focus for this year. To provide full cooperation in the management of community relations which is a critical aspect for our clients.

Internationally, to win more projects. Therefore, Jose Luis emphasizes "we are working hard on this, providing solutions to meet our client's needs. That is, we will look for the optimal way to deliver a service with higher added value, than the client requires. The idea is to provide solutions to their problems through our all our services. For this, we also have the advantage of being part of the Engineering and Construction Area of the Graña & Montero Group".

 

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To Know more about STRACON's current operations and programs related to Safety, Occupational Health and Environment, visit our renewed web page:

www.stracongym.com

and our social media networks:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company-beta/2597159

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/STRACONGyM