By Provest Group CEO, Funani Mojono

The mining industry has always been particularly challenging. Mines are high risk operations, often located in remote areas, placing the industry under constant scrutiny for its health and safety practices. Specialist skills are needed to operate in such challenging environments and they are not always easy to come by. Commodity prices are often volatile, so that balancing costs and operational efficiency to achieve profitability has always been a careful affair. More recently, the global drive towards decarbonisation and, as a result, the increasing importance of not only managing environmental, social and governance (ESG) impacts but improving performance in these areas and reporting on them transparently is adding further complexity to this tough environment.

Yet these challenges do not represent bad news for miners. Globally, the mining sector is projected to grow from $1 105.94-billion in 2023 to $1 425.16-billion by 2028 - a projected CAGR of 5.3% in just five years. Much of this growth will be driven by demand for “green” minerals – commodities such as lithium, chromium and zinc that play a critical role in enabling the low carbon technologies required for the world’s green transition. According to PwC’s Mine 2023, the Top 40 mining companies posted strong financial performance in 2022 with group revenues totalling $711-billion.

But the same report says earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortisation and impairments (EBITDA) margins decreased as costs rose and global economics remained uncertain. For mining companies to change successfully with the times, innovation and talent will be key.

Which brings us to another challenge. The mining industry has been finding that there is a shortage of talent. A McKinsey Survey of Mining Senior Leaders and Executives in 2022 found that 71% of mining leaders thought this shortage was holding them back from delivering on production targets and strategic objectives, while 86% said it is harder to recruit and retain the talent they need compared to pre-pandemic norms.

Mining services partners can make the difference

Though often perceived as contractors who provide little more than equipment for hire or additional labour, specialist mining services companies can be the key to overcoming many of the challenges mining companies face. Experienced service providers can bring extensive industry knowledge and specialist expertise to an operation, acting as a partner rather than a service provider.

The right partnership can support a mine’s shift towards a more sustainable future in four ways.

#1 Expertise and experience

By engaging a mining services partner early on – during conception and design phase – they can help to foresee risks and inefficiencies, and offer tried and tested approaches to mitigate them. Mining services partners can provide insights that will streamline processes and smooth operations, leading to improved operational efficiencies, risk management and mitigation, which ultimately eases pressure on the EBITDA margin.

#2 Access to talent

Mining services companies like Provest employ specialists in a variety of key areas, and these specialists have experience across a variety of mining environments, mineral types, health and safety matters, technical areas of expertise and community engagement. By providing access to the kind of experienced talent that mining houses may struggle to attract and retain themselves, mining services partners can not only have a positive impact on the mine’s operations immediately, but can help to train and develop new talent that can remain with the mining house.

#3 Specialist skills

Though specialist skills like blasting or anchor installation are sometimes referred to as “non-core” skills, they are critical to ensuring workers’ health and safety. Get this wrong and people die. Specialised skills and an innovative approach – developed by facing new and unexpected challenges across a variety of operations – means that the right mining services partner can help mines improve health and safety. Mining services partners that understand the changing mining landscape will be able to bring this same adaptability to bear in emerging areas of concern, such as energy and resource efficiency or managing environmental impact.

#4 Innovation

Because mining services specialists often supply equipment as well as necessary safety and technology products, it is also in their own interests to ensure their offering is robust, innovative, cost effective and reliable. Innovation and technological advancement is therefore another advantage that the right mining services partner can offer mining companies.

Change is a fact of life in mining. From an increasing spotlight on health and safety, the difficulty of managing profit margins in tough economic and business climates, and the rising imperative of ESG compliance, mining houses are facing an era that demands adaptability. There can be no doubt that innovation, and leveraging all possible efficiencies, is ever more crucial to sustaining a mine’s ability to remain operational and profitable. Through partnerships with mining services partners like Provest that understand the industry’s pain points, and have the experience and knowledge to help address them, mining companies can thrive.