Stakeholders and Public Opinion

 

Statement of values

In 2010, the Company established a participatory process to define, together with employees, Codelco’s Statement of Values. One of the main activities carried out was an interactive online dialogue: Let’s talk about Our Values, which was held on 19 and 20 October and all employees could send in their comments on the values that should guide the Company.

In total, 6,346 comments and suggestions were received, which were sent by 2,138 participants, representing a little more than 18% of those who had direct access to the participation tool on the internal network.

The final document, published in December and which is available at www.codelco.com, includes the values and principles that have guided and must guide Codelco management and each and every employee. Basically, Codelco Statement of Values sets out:

 

Our Identity

We are Codelco, the Largest Mining Company in Chile.

We are a team of men and women committed to Codelco’s leadership in both the Chilean and world mining industry in order to contribute to the country’s development.

We do our work with enthusiasm and high safety standards, focusing on sustainable development and maximising the profits we deliver to our owner, the Chilean State.

We strive to make every Chilean take pride in and admire Codelco’s history of service to the country, and look after the Company’s reputation as if it were our own reputation.

 

Our Values

1. Respect for people’s life and dignity. Respect for people’s life and dignity is a core value. Nothing justifies taking uncontrolled risk that could affect our health and safety.
2. Responsibility and Commitment. To work for Codelco is an honour, a great responsibility and an enormous commitment.
3. Personal Skills. We value and recognise competent employees, who show initiative and leadership, and confront changes with decision and courage.
4. Teamwork. We foster teamwork, responsible participation and contribution from different employee organisations and experience.
5. Excellence at Work. We strive for excellence in everything we do and we practise ongoing improvement in order to be one of the best in the industry.
6. Innovation. We are a creative company, innovating to generate new knowledge, create value and improve our leadership. 7. Sustainable Development. We are committed to sustainable development in our operations and projects.

Code of conduct and business ethics

The Code of Conduct and Business Ethics sets out the values that govern Codelco in order to fulfil its mission and the basic guidelines for behaviour or conduct that have to be met by everyone who works in the Company. Hence, it targets everyone who has duties within Codelco or on its behalf, regardless of their role or type of contract.

The Code of Conduct and Business Ethics:

• It is in tune with the Statement of Values.
• It sets out what we understand and the extent of conflict of interests.
• It forms part of the Internal Order, Health and Safety Regulations at each Division and Head Office, and it applies the same penalties for infringements included in these regulations.
• It has an associated Complaint Hotline to report complaints or non-ethical behaviour. This enables anyone to report a complaint, anonymously, safely and confidentially, via internet or phone call.

 

Complaint Hotline

The Codelco Hotline was launched on 1 July 2009 and, since October 2010 it is publicly available on the website www.codelco.com.

During 2010, 64 complaints were reported, of which 15 were under investigation and 49 were closed as at 31 December.

Of the 49 closed complaints:

• 10 (2 in Andina, 2 in Codelco Norte, 1 in Salvador and 5 in El Teniente) were closed, because they did not violate the Code of Conduct.
• 11 (1 in Head Office, 1 in Andina, 3 in Codelco Norte, 5 in El Teniente and 1 in Project Vice-Presidency) were investigated and the corresponding administrative measures were taken.
• For 22 complaints, the information provided by the department found no grounds for the case (3 in Head Office, 5 in Codelco Norte, 3 in Salvador, 7 in El Teniente, 2 in Ventanas and 2 in Project Vice- Presidency).
• 2 complaints (1 in Codelco Norte and 1 in Salvador) were closed for other reasons.
• 4 complaints did not have sufficient information presented by the person reporting the complaint.

 

Transparency law compliance

Since April 2009, when Law 20,285 on Transparency of Public Functions and Access to Information on State Administration became effective, Codelco has had on its website www. codelco.com a section with all the information required by this regulation.

This law is applicable to public companies in an Active Transparency mode, i.e., the following information must be made publicly available on the Internet:

• Regulatory framework applicable to Codelco.
• Board of Directors; organisational structure; duties and competencies of the executive level.
• Financial statements and other information filed with the Superintendency of Securities and Insurance.
• Codelco subsidiary and associated companies, and any stake it holds in other entities and organisations.
• Fees and remunerations of Codelco board directors and employees.

Reporting and transparency

Codelco has an ongoing, collaborative relationship with the regional, national and international media. In 2010, based on Codelco records, a total of 10,043 articles were reported in newspapers, magazines radios and TV channels on different topics about Codelco management. This represents a 28 percent increase over articles published in 2009, which is primarily due to the media impact of the 33 miners rescued from the San José Mine.

The Company also reports quarterly financial-economic results at press conferences and through direct communication channels, such as website, emails, magazines and e-bulletins targeting different audiences.

In addition to press information, our website www.codelco.com publishes data on key corporate issues. During 2010, the website received 1,150,783 visits, a monthly average of 95,898 visits, and with more than 750,000 single users.

So that the Chilean youth segment knows more about the company, in October 2009 Codelco incorporated the use of social networks as a dissemination channel. As at December 2010, the Company had 1,167 fans on Facebook; 1,751 followers on Twitter; more than 1,500 photos published on Flickr with 23,803 visits, and 61 Codelco videos uploaded on You Tube, which had 38,830 visits.

Codelco does not publish commercial advertisements or infomercials in the media.

 

 

AldeaMinera.cl

In 2010, the website www.aldeaminera. cl continued to provide information for workers and their families on quality of life, including a section to ask experts questions as well as budget control and child Internet safety talks held at the Head Office and divisions.

It also provided alternative online support to prepare PSU exams; it held the second Tech Fair which offers users notebooks at preferential rates; a Facebook Fan page was created, and social networking functions were incorporated, such as “I like it” in the note comments.

Aldeaminera.cl increased its single users per month by almost 50 percent in 2010. Our next challenge is to have a deeper relationship with users.