From mine planning to integrated operations management
A career in Latin American mining connecting engineering decisions, production and business management.
View LinkedIn profile (opens in a new tab)
Previous experience · Nyrstar · Milpo · Minera Bateas · Volcan
From mine planning to operations leadership and corporate technical management.
Mining operations and project engineering across three Latin American countries.
Operations, technical services and support.
Education in mining engineering and administration.
Celso Arturo Salvador Ricra is a mining engineer with postgraduate education in administration and a career spanning planning, operations leadership and corporate technical management. His experience covers underground and open-pit mining, with responsibility for mine, plant and support activities.
Celso Arturo Salvador Ricra is a mining engineer from Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería with master’s-level education in Administration at ESAN. His professional career began in 1984 and spans mine planning, project development, operations leadership and corporate technical management. He has worked in underground and open-pit mining, connecting decisions about mines, plants, infrastructure, equipment and business organization.
He currently serves as Corporate Technical Manager at Atico Mining Corporation, a role held since October 2016. His experience encompasses the El Roble operation in Colombia and engineering for the La Plata project in Ecuador. His contributions include improved recovery of mine reserves, mechanized ground support, filtered tailings and SAG milling, linking resource utilization with operational capacity and continuity.
Before Atico, he was General Manager at Nyrstar Áncash, responsible for the Contonga, Pucarajo and Coricancha mining and metallurgical operations. His work addressed cost reduction, processing capacity, hydraulic backfill and tailings storage. As Project Manager at Antioquia Gold, he worked on preparation of a Colombian gold development, including access and infrastructure decisions. At Milpo, he managed Cerro Lindo operations, coordinating mine, plant and support functions during production growth and operational improvement.
His Colombian experience also includes serving as General Manager of Continental Gold, where he led organizational development for a gold operation and integrated technical services, administration, sustainability and industrial safety. At Suyamarca, he served as Planning Superintendent, covering mine, plant and support planning at Pallancata.
At Minera Bateas in Caylloma, he was Operations Manager in 2006–2007 and General Manager in 2008–2011. His work included operational start-up, mine preparation and expansion, plant expansion and development of narrow silver veins. Responsibilities extended to exploration, service infrastructure, tailings storage and concentrate marketing, connecting business leadership with practical decisions about growth and operational continuity.
He built his early career at Centromin Perú and Volcan. At Centromin he progressed from Planning Assistant to Mine Planning Engineer and Open-pit Superintendent, working on production scheduling, ventilation, haulage, drilling and blasting, access and investment. At Volcan he held open-pit and general superintendent responsibilities, addressing mining methods, plant reliability, investment plans and acid-water treatment.
Alongside his industry career, he taught part-time at Universidad Nacional Daniel Alcides Carrión and Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería. His teaching covered mine design, surface mining methods, drilling and blasting, and mine administration. This experience connects technical explanation with the decisions required to produce, develop operations and coordinate teams under real operating conditions.
An introduction to his industry experience and its connection with applied learning.
October 2016 – present
His role integrates technical management at El Roble, Colombia, and engineering for the La Plata project, Ecuador, linking mine, process and infrastructure decisions.
2015 – September 2016
Managed mining and metallurgical operations at Contonga, Pucarajo and Coricancha. His work addressed cost reduction, processing capacity, hydraulic backfill and tailings storage.
August 2014 – April 2015
Worked on the development of a gold project in Antioquia, Colombia, including preparation, access and infrastructure. The revised design delivered savings against the original plan from a revised access design for Guayco.
June 2013 – June 2014
Managed mine, plant and support activities. His work included increased production through an additional mill and improved use of mine equipment, together with changes in blasting and operational safety.
April 2012 – May 2013
Led organizational development for a gold operation, bringing together technical services, administration, sustainability and industrial safety.
2012
Responsible for planning mine, plant and support operations at Pallancata, connecting production requirements with technical services.
August 2006 – December 2011
Served as Operations Manager in 2006–2007 and General Manager in 2008–2011. His work included operational start-up, mine development, plant expansion, exploration and concentrate marketing.
1999 – 2006
Served in open-pit and general superintendent roles with responsibility for the unit’s mining and metallurgical operations and coordination of technical areas.
1984 – 1999
Progressed from Planning Assistant to Mine Planning Engineer and Open-pit Superintendent. His work included work on drilling and blasting, operating and investment plans, and access development.
Atico Mining · El Roble / La Plata
ContextReserve recovery improvement, mechanized ground support, filtered tailings, SAG milling and La Plata engineering.
His responsibilityCorporate Technical Manager since October 2016.
Learning connectionRelate mining, infrastructure and processing decisions to overall operational performance.
Minera Bateas · Caylloma
ContextOperational start-up in 2006, mine and plant expansion, and development of narrow silver veins.
His responsibilityOperations Manager and subsequently General Manager during 2006–2011.
Learning connectionExamine how planning, mine preparation and plant capacity must progress together.
Milpo · Cerro Lindo
The challengeIncrease production in an underground polymetallic operation while coordinating plant capacity, equipment use and mine services.
His responsibilityOperations Manager from June 2013 to June 2014, responsible for mine, plant and support activities.
Applied experienceProduction increased from 16,000 to 17,000 tonnes per day through an additional mill and increased use of mine equipment.
The capacities and results described relate to historical operating periods and the work of their teams.
Scheduling, mine development and investment projects.
Coordination of mine, plant and support services.
Mine preparation, plant circuits and equipment use.
Fragmentation, mining methods and operational performance.
Documented experience in filtered tailings, storage and backfill.
Budgets, organization, marketing and team leadership.
Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería · 1977–1983
ESAN · 1993–1994
Additional education: master’s studies in Business Administration at UCV, in progress since 2025.
His career connects planning, production and operations leadership with the questions mining professionals face.
A perspective developed across mines, plants and business management, with operational experience in Peru and Colombia.
How can mine growth be coordinated with plant processing capacity?
Which planning decisions support operational continuity?
How can a technical improvement be prioritized alongside capacity, costs and infrastructure?
How can drilling, blasting and mine services be integrated with safety and production objectives?
How can mine, plant, maintenance and support functions respond to the same operational need?
How can a production plan be translated into responsibilities, resources and daily follow-up?
His experience relates closely to the themes of the program below.
Back to FacultyIntegrated management of extractive operations: planning, sustainability, safety and technical leadership for modern mining.
Explore the program