The state company Yacimientos Carboniferos Río Turbio (YCRT) is part of President Javier Milei's privatization plans.
The Santa Cruz mining company has not been sustainable for decades.
It was part of the energy plan of Kirchnerism that never fulfilled its productive promise and only accumulates years of red numbers.
In December, the current controller, Thierry Decoud, found himself with a company without production, a staff that demands more than
5,300 million pesos per month
(this year he will need 80,000 million pesos) and
pensions that were paid to personnel who died long ago. years,
among other aspects that are under analysis.
300 kilometers from Río Gallegos, heading towards the Andean foothills, are the towns of Río Turbio and 28 de Noviembre, which give life to this area known as
the Carboniferous Basin: the mining heart of Santa Cruz
.
The YCRT company is the one that brings together both cities separated by 12 kilometers.
Practically in the middle of that provincial route, the mining company that was the focus of several judicial investigations for alleged acts of corruption is located
.
Intervened since 2002
The firm has been intervened since Argentina was governed by Eduardo Duhalde, in 2002. Although the coal belongs to the province, each president who takes office has the power to appoint the company's auditor,
which is only supported by contributions from the Treasury. National.
The official numbers expose its lack of economic viability under current conditions.
In December,
the government of La Libertad Avanza found itself with “zero production”
, a strong union demand (four different union representations coexist there) and numbers in the red with a large staff.
The Río Turbio Carboniferous Deposits mine resumed production.
/YCRT
Despite the uninspiring outlook, the controller Decoud is determined
not to close the company
and reverse its economic equation with one certainty: YCRT is not profitable but
can extract enough coal to not lose money.
The mineral resource is there: they found four exploitation fronts that, although they never operated simultaneously - currently only one is used -, the technology applied "is good, the conditions of the facilities are very good."
That is to say: YCRT requires a work plan and personnel reorganization that
could save the national State more than 7.3 billion pesos.
The YCRT mine resumed production.
/
X-ray of the deficit
Under the shadow of the specter of closing the company due to its unsustainable deficit - which always hovers before a change in management - the current administration is working on the reactivation of coal production and
its export through the Port of Punta Loyola
, located 330 kilometers away. of the Carboniferous Basin.
The first number that catches your attention is the budget.
For salaries, social contributions, retirements, goods and services and investments, 7,384 million pesos are spent per month.
Salaries alone consume 3,485 million pesos per month, plus 1,952 million that are allocated to social charges.
The YCRT staff consists of
2,142 agents,
of
which only 900 are miners
, the only ones who work in front of the mine.
YCRT between the operating deficit and the challenge of producing coal.
Two pieces of information reveal the social importance of the mining company: the municipality of 28 de Noviembre has 977 employees, while that of Río Turbio has 1,126 workers.
That is to say:
YCRT employs more workers than the two municipalities.
The average gross salary of the firm's workers is around
1,200,000 pesos per month.
An administrator is receiving close to $800,000, and a hierarchical executive earns close to $1,550,000 pesos.
If projected annually, and without the salary increases that will surely occur,
this year YCRT will need 163,216 million pesos to operate.
This month, the national government sent the company 4,000 of the 7,384 million pesos it needs.
But in addition, the intervention fights with
debts from the previous administration,
with suppliers, for social charges and other general debts that total close to 40 billion pesos.
The “two and a half hour” day
Despite the seriousness of the numbers, the discussion is not about the perception of income, but rather about the lack of operation of the company.
Since the Santa Cruz Labor Secretariat declared the mine an unhealthy workplace in 2008,
the working day was reduced to six hours
.
The current administration made the following calculation: workers have an hour and a half to travel to enter the coal mine, and the same time to return to the city.
This transfer consumes three of the six hours of work.
YCRT is removing 550 tons per day, but should exceed 4,000 tons per day.
Then there is
half an hour for lunch
, which reduces the amount of specific work time in the mine to
two and a half hours per day
.
These calculations were recorded in various documents.
This occurs because the day begins with the transfer, not when the workers enter the mine and coal extraction begins.
It is something that analyzes modifying the YCRT intervention, to extend the amount of exploitation time within the sinkhole.
With two and a half hours per shift (in each of them about one hundred workers go to the mine)
it is possible to extract only 550 tons per day.
In order not to lose money, it is estimated that they should remove 4,000 tons.
YCRT has four exploitation fronts, however all of them never worked.
The challenge of the intervener Decoud is to put two fronts to work simultaneously to increase coal production.
Why was simultaneity never possible?
Due to energy inefficiency
.
It is not possible to supply everything that mine work demands, from lighting to the work of the machines.
Once the issue has been resolved through the acquisition of a generator, progress is made in a new work scheme to optimize the hours inside the coal mine.
To date
there have been no personnel laid off
, but efforts are being made to
improve shifts and review the working day.
YCRT seeks to increase coal exports.
The “ghost” retirees
The YCRT intervention began with 1,406 retirees, but in January only 1,107 passive workers were paid.
When they reviewed the numbers in detail they observed two things: many retirees for years have not shown proof of life and this led to another very striking fact;
There were about
30 deceased people who were still receiving their pensions.
How was it possible?
Because at some point a change of CBU was made and at the same time the retirement money that corresponded to the deceased operator was transferred each month.
This is under investigation: the authorities assure that criminal action will be taken and the people involved will be required
to return the money.
The money-losing coal journey
Everything seems to be a mathematical account.
In the port of Punta Loyola,
25,000 tons of coal must be accumulated to move an export ship
.
That coal represents about 3 million dollars, which YCRT would receive.
The challenge is getting that level of activity.
The coal extracted in the coal mine travels by train to the port.
That tour is operated by YCRT staff as well.
It is a 10-hour trip
, a locomotive with 45 cars that loads 16 tons each.
In December
the locomotive was not working
, and to date it will make its third trip since the administration changed.
The calculator shows that each trip of that train is 720 tons: they need a constant frequency and much more coal to reach the 25,000 tons required in port.