Mining 2.0

The mining industry has difficult challenges with volatile commodity prices, profitability, declining ore quality, environmental responsibility, and increased expectations for social license. The mining industry requires substantial change in approach to be sustainable, economical, and ensure social license. Company culture must transform to take on improved practices and technology to be able to better balance safety, production and risks. The recent downturn has focused many operations on staying afloat in these challenging times. Success may however require more than just focusing on the core business, mining companies now more than ever need to leverage the value of information and technology to meet new demands.

Conventional mining approaches are shorter term than the commodity cycles and subject the mining company to the boom and bust cycles typical of the industry. Mines are typically designed using large economies of scale, and with the plant designed 5-10 years before operation. This typically results in a system that cannot operate efficiently or profitably for the actual market for much of the cycle, and as the industry faces declining ore grades this situation becomes even more challenging.  The solution is to holistically adapt the core business in practical ways to be more agile, more profitable, more sustainable, reduce risks, and increase social license.  Ways to do this include using a systems approach to the core business, improving innovation, improving use of technology, changing risk management models to more risk-sharing, changing contracting models with service providers, changing procurement models, and implementing change that can be accepted by both site and head office, management and front-line staff, etc.

With the right approaches, investments and projects, progressive companies can outperform their competition, thrive, and improve social license.