Australia’s mining industry must strive to bring more projects online if it is to avoid falling short of future demand in key commodities, say investment experts speaking at the MiningNews Select conference in Perth.
However, this can be achieved through early attention to permitting, as well as companies ensuring they have developed the right team, including people who have unique insights into the geology of projects.
Presenting as part of a panel on the second day of the conference, Portfolio Direct chief investment strategist John Robertson commented on the prediction that with some commodities – such as copper – more of the metal would be used in the next twenty years than what currently exists.
“Now that’s impossible, so the interesting investment question is ‘how is that adjustment going to occur? What is going to happen in the next several years to balance the markets?’” he said.
“That’s the issue that analysts fail to address: you have people calculating supplies, you have people calculating demand, but you don’t have anyone really rationalizing the two, and coming together and saying ‘that’s what’s going to happen’.”
He added that if players in the industry believed in these predictions, they would need to make changes now to address the future demand.
“You need discovery, you need mine development, and you really need skilled people to do all of that,” Mr Robertson said, warning that trends suggested that “the industry is not equipped to deliver” to these demands, given its current format.
Also speaking on the panel was AMEC general manager of operations Kate Dickson, who said that governments often played an important role in helping projects get online.
“I think governments can help more with supportive infrastructure, roads, opening up land for development, and providing electricity,” she said.
She added that often the ‘silver bullet’ for mining projects and the industry as a whole was being able to reduce red tape.
Mr Robertson said he often noticed a strong disparity between companies when it came to permitting outcomes, which he believed was partly due to the skill of the people involved, although he added that starting the permitting process early could also help.
For overall project success he added that employing a diverse range of people, including those who had learned from the success and failure of previous projects, was also a boon.
“Occasionally you also get people who say ‘I come to this project with a bright new insight’,” he said.
Ms Dickson agreed with this assessment, adding that, “You want someone who’s creative and has new ideas, and can find unique ways to navigate the processes.”