News & Resources
Meet the Industry Leaders Who Shape the Future of Mining
The Future of Mining event brings together together C-suite, Heads and Managers of Mine Operations, METS and Support Services from top enterprises around the globe to debate, come up with answers and define the current and future mining landscape. Expert speakers include leaders from across the industry in an agenda curated through the knowledge capital of our trusted globally renowned Australia's Mining Monthly and Mining Magazine editorial teams. The events address the key strategic and operational questions that matter from project/operations level management through to the boardroom. This event is designed to step away from the traditional transactional conference model to provide a transformational experience.
Mining students learn to develop feasibility studies using high-tech solution
Students at the University of British Columbia’s Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering are partnering with tech company Riivos Inc. to design their Mine and Plant Feasibility Study capstone projects. The projects are part of their required courses and in order to complete them, the students are using a Riivos-built mining financial technology software that allows them to quickly and easily input and analyze the financial and physical components of their feasibility studies. According to Riivos, this helps them spend less time building spreadsheet models and more time optimizing their mine project economics. “In this year-long study, students are getting exposure to business problems that the industry is facing and they’re...
Brexit Has Changed the Game, Are You Ready to Respond?
It’s been a tough five years in the mining industry, but thanks to the unprecedented decision of the UK to leave the EU, miners may finally be feeling some relief. Investors looking for safe haven in the aftermath of Brexit have caused commodity prices to soar. As tracked by Visual Capitalist, post-Brexit activity caused a 14.3% increase in silver prices, 9.7% in platinum and a 6.8% bump in gold. The industry had already begun feeling a slow and steady rise in gold prices. Thanks to Brexit, we have seen an almost instant surge. But those of us who have been through a few cycles before wonder: Is this the start of a boom market or artificial inflation due to Brexit fears? If a permanent price increase, how will it impact the demand for...
Eye on Business: Approaches to Lowering Mining’s Cost Curve
Between 2009 and 2012, mining companies increased their capital spending from $58 billion to more than $120 billion. Yet, return on capital, having peaked in 2006 at 23 per cent, dwindled during this period, falling to less than eight per cent by 2012. This decline can be attributed to a range of factors, including lower commodity prices, record capital spending, project cost overruns and a focus on growth. Unfortunately, the outcome is many mining companies have been left with large writedowns, increased debt-to-equity ratios, and lowered returns. To improve their margins, miners have embarked on numerous cost-cutting strategies, including project cancellations, reduced exploration budgets, deferred capital expenditures and staff...
Eye on Business: Plan the Work, Plan for Change
An effective operational plan ensures companies can set important goals and make short- and long-term planning decisions about how to efficiently extract their commodities, and process and sell them. Designing a sound operational plan is no small feat, though. Industry-wide, roughly 40 per cent of mining operations regularly miss their market guidance. The level of complexity involved in effectively managing one site is often compounded when companies must duplicate these processes across as many as 20 sites worldwide. Moreover, the technical nature of the mining business necessitates that engineers and planners produce the operating plan. When corporate managers receive it, they fail to understand the technical components, and as a...