The initiative, submitted together with Universidad Diego Portales to the Regional Fund for Productivity and Development, seeks to create a portable tool that can quickly detect these strategic elements in mineral samples.
Strengthening the Arica and Parinacota Region’s capacity to understand and explore its mineral resources is the goal of a project that CEDENNA and Universidad Diego Portales (UDP) are submitting to the Regional Fund for Productivity and Development (FRPD). As part of the proposal’s development, CEDENNA’s director, Dr. Dora Altbir, held a series of meetings in the region to align scientific, institutional, and productive capabilities around the initiative.
During the visit, she met with the rector of Universidad de Tarapaca (UTA), Jenniffer Peralta Montecinos, and academics from that institution. The meeting explored opportunities for collaboration and the potential for developing new joint projects that address the region’s needs. These meetings also examined the scope of the project, possible coordination among the participating institutions, and its potential contribution to the region’s scientific, technological, and productive development.
On-the-ground information to support new decisions
The proposal aims to develop a portable technology capable of quickly detecting rare earth elements in mineral samples. Having a tool like this would allow preliminary assessments to be carried out directly in the field, help guide the selection of samples that require more specialized analysis, and provide timely information to support future exploration, investment, and productive development decisions.
Rare earths are a group of elements used across a range of technologies and strategic sectors. Strengthening the capacity to identify and characterize them is therefore an opportunity to expand knowledge of Arica and Parinacota’s mineral resources and link that knowledge to the region’s potential for scientific, technological, and productive development.
Photo: From left to right, Dora Altbir, director of CEDENNA; Mauricio Hidalgo, Regional Ministerial Secretary of Mining; Juan Claudio Mancilla, Regional Ministerial Secretary of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation for the Arica and Parinacota Region; and Pablo Oliva, representative of SERNAGEOMIN.
