The health and safety of our employees, contractors and the communities in which we work is a top priority. We strive to integrate health and safety into all aspects of our exploration activities and provide appropriate training to our employees and contractors so that they can safely perform their duties.
The Company is required, by Ecuadorian law, to have a medical doctor on the team. Dr. Jimmy Guazhima is from Macas, the town in which our field office is located and he received his medical qualification from the University of Cuenca in Ecuador.
Dr. Guazhima, in close cooperation with the Ministry of Health, provides support for the field teams. He spends time with the teams in their fly-camps in the field, attends to basic necessities of the communities with which the exploration teams are working, especially during Aurania’s scout drilling campaigns where a labour force of typically one hundred people help with the transport and support of the man-portable drill rigs.
The greatest health issue for local communities living in the Cutucu Cordillera is related to water-quality, and hence there is close cooperation between the doctor, Aurania’s Water and Community Engagement teams as well as the Step Forward Foundation in finding ways to address and fund solutions.
