As part of the celebration of 25 years of service, Trimble’s dealer in Chile, Geocom, honored the 33 Chilean miners rescued from the San Jose Mine on October 13th. On hand was #33, Mr. Luis Urzua, mine shift foreman who is a licensed land surveyor. Carlos Escudero, owner of Geocom, presented Mr. Urzua with a new Nikon Nivo 5C Total Station.
Mr. Urzua was the head of the group of miners that were trapped for 70 days and he organized the 33 men during this ordeal. He was the last one to be rescued and over 1 billion people watched the event live on television. He said he wanted to be last as he thought of it like being the captain of a sinking ship and the captain is always the last to leave. He is a professional surveyor and has worked in the mines for 30 years.
Chris Gibson, Vice President of Trimble Survey Division, made a very nice speech, congratulating Geocom on their 25th anniversary and he also presented GPS systems to 4 different Universities in Chile. Miguel Rodriguez (right in picture) represented Spectra Precision/Nikon and he presented Mr. Urzua with a new Nikon Nivo 5C Total Station. Mr. Urzua was very grateful and said he is looking forward to using his new equipment when he goes back to work. Construction Tools also donated a DET-2 Theodolite for the event and Peter Wallace had the pleasure of giving it to one of Geocom’s customers. The local TV and newspaper media were present. Here is a link for a Chilean mining magazine that highlighted the event: Area Minera.
About Geocom
Geocom was created in 1985 to meet the needs of modernizing surveying the topography of the country and incorporate the latest information on all activities in this field. Escudero reported this year, sales of Geocom SA and Geocom Renta SA reach $ 11 million, this represents an increase of 27% compared to 2009. The company distributes products in Chile and software from Trimble Navigation, Nikon, Spectra Precision, Asahi, 3D Laser Scanning and other prestigious corporations. These are used in infrastructure construction and mining. Also, the development of cartography indispensable for the galleries, to avoid the risk of landslides and give maximum security to workers. Added to this are surveys and plans for basic services like electricity, drinking water and others.
Acknowledgement
I would like to thank my good friend Peter Wallace (left in the image above) for the picture and background information. Peter is currently Worldwide Sales Manager for Trimble’s Construction Tools Division.