As part of Mining Month, Dr. Dora Altbir, director of the CEDENNA Foundation, published an opinion column on Radio Cooperativa entitled "Nanotechnology and Mining: A Virtuous Society," in which she reflects on the growing impact of nanotechnology on Chile's most important industry.
In her text, Dr. Altbir highlights that nanotechnology a discipline that works with materials at tiny scales, even smaller than microscopic has begun to quietly but powerfully transform the development of modern mining. Applications such as highly sensitive sensors, ultra-resistant materials, environmental remediation techniques, and new forms of energy storage are enabling progress toward more efficient, safe, and sustainable mining.
At CEDENNA, we have been contributing to this process for over a decade through the development of sensors that monitor the status of mining equipment online and technologies that enable the detection of rare earths. We also work on solutions for the remediation of soils and water contaminated by heavy metals such as arsenic, lead, and cadmium, using nanoparticles that neutralize contaminants with a much higher efficiency than traditional methods.
One of the most significant examples is the application of nanoremediation techniques in soils near tailings dumps in the Antofagasta Region, where iron nanoparticles immobilize heavy metals, protecting the environment and the health of local communities.
The column concludes with a clear vision: nanotechnology can play a key role in the path toward more modern and sustainable mining, contributing science to the country's major challenges.
You can read the full column here: https://opinion.cooperativa.cl/opinion/ciencia-y-tecnologia/nanotecnologia-y-mineria-una-sociedad-virtuosa/2025-07-29/111818.html
