Introduction to the Bob Haldeman Interview

This was the introduction to the interview
taken in 1993, of which the full title is:

 

Robert M. Haldeman, "Managing Copper Mines
in Chile: Braden, CODELCO, Minerec,
Pudahuel; Developing Controlled Bacterial
Leaching of Copper from Sulfide Ores;
1941-1993," an oral history conducted in
1993 by Eleanor Swent, Regional Oral
History Office, The Bancroft Library,
University of California, Berkeley, 1995.

Above:  a view of the American sector
of the Braden Mine town of Sewell, Chile. This section was destroyed by
left-wing zealots who wanted to erase any obvious reminders of the original
American presence at the El Teniente Braden Copper Mine owned by Kennecott
Copper Corporation.                                                         

 

INTRODUCTION- -by Pedro Campino

Mr. Robert M. Haldeman's
accomplishments and realizations during a

lifetime of dedication to
the mining industry are responsible in many

ways for the enormous and
unprecedented prosperity of the Chilean copper

mining industry over the
last few decades.

In 1962 after graduating
from the University
of Utah as mining

engineer, I first came in
contact with Mr. Haldeman in the underground

workings of the El Teniente
mine. At that time I was a young trainee

engineer in the early days
of my professional development and the day I

met him, it was in a
ventilation level, over a grizzly at the foot of an

ore pass. He was the
president of the company and he was accompanied by

a group of Braden Copper
Company executives. He was an impressive

individual as he is today,
tall, with piercing green eyes, wearing a

miner's hard hat slightly
tilted to one side, rubber boots, a black

plastic raincoat, and a
carbide lamp over his left shoulder. He was

indeed a very impressive
individual firstly because of his position, also

because of his appearance,
and thirdly because of my very junior

position. He came up to me,
he shook hands, and he told me: "Pedro, I

understand that you are
doing very well but remember that you could do

better."

Thirty-two years later as I
look back through his accomplishments in

life and also at my own
professional development it becomes vividly

apparent that his "live
motive" in life was powerfully driven by exactly

that very same thought. That
is, that as individuals or corporations we

might be doing things well
but there is always room to do things better.

Bearing that in mind, Mr.
Haldeman has played a decisive role in the

development of the most
fundamental aspects of the Chilean mining

industry which in recent
years has also extended beyond our borders into

the international mining
industry.

Mr. Haldeman is beyond a
shadow of a doubt the father of a

particularly capable and
successful generation of mining executives.

Over the last thirty years,
through his lessons and teachings he

developed a generation of
distinguished mining people that today are

responsible for the
successful management of world-class mining

operations in
Chile and abroad.

In my opinion, Mr.
Haldeman's most far-reaching lesson throughout

life was that related to
moral and ethical principles. He taught me from

early in life that there are
principles that simply are not negotiable no

matter what the
circumstances are. Among these are the principles

related to justice, equity,
responsibility, tolerance, and mutual respect

among individuals. These
principles were so deeply seeded in the minds

of his disciples that today
they have become a way of life in the

prosperous mining operations
managed by those who had the privilege to

belong to his school of
thought. Indeed Mr. Haldeman has been a master

teacher throughout life and
his lessons and teachings will continue to be

harvested for years to come.

Likewise in the technical
aspects of the copper producing process,

Mr. Haldeman became
disenchanted with the conventional process of copper

production: that is, mining,
concentrating, smelting and refining, which

up to the recent past was
the conventional and most common way to produce

metallic copper. The
conventional process was capital intensive, high in

operating costs, and
environmentally unacceptable. For example, copper

concentration is responsible
for the generation of tailings which are

difficult to handle and
environmentally undesirable. In addition,

smelting pollutes the air by
emissions of sulphur dioxide and dangerous

contaminants such as
arsenic. Very early in his career Mr. Haldeman

concluded that there should
be a more economical, efficient, and clean

way to produce copper. After
painful and persevering research he

developed the thin layer
bacterial leach process which produces copper

cathodes of great purity
(99.997% Cu) by means of leaching, solvent

extraction, and
electrowinning. This new process avoids concentrating

and smelting thus
eliminating tailings and air contamination. Because

the thin layer leach process
is not capital intensive, is simple to

operate, is low in operating
costs and is environmentally most

attractive, the world copper
industry is currently adopting this process

as a most desirable
alternative towards low-cost production.

Mr. Haldeman's key to
success and to a lifetime of long lasting

accomplishments are in my
opinion his privileged intelligence, his

stubborn determination to
rebel against the past in an effort to find

better ways to do things,
his firmness, and his nearly unbelievable

capability to analyze
situations. Undoubtedly those are remarkable

qualities of his character.
During his first marriage, his wife Doris

was again an inspiration and
counsel that we all learned to admire and

appreciate. She was indeed a
queenly lady who by her presence and

personality drove us all to
follow in her teachings and distinction.

After her death Mr. Haldeman
married Blanquita, again an inspiring and

lovely lady of great talent
and remarkable dedication. Her firm

character, love, and
devotion were instrumental in many ways to guide and

to help Mr. Haldeman through
a particularly difficult period in his life

resulting from the
nationalization of the copper industry in
Chile

followed by
Doris' death. It was through her guidance and foresight that

they adopted lovely little
Alicia who has illuminated their lives and has

once again brought happiness
and joy to Mr. Haldeman's new life.

In summary, Mr. Haldeman has
been through life a born leader. He

has been admired by
followers and detractors . Through his guidance and

teachings he is undoubtedly
the father of a highly successful generation

of mining executives. He is
responsible as well for the development of

new processes that have
allowed the world mining industry to succeed in

this highly competitive
market, allowing operations to survive in

conditions where otherwise
they would have failed. His contribution to

the industry, to the
environment, and to Chile
as a mining community have

simply been monumental.

From a personal standpoint,
his teaching and his guidance through

life, always under the theme
of "doing well but could do better," have

developed me from a young
trainee engineer in the underground working of

the El Teniente mine to the
highest positions that a person can hold in

the mining industry. I owe
to my wife and to Mr. Haldeman all of my

appreciation and gratitude
for their guidance, support, and understanding

during every step of the way
throughout a highly successful career in the

mining industry.

Pedro Campino

President, Compania Minera
Cerro

Colorado
Ltda.

October 1994

Santiago,
Chile

 

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Robert M. Haldeman, 1967, with his Chilean mining
board formed to control the El Teniente Mine following the deal with Kennecott
which enabled the Chilean government to purchase majority control, is third from
left on bottom. 




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the Robert Haldeman interview