New thinking for changing mining sector coming out of opportunity chasing Australia, Canada
While the South African mining industry is still grappling with the issues of the past, other mining jurisdictions like Australia and Canada are putting strong emphasis on the future.
After just coming off one of the largest mining investment periods in its history, Australia is now an economy in transition.
At the same time, Canada’s new Natural Resources Minister, Jim Carr, has outlined investment in innovative, clean technologies critical to ensuring sustainability as the new Liberal government’s key mining industry priorities.
While Australia has been best known for digging dirt and sending it off to market as fast as possible, it is now seeing increasing capital being devoted to other sectors of the economy, in the belief that diversity can provide increased economic resilience.
An idea of what Australia might do to keep mining afloat was given when BHP Billiton Australia operations president Mike Henry told the Melbourne Mining Club that mining’s sustainability would depend on its ability to drive competitiveness and margins through productivity.
To get the productivity, the industry needs technology, and Henry began at the exploration end, where he spoke of the advanced use of three-dimensional seismic know-how and hyperspectral downhole assaying to get to know orebodies in a far more intimate manner.
Next came his outline of the need for advanced heap leaching of copper ores, longwall top coal caving for increased extraction of thick underground coal seams and equipment automation.
His view is that innovation in technology and in the way personnel work will keep Australian mining going competitively in a world that is not staying as it is.
Chasing opportunities and leaning into the hard changes seem to be in store for everyone in mining.
Meanwhile, across the waters in Canada, Carr is committing the country to sustainable practices and low-carbon processes in a world that increasingly values these and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is putting $200-million a year towards supporting innovation and the use of clean technologies in the natural resources sectors.
Carr sees all this as heralding a ‘new age’ for mining, since new technologies rely heavily on mined copper, rare earths and rare metals that play an ever-increasing role in advanced technologies.
It is a changing mining world and South Africa needs to immerse itself far more deeply into the reality of platinum catalysts being essential for hydrogen fuel cells, which are not only efficient, versatile and scalable but also represent a proven technology that ensures clean, reliable and cost-effective power.
In doing so, this country can chase down an opportunity to create hundreds of thousands of new jobs and, at the same time, be the planet’s best source of the clean zero-emissions electricity that the world is so desperately seeking.
Comments
The
content
you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.
If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.
If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.
For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation