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Here’s to 2018 and the
return of optimism

Following a number of false dawns “We’ve been trying to get the industry more involved in show-
over the last five years, the Aus- ing the positive side because there is this public perception

tralian mining industry enters 2018 that mining is all about poor environmental housekeeping, poor

with a fully-fledged sense of opti- sustainability and just unpleasant work, which couldn’t be fur-

mism. ther from the truth,” Spearing told my colleague Michael Wash-

Share prices are finally follow- bourne.

ing commodity prices and moving The challenge facing mining is one of public image. Millennials

upwards. Companies are becom- show far greater concern with a broader “purpose” to their ca-

ing more emboldened by the depth of the rally; as evidenced reers so resources sector employers need to emphasise the in-

by the number of junior company capital raisings and IPOs wit- dustry’s role in society, rather than just individual job prospects.

nessed in the latter part of 2017. According to Deloitte’s Millennials Survey 2017, 59% of those

At the big end of town, Rio Tinto Ltd and BHP Ltd’s latest millennials surveyed believed multinational businesses made a

results underlined their eagerness to cash in on higher than ex- positive impact on challenges facing them such as economic

pected iron ore prices throughout 2017 with both groups posting and social progress, conflict, inequality, corruption, etc. How-

higher production numbers from the Pilbara. ever, some 74% of respondents believed such organisations had

“The intrigue over the next 12 months will come as we find the potential to make a positive impact.
out whether the optimism is justified or misplaced. At this stage, This gap is where miners must focus if they are to attract em-

almost everybody agrees ployees from younger genera-

2018 is set to be a good year Those within industry tions. They must prosecute an
for mining equities with com- know this is far from reality argument which highlights min-
panies focused on traditional ing’s ability to provide social,

metals such as copper, nickel, but industry needs to work as well as economic, develop-
zinc and gold set to join those with education institutions and ment opportunities around the
in battery metals (lithium, co- world for there are few sectors

balt and graphite among them) government to promote mining’s which can boast such claims.
who enjoyed a strong 2017. image as an innovative, dynamic The challenge of appealing

However, within weeks of to millennials’ sense of “pur-

the new year starting, tremors contributor to 21st Century Australia pose” is one facing all em-
were already being felt in some to the next generation of students. ployers. Even the British Army
quarters. has changed its recruitment
strategy; developing a cam-
An announcement by lithium

producer SQM that the Chil- paign based around various

ean Government would allow it to quadruple lithium brines pro- questions about diversity of genders, sexualities, ethnicities and

duction in the country led to concerns among investors that the faiths in the forces.

Australian lithium boom was about to burst, sending shares in It is a far cry from recruitment marketing when I was their key

the ASX’s leading lithium players such as Galaxy Resources demographic. Then, Armed Forces adverts were all the same;

Ltd, Orocobre Ltd and Pilbara Minerals Ltd sharply down. basically a sergeant-major type in fatigues and a moustache,

It highlights the precarious nature of any boom period. If there holding a big gun and shouting at the cinema screen about “be-

is a battery minerals correction in 2018, the question will be ing the best”.

whether investment dollars flow out of the mining sector alto- The British Army’s campaign has drawn criticism from the

gether or into the traditional metals. usual quarters but speaks to the same reality being faced by

There is no greater indicator of the mining sector’s return to miners; millennials (and beyond them Generation Z) view min-

health than the raising of the “skills shortage” dilemma and the ing as a labour-intensive career, non-aligned with their modern,

stories in our skills and recruitment feature highlight how difficult high-tech lifestyles.

it is becoming to hire good employees. Those within industry know this is far from reality but indus-

Much of the pressure on recruitment is part of the usual boom- try needs to work with education institutions and government to

bust cycle but in the professional space in particular, there is a promote mining’s image as an innovative, dynamic contributor to

worrying trend emerging. 21st Century Australia to the next generation of students.

The big challenge is attracting younger professionals, not be- If it fails, WASM and other mining schools will become merely

cause they are leaving the sector but because Australia is sim- part of Australian nostalgia rather than the breeding ground for

ply not producing enough mining-related graduates. high-class professionals and wealth-creators they have been for

As people such as Jake Klein, Peter Bradford and West Aus- so long.

tralian School of Mines (WASM) professor Sam Spearing points

out on pages 32-33, mining schools are shrinking around the

country. There is genuine concern that prospective students

find the industry unattractive, lacking in dynamism and innova-

tion and unaligned with 21st Century values. dominic@paydirt.com.au @DominicPiper

PAGE 4 FEBRUARY 2018 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT