Vital to San Juan’s economy, Veladero has just completed 20 years of uninterrupted production. As the mine’s General Manager, Yuri Sáenz More expressed gratitude to all collaborators and reaffirmed the company’s commitment to operational efficiency, community development, and environmental stewardship.
By Panorama Minero
Argentina’s main gold mine celebrates this season with two shining decades of development, learning, and continuous improvement. During Argentina Gold, Silver and Copper 2025, Yuri Sáenz More, General Manager of Veladero, took the opportunity to pay tribute to all the workers who made this milestone possible. “This is an excellent opportunity to celebrate, but also to acknowledge the province of San Juan and its people,” he noted during the panel ‘20 Years of Veladero: A Legacy of Value for Argentine Mining’.
A key event for the project’s successful continuity, he recalled, took place in 2017, when Chinese company Shandong Gold acquired 50% of the operation, forming Minera Andina del Sol with Barrick. “Together, we turned the project into a vehicle capable of leading us into the future, whose four wheels are safety, efficiency, sustainability, and responsibility,” he explained using a metaphor.
The challenges of operating a gold project in the heart of the Andes, he admitted, are multiple and immense. “We must deal with altitude—the deposit sits between 4,000 and 4,800 meters above sea level; with distance—seven hours from the city of San Juan and three hours from the nearest town in the Iglesia department; and with extreme weather, where strong winds and electrical storms are common,” he described.
He also emphasized the challenge posed by the initial lack of experience required for an operation of such scale. “To that, we must add everything involved in maintaining clear and ongoing dialogue with the community, an area where we aim to generate shared value,” he stated.
Regarding employment, he highlighted that the priority is to hire local workers. “In that line, more than 90% of our workforce is from San Juan,” he affirmed.
World-class operation
Returning to his automotive metaphor, Sáenz More pointed out that Veladero has a “compass, steering, and a very powerful four-cylinder engine.” “By that I mean growing hand-in-hand with San Juan, generating value chains, focusing on people, and working together with the community,” he said.
Since 2005, the mine has achieved 20 consecutive years of production, becoming a pillar of San Juan’s public revenues and making significant contributions to Argentina’s economy. “Neither the collapse of global markets nor the pandemic stopped us,” he recalled.
It is true, he acknowledged, that production has seen “good years and lean years,” but current indicators are positive and the horizon looks promising. “Last year, thanks to the combined effort of our team, we surpassed 500,000 ounces, becoming the second-largest gold producer in South America. This is truly a world-class operation,” he stated.
He also celebrated that the mine has reached an efficiency level of over 95% in its closed-loop extraction system. “Even so, there is still a long road ahead,” he added.
One of the priorities moving forward, the executive explained, is to increase the participation of women, recognizing that mining requires multidisciplinary talent. “Additionally, we will continue applying the most rigorous safety and environmental standards, supporting the development of local suppliers, and promoting a new model of collaboration, emphasizing the importance of workers’ sense of belonging to the project,” he concluded.
