Is modern mining keeping pace with change?
Notwithstanding the industry’s challenges, top mining company profits reached $61 billion in 2017, and PwC predicts they will hit $76 billion by the end of 2018. In the face of such growth, certain firms are expanding their workforces and upgrading technology, while others are remaining cautious ‘to avoid the misgivings of the past’, according to PwC’s Chris Dodd.
Well, if profits are in hand, we’re done and dusted, right? Not quite. Society’s expectations are not what they were thirty years ago. Neither is computing power, for that matter. We can draw a couple of general observations about the industry’s response to these trends.
Boosting diversity in mining
McKinsey’s 2018 Delivering through diversity report examines the link between diversity and performance, and we considered its findings here. They’re worth repeating: companies in the top quartile for gender diversity are 21% more likely to enjoy higher profits, while those in the bottom quartile are 29% less likely to do so. As well a statistical bent for better returns, the point has been made again and again that a mix of genders, cultures and generations encourages creativity and innovative thinking.
At board level, women only represent 7%, and Newmont Mining, for one, is working to focus on diversity within its organisation, taking a three-pronged approach:
- The workplace: focus on culture and create an inclusive environment where people can leverage diversity by developing new skills and behaviours.
- The workforce: take concrete steps to increase female and national numbers.
- The community: partner with external organisations to access the talent and market its focus on inclusion and diversity.
Welcoming the digital age
Last year the World Economic Forum released a white paper about the inexorable transformation of mining by digital change. The report describes the ‘digitally enabled workforce’ and delineates the skills its members need to take advantage. It’s not quite out with the old and with the new, however; upper managers must reflect on the importance of combining a new generation possessed of digital skills with the experience. This from the CEO of Anglo American, Mark Cutifani: ‘Our ageing workers know the mines and our young guys know digital. When we have been able to have a cohesive cross-generational team, it has been stellar.’
As the oil & gas industry takes steps in the same direction, automation technologies will make mine sites demonstrably cheaper and safer. Advances in automated transport, drones and robotic machinery provide lots of answers. However, merely switching the robots on won’t do; investment in appropriate skills and training is critical. Deloitte lays it out practically: ‘At the mine site, workers will need to learn how to integrate technology into their role functions. Those who are more comfortable working with technology will also need to train and mentor others who have less digital experience.’
