Amid natural disasters and miner deaths: Sernageomin has gone 16 months without a full-time national director

The National Geology and Mining Service (Sernageomin) has gone a year and four months without a substantive national director. On June 14, 2025, the last appointee chosen through the Civil Service's Senior Public Management system, Patricio Aguilera, resigned after two years in the post. According to its website, Sernageomin's mission is "to generate, maintain and disseminate information on basic geology, resources and geological hazards of the national territory for the well-being of the community and the country, as well as to regulate and monitor compliance with mining regulations on safety, property and closure plans." In short, it is the country's main technical and oversight body in matters of mining and geological risks. Between September 23 and October 14, seven workers died in six separate accidents at mining operations, including two subcontractors at Codelco's El Teniente division. So far this year, mining has accumulated 13 fatalities. Last year, the fatal El Teniente accident occurred, in which another six workers died. Since July, northern and central Chile have been affected by a series of flash floods, many of them in geologically eroded areas. What's more, last week's mudslide in San Carlos de Apoquindo recalled a technical report issued by Sernageomin and delivered last February, which warned of the flood risk in the very area where it occurred. All of these events have taken place while the agency in charge has no substantive head. These contingencies have had to be handled by the acting director, Mauricio Lorca, who was the national deputy director of Geology, and who also had to face an internal crisis last September. What happened with the selection process After no public competition was opened during the previous government to appoint a new director of Sernageomin following Aguilera's resignation, a process began this past April, which, according to sources familiar with the matter, received more than a hundred résumés by the time the application period closed on May 18. After three months of process, in August the ADP council settled on a shortlist, all of them with extensive experience in public office and in the mining industry. This list was sent to the Presidency of the Republic for its selection. However, on September 3 it was decided to declare the competition void. A week later, a scandal broke out inside the agency, as acting national director Lorca announced the dismissal of the national deputy director of Mining, Andrés León, and the voluntary resignation of the head of the Legal Department, Salustio Montalva. He also ordered an internal investigation into complaints of alleged workplace harassment published by the outlet El Desconcierto, which were discussed in the Senate Mining Committee, where the dual Economy and Mining minister himself, Daniel Mas, described what happened as "very serious," and the records were sent to the Comptroller General. After the crisis, on September 27 a new public competition for the post was called, with the application deadline extended to October 19. The previous process, declared void, took five months to resolve. Are you already a subscriber? Log in This article is exclusive to subscribers Subscribe to read it in full and access all our journalism. See plans NEWSLETTER Pulso PM Monday to Friday, 12:30 PM The most relevant news on markets, companies and business: timely information, context and content to make better decisions. By subscribing you are accepting the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policies of La Tercera.