With the global emphasis on establishing a green hydrogen economy driving an increase in demand for platinum-group metals (PGMs), more specialists and, therefore, relevant upskilling initiatives in the mining and other industries are needed to keep pace with demand.

“The hydrogen economy includes the entire value chain. As such, there is a need to institute upskilling, reskilling and training programmes to develop more specialists who can fill the new positions emerging in mining and manufacturing,” says recruitment and upskilling specialist Oxyon People Solutions MD Viren Sookhun.

With the launch of, for example, hydrogen-fuelled mining vehicles, PGMs have become crucial to a green hydrogen supply chain, especially because they are used in the manufacture of electrolysers and can also be used in the manufacturing of battery storage solutions for solar and wind power plants and electric vehicles.

While South Africa can embark on opportunities to export PGMs and other battery metals, such as lithium and vanadium, to other countries, the mining industry should prioritise decarbonisation before embarking on such opportunities, warns Sookhun.

“If we do not have decarbonised mining operations, it will limit export opportunities because countries around the world are beginning to ban imported goods that were not produced from a fully decarbonised source.”

To allow for a successful transition, mining companies require an energy specialist or an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) partner to develop a feasible energy transition plan.

Sookhun says Oxyon People Solutions can identify skills gaps, and conduct reskilling or upskilling interventions where necessary.

While EPC partners are necessary for a successful transition, he explains that Oxyon People Solutions has also invested in technology, which can aid energy transition plans in South Africa, specific to employment solutions.

“We have been developing a few applications with the aim of optimising our time and delivering a better service using analytics from artificial intelligence and business intelligence technology. “There are a lot of tools we are focusing our attention on, and we are trying to fully digitalise and migrate to the cloud.”

Despite technology being embraced in the renewable-energy space, Sookhun assures that this will not lead to unemployment among technical staff, but that technology will rather help to expedite analyses and provide feedback for independent power producers (IPPs).

Company Role

Considering the requirement for new skills sets, Oxyon People Solutions aims to mitigate possible job losses by establishing upskilling programmes and collaborating with sector education and training authorities in the industry, whereby collaboration agreements can unlock funding opportunities.

Sookhun adds that, while an energy transition is approaching, drilling activities are still required, as fossil fuels have not yet been completely phased out.

Consequently, to avoid a total shutdown of refineries, it is necessary to upskill players in the oil and gas, and coal industries to prepare employees in those sectors for the eventual shift.

“We need to look at training people now while they are still in these sectors. There has to be an understanding from industry players that training programmes need to be implemented for a renewable-energy transition. It should not be a pause and play, but rather a continuous play.”

As a temporary employment services provider, Oxyon People Solutions has established collaboration agreements with EPCs that can apply their expertise for the transition process, which includes conducting analyses, feasibility studies and environmental-impact assessments for projects.

In addition, Oxyon People Solutions can assist in executing its turnkey employment solutions for EPCs and IPPs.

The company also aims to help drive social initiatives for surrounding communities that may be impacted on by these projects by understanding their specific needs.

Sookhun says social initiatives should be sustainable in the long term to create lasting opportunities for community members, hence, the company’s providing training programmes that offer teachable opportunities for community members.

“We are not only a temporary employment services provider, we are a turnkey employment solutions provider. “We are an employment solutions one-stop shop because we execute everything relating to employment, provide feedback and then align this feedback with relevant project plans and budgets,” he concludes.