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Mining graduates urged to show ingenuity amid bleak near-term jobs outlook

29th April 2016

By: Donna Slater

Features Deputy Editor and Chief Photographer

  

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The job prospects for the growing number of South African mining engineering graduates have become increasingly uncertain as a result of the plunge in commodity prices.

In fact, mining industry leaders who attended the University of the Witwatersrand’s (Wits’) School of Mining Engineering Society’s (SMES’s) recent yearly gala dinner raised serious concerns while appealing for action from government and a change in mindset from the graduates themselves.

Delivering the keynote address, Montero Mining CEO Dr Tony Harwood said more should to be done to encourage and build a junior mining sector, which could offer employment opportunities for new market entrants.

Investing in the junior sector could be key to unlocking a change in methods and thinking that will improve the sustainability and prospects for the mining sector.

He pointed to the 2015 attendance at the yearly Canadian mining event, the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC), which drew 30 000 people, as evidence that the development of juniors could help build vibrancy and sustainability. The significant number of attendees at the PDAC and other significant mining events every year implies that, although the mining industry is currently constrained, there was still a belief in its long-term potential.

The promotion of the junior mining industry should, therefore, be prioritised as an economic stimulant for major mining jurisdictions, such as South Africa.

“While I am not suggesting you start preparing visas and passports to find jobs in countries other than South Africa, I am suggesting that the scope of the mining business is far greater than what is envisioned in South Africa.”

In fact, it was the junior mining sector that catalysed the South African mining sector when it started. Small prospectors came to South Africa in search of gold and diamonds, and these grew into larger operations, some of which began operating as mining companies. Some of them, in turn, were bought by even larger mining corporations, such as diamond miner De Beers and diversified miner Anglo American.

“This provides a form of entrepreneurism that is lacking currently,” he adds.

There was no reason why mining students could not graduate from university and start their own mining companies. “I suggest you get a lot of training first [by] working for existing and established mining companies [and] thereby hone your skills.”

Stand Up
Students should also not to be afraid to confront government on issues regarding job creation, the development of junior miners and its plans to stimulate growth in that sector, which will, in turn, result in new jobs and further enhance the sustainability of the South African mining sector. “When I was a mining student, we used to have marches once a month about something. We were always radical about something.”

Harwood also appealed to mining students to persevere in their search for jobs in the mining sector, arguing that, once commodity prices recovered, the demand for young, skilled mining professionals, especially engineers, metallurgists and geologists, would rise.

Being proactive in searching for a job was the greatest way of securing one in the mining industry, he added, urging graduates to “knock on the doors” of mining companies, instead of simply sending emails and waiting for a response.

This cyclical industry had been through raw materials oversupply and low commodity prices many times before and survived. “The mining profession is a very noble one: human existence hinges on the requirement for metals and, even though there are moves to remove humans from some mining operations – with initia- tives like mine mechanisation – there will always be a need for industry professionals and, therefore . . . the need for students who are at the forefront of the latest technology and techniques.”

Harwood, originally from England, narrated his own introduction into the mining industry in the 1970s and 1980s, when mining was centred on Cornwall, where the mining of gold, copper and tin was rife at the time. A lack of mining jobs in Cornwall and the UK drove Harwood to South Africa in the 1980s, based on its emergence as a major mining country, its highly regarded geology and, subsequently, the “high calibre” of its mining professionals.

Many South African mining professionals practised and continued to practise their trade at an extensive number of major mines worldwide. They were sought after, based on expertise gained while working at South Africa-based mines.

Move with the Times
It was imperative for students to remain focused. “South Africa has a great mining industry and lots of great professionals, as well as great professors and lecturers, such as those at the Wits School of Mining Engineering.”

The UK, in a similar situation to current industry trends, was plagued by low metal prices in the 1980s, in addition to the cold and mines becoming deeper in Cornwall, thereby making mining activities more challenging.

Harwood explained that the culmination of these circumstances led to miners inventing new methods of mining, which, subsequently, led them to undeveloped corners of the world, such as the iconic gold-prospecting town of Barberton and the diamond-rich grounds of Kimberley, in South Africa’s Mpumalanga and North West provinces respectively. UK miners also prospected in various other regions, including Botswana and Western Australia, in search of jobs and new mineable deposits.

“I came to South Africa 30 years ago because I could not find a job in the UK and I managed to secure a teaching job at the University of Natal,” he said, adding that, during that time (the early 1980s), about 600 t/y of gold was produced in South Africa. According to Statistics South Africa’s gold index, South Africa produced 87% less gold in January 2015 compared with the same month in 1980.

At the time, the country was also the major producer of platinum in the world, with its mining industry also using the most modern mining equipment. Harwood pointed out that these were major achievements and perseverance in continually developing the South African mining industry had resulted in it currently being considered one of the major mining hubs in the world.

Harwood advised students to “learn as much as they can” from the current situation in the mining industry. “My best advice is to manage change. Change is a global phenomenon and it occurs in such fast bites these days.”

The mining era in which the ‘baby boomers’ (those born in the years 1946 to 1964) thrived was one where mining professionals had life-long jobs at one mining company, progressing through the ranks, with some becoming mine managers.

However, the environment for millennials (those generally considered to be born in the years from 2 000 onwards) had shifted, with mining professionals likely to have several jobs at different mining companies.

The key to being successful in the current mining climate was to keep abreast of the latest developments and look beyond the low commodity prices, believes Harwood.

“When metal prices are low, it requires change. Some aspects of mining cannot be changed, but others can. You, as the future of the mining industry, can and should adapt and think differently . . . use different techniques to be more efficient,” he told students at the SMES gala dinner.

A lack of ingenuity in the industry remains a worry: “We keep doing the same things, in the same way, over and over again.”

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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