14IMPC_C20 - Mineral economics and human capital.pdf

8/18/2019 14IMPC_C20 - Mineral economics and human capital.pdf

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Mineral economics and

human capital


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The Next generation mass mining: Increasedproductivity, significantly reduced mining cost, safe,

continuous mining and production

Gideon Chitombo

WH Bryan Mining and Geology Research Centre, The University of Queensland, Australia

ABSTRACT

Mining is a “continuous” process of dependent breakage and materials handling stages, from the initial

breakage of the in-situ rock, extraction from the pit or underground, and finally to the surface stockpile

and downstream processing. Over time, underground and in-pit mining activities diverged into two

separate disciplines, each using a variety of in-situ breakage techniques and surface activities, with

processing techniques dependent on mineralogy or grades. This artificial separation of underground and

open pit activities was exacerbated when the two became increasingly managed as separate cost centres

rather than as an integrated unit.

Mass mining essentially began in 1903 when metallurgist Daniel Jackling initiated the world’s first open

pit, mining system at the Bingham Canyon porphyry copper deposit in Utah. The term mass mining has

since been construed to mean large open pits and cave mining methods, including their variants. These

methods are largely non-selective, involving the mass extraction of a deposit irrespective of the unevendistribution of grade and mineralogy.

The advantages of mass mining have historically applied mostly to low grade, large scale deposits. With

the depletion of mineral reserves closer to the surface, however, new deposits are deeper, lower grade

and mixed with more impurities. These and other factors make extraction more difficult and costly. Mass

mining is moving rapidly into a new and less certain environment where revolutionary changes are

required to effectively deal with future challenges which are technical, economic and environmental

(licence to operate).

This keynote address presents current initiatives being considered for the next generation of both

underground and surface mass mining systems in order to significantly reduce lead times and mining

costs (CAPEX and OPEX), substantially increase productivity and meet license to operate requirements.

The address is designed to solicit discussion on how better integration of mining and processing can become a platform for these next generation of mass mining systems and can also help the industry deal

with the future challenges.

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There is no full article associated with this abstract.

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Achievements and challenges for Gold Fields in the

Americas in its operations and in the development of

projects

Manuel Diaz

Gold Fields, Peru

ABSTRACT

In these difficult times for the mining world, mainly due to the global uncertainty about metal

prices and the increased activity of opponents to the mining industry, it is essential that miningcompanies focus on efforts and strategies that will give them the most flexibility to succeed under

the fury of these phenomena. The careful management of systems to control costs, and indicators to

measure with great precision actual variations in costs and cash flows, are essential to adequately

manage the uncertainty. Similarly, clear corporate and regional strategies designed to maximize

cash flow and operating margin will allow the company to be better prepared to face any negative

situations caused by declining metals prices, stricter government regulations and increasing social

pressure.

Gold Fields Limited, a corporation of South African origin and with more than 100 years in the gold

mining business, has developed the ability to adapt to large changes generated by different global

crisis throughout its history. This occasion will be no different. Given the critical situation of the

mining industry in the world today, Gold Fields has embarked on a re-structuring plan at global

level that will allow much closer control and real efficiency of production costs. This plan includes

the creation of regional business units that allow greater independence for each region while still

preserving the standards and cultural values of the Corporation. This presentation will explain why

we believe that this approach combines the best aspects of the two styles of business, and what are

the expected results.

In the Americas Region, Gold Fields currently operates Cerro Corona, in Peru. In addition, the

company is considering opportunities for growth in Chile, Brazil, Mexico and Canada.

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Scenarios and opportunities for research

cooperation in mineral processing between China

and other mining countries

Han Long, Sun Chuanyao and He Fayu

BGRIMM, China

ABSTRACT

In global mining sector, when people mention “China Factor”, usually they refer to China’s

huge demands for mineral commodities, which had been driving the world mining industry into

late “Super Circle”. Few people pay attention to Chinese research capabi lities and resources,which actually grows with Chinese economics in last three decades in such a soaring speed that

you can simply feel it by the number of papers and attendees in recent IMPCs. In China,

currently there are 33 universities and colleges where mineral processing discipline is established,

and more than 20 research institutes dedicated in mineral processing area, with the largest

number of students, teachers and researchers in the world. Due to the characteristics of Chinese

mineral resources, Chinese researchers have made tremendous efforts on R&D of the process and

reagents for those low grade, fine dissemination, and complex minerals resources, such as low

grade hematite, diaspore, complex poly-metallic sulphides, as well as those minerals rich in

China, including scheelite, cassiterite, and rare earth etc. with a special emphasis on the

comprehensive utilization. Those research achievements not only successfully commercialized inChina, but also have great potential for international cooperation. With continuation of

globalization , Chinese government has been encouraging the international R&D cooperation in

various areas at all levels, and the funding mechanism is well established with more 400 projects

were sponsored in last year，in which, however, the mineral processing related projects are very

few. Considering the fact that a large number of Chinese companies or Chinese capitals investing

in the mining sector worldwide, more opportunities for international cooperation in this filed

would be emerging and increasing, while the factors like complementary, IP, government policy,

system and culture difference still need to be addressed properly.

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Development of a cognitive supporting operator

training environment

G. Asbjörnsson, E. Hulthén and M. Evertsson

Department of Product and Production Development, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden

ABSTRACT

In aggregate production and mining the operators are responsible for controlling and monitoring

the process to maintain high plant throughput and safe operation. Operators have to make different

decisions to control the process due to changed demand on the operation from both management

and conditions of the process. The quality of the response and the time it takes for an operator torespond to altered demand relies on what information is available and the experience of the

operator.

In this work a dynamic simulation platform has been developed to be used for operator training.

Models for representing production units and process control for plant simulations have been

developed and implemented in MATLAB/SIMULINK to simulate time-dependent plant behavior.

Stochastic and scheduled events are included using the discrete events simulation toolbox

SimEvents. The human-machine interface was developed using the human-machine interface

software ICONICS.

The operators’ cognitive process, in interpreting the plants semantic, has been studied byobservations and with informal interviews with operators. This was done to get information about

the daily operation and the problems that occur in the process. By interacting with operators thatexperience different physical interactions with the process; more qualitative e-learning software for

supporting operator training in a dynamic operator environment could be developed. The quality

of the operator training environment was evaluated with a usability study that was performed with

operators and others within the production.

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INTRODUCTION

In aggregate production and mining the operators are responsible for controlling and monitoring

the process to maintain high plant throughput and safe operation. Operators have to make different

decisions to control the process due to changed demand on the operation from both management

and conditions of the process. The quality of the response and the time it takes for an operator to

respond to altered demand relies on what information is available and the experience of the

operator.

In this work a dynamic simulation platform has been developed to be used for operator training.

Models for representing production units and process control for plant simulations have been

developed and implemented in MATLAB/SIMULINK to simulate time-dependent plant behavior.

Stochastic and scheduled events are included using the discrete events simulation toolbox

SimEvents. The human-machine interface was developed using the human-machine interface

software ICONICS.

The operators’ cognitive process , in interpreting the plants semantic, has been studied by

observations and with informal interviews with operators. This was done to get information about

the daily operation and the problems that occur in the process. By interacting with operators that

experience different physical interactions with the process; more qualitative e-learning software for

supporting operator training in a dynamic operator environment could be developed.

In order to formulate operator training to improve operators capability in responding accurately

and fast an understanding why operators make certain decisions, how they use the information

available and how it is presented is needed.

Human factors in a process control system

In crushing plant like other complex production systems the operator can interact in different ways

with the physical system, see Figure 1. For a control room operator, the operator interacts with the

process through the operator-interactive computer, where the operator interacts with the system

using the human-machine interface (HMI) or Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition

(HMI/SCADA), which in turn communicates with the process-interactive computer (Stahre, 1995).

Figure 1 Different forms of operators interacting with the process

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The research on improving operation by increasing the operators’ capabilities within the process

control is limited in aggregate production and in minerals processing.

In Bainbridge (Bainbridge, 1983) the dilemmas are discussed that faces the operator when it comes

to higher degree of automation. When the level of automation increases the responsibilities of

operators’ will change. With high level of automation the operator role becomes more supervisory

and monitoring. Over time the operator capability in operating the process manually can decrease,

creating a significant risk for the process. These arguments supports the importance of maintain

manual skills, as well as the cognitive skills for scheduling and diagnosis,

In li. X. et al. (Li, Powell, & Horberry, 2012) the limitations regarding HMI are described using a

simplified human supervisory model. The model consists of four different phases of humaninteraction with displays: detection, analysis, action and evaluation. In this study the authors

identified several limitations when it comes to operator interacting with the process, one of the

being operator training. Li states that the lack of systematic training is probably the key bottleneck

for enhancing the capacity of the human operator when it comes to control needs of the automation

system.

ISO 11064- 5 or Ergonomics design of control centres part 5 is the international organizational

standards for principles and processes for designing a human-machine interface (Swedish

Standards Institute, 2008). These guidelines aim to maximize safety and efficiency of the process.These guidelines were used as a reference during the development of the HMIs. (Institute, 2008)

METHODS

Aggregate plants were the focus of this study. The layout of the modelled plant and the included

events is a result from observation and interview with operators at 5 different aggregate plants in

Sweden. Capacity ranging from 2500 tons/month to 100.000 tons/month.

Observations

Observations were conducted in the operator room as well as out in the process. The different plant

allowed for observation of operators performing different task and handling unexpected events.

The human-machine system was documented and listed from fully manually to fully automated

Interviews

Informal interviews were conducted with operators and management. The questions were aimed to

identify events that could be simulated either with predetermined sequences or dependent on a

certain probability.

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Usability study

In order to evaluate the performance of the training environment a usability study was performed

as a part of the production training for the Swedish Aggregate Producers Association.

MODELING

The simulator used during this study has been developed in MATLAB/SIMULINK at Chalmers

University of Technology. The simulator has previously been used to validate dynamic plant

performance at a large mineral plant struggling to keep a stable process (Asbjörnsson, Hulthén, &

Evertsson, 2013) , for process Optimization (Hulthén, Asbjörnsson, & Evertsson, 2012) and for

Operator training. (Asbjörnsson, Hulthén, & Evertsson, 2012)

Process modelEach equipment model is an independent entity; the communication between models is therefore

standardized. The data flows from one model to another and is transformed as it moves through

the plant model. This data contains important information about the material which determines the

performance of the system. This includes information about the particle size distribution ( PSDi(t )),

the mass-flow ( ( )m t ) and properties of the material (γi(t )) as illustrated in Eq. 1. Each model’s

output is bundled together into a single vector which is communicated to the next model which in

turn extracts the necessary information.

( )

model input = ( )

( )

i

i

PSD t

m t

t

(1)

One of the fundamental principles of simulating dynamic systems is the conservation of mass. In a

dynamic simulation, the constraint for mass-balance is solved with the accumulation of material

according to Eq. 2. The mass in the system, m(t ) , is therefore a result of the mass-flow into the

system (mi,in(t )), the mass-flow out of the system (m j,out (t )) and the mass that was in the system at the

start of the simulation (m(t 0)).

0

, , 0( ) ( ( ) ( )) ( )

t

i in j out

t

m t m t m t dt m t (2)

The volume and level of material within each equipment is calculated by Eq. 3. where V (t ) is the

volume occupied by the material, m(t ) equals the total mass in the system, ρ Bulk is the density of the

bulk material, A is the bottom area of the unit and y(t ) is the resulting level of the material.

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( ) ( )( ) ( )

Bulk Bulk

m t m t V t y t

A (3)

The properties of the material (γi(t )) and particle size distribution ( PSDi(t )), are retained within the

bulk material with a perfect mix model that is dependent on the accumulation of material m(t ) and

the mass-flow into the system (mi,in(t )) as illustrated in Eq. 4.

,

,

( )( )( ( ) ( ))

( )

i inii in i

m t d t t t

dt m t

(4)

The feeders in the system are modelled as a first order system, see Eq. 5. The feeders are equipped

with both an ON/OFF control and a proportional–integral controller (PI controller) which the

operator can switch between for more process interaction.

( )( )

( ) 1

p K Y s

G sU s s

(5)

The simulated process used in this study consists of a single crusher, single screen, 8 conveyors and

a material source. The process was aimed to represent a single stage in a small sized aggregate

production which produces 2 different products: a coarse product (Product II) and a fine product

(Product I). An overview of the process can be seen in Figure 2.

Product I

Cone

Crusher

Screen

Material

bin

Product II

T20

T40

T60

T90

T100

T80

Figure 2 Flowsheet of the simulated process

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Human-Machine Interface

Multiple Human-Machine-Interfaces (HMIs) were developed in ICONICS GENESIS 64 which is a

windows based application. The HMI communicates with the MATLAB/SIMULINK process model

via Open Platform Communications (OPC) and sends the data to a SQL server.

The HMI includes an overview, setup, process data logger, CCTV and an alarm page. Drop down

menus from setup and the data logger page provided the operator with more specific information,

such as calibration routines.

All HMI´s where published using HTTP and are therefore accessible with a standard web browser.

Figure 3 and 4 shows two of the HMI that were developed for the purpose of this study (ICONICS,

2012).

Figure 3 An overview interface developed to

illustrate the status of the process

Figure 4 Process data display page created for

visualizing process data

System structure

The system structure utilized is a three-tiered distribution: Presentation layer, Application layer

and Data management layer, Figure 5.

In the presentation layer is a Thin-Client architecture, the operator or supervisor can access the HMI

on a client’s PC without an installation of a third-party software. By using a standard web browserthe operator can access production reports, HMI graphics, historical trends and alarms in real-time

from anywhere. The accessibility is dependent on set security level for the user which is different

between the operator and the supervisor of the training.

The process logic of the operator training is within the application process layer.

MATLAB/SIMULINK runs continuous and discrete simulations and the output is dependent on the

operator´s setup of the process and his interaction with it.

The data management layer allows for data storage of the selected OPC tags that is communicated

between the HMI and the MATLAB/SIMULINK model.

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Client

Database

SQL server

Application

server

Presentation layer Application processing layer Data management layer

H T T P i n t e r a c t i o n

SQL quary

H T T P i n

t e r a c t

i o n

H T T P

i n t e r a c t i o

n

Web

browserOperator

Web

browserOperator

Web

browserSupervisor

Matlab/Simulink logic

Server

Figure 5 A schematic view over the three-tier application structure

USABILITY STUDY

A usability study was conducted at the Swedish Aggregate Producers Association course

“Production I” which offers training for operator and management. The study was conducted with22 participants with different backgrounds, including, but not limited to: operators, plant managers

and drivers. The study was divided up into following sections:

Introduction in navigating the display

Setting up the process with regards to set requirements

Manually operating the process

Using automatic regulatory controllers

Handling disturbance

Calibration routines

Troubleshooting an alarm

The graphical interface was design for easy navigation between each page on the display, following

the guidelines from ISO11064. A menu bar was therefore located on top of every page for the

operator to navigate freely between pages depending on the information available, see Figure 6.

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Figure 6 The template for all the pages

The first scenario was to select appropriate setup for the process to produce 11/16 product, given a

certain crusher performance, shown in Figure 7, a 36” Hydrocone crusher. Only looking at particlesize distribution would suggest that 15 mm CSS would produce largest amount of 11/16 product

but putting in crusher capacity (Figure 8) as a second variable gives an optimum around 17 mm.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

8 10 12 14 16 18 20

C a p a c i t y [ % ]

CSS [mm]

Product Yield [%]

16+

11/16

11-

Figure 7 Particles size distribution under different

Close Side Settings (CSS)

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

8 10 12 14 16 18 20

C a p a c i t y [ t p h ]

CSS [mm]

Capacity [tph]

Mass flow

Figure 8 Crusher capacity under different Close

Side Settings (CSS)

The participants were instructed to start up the process manually and maintain stable production

for specific time period be adjusting the federate into the circuit, example shown in Figure 9. If

however, it was left unattended the crusher would over fill and initiate an alarm.

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1400 1600 1800 2000 2200 24000

50

100

150

200

Time [s]

M a s s f l o w [ t p h ]

Mass flow [tph]

T100

T20

T40

T60

T80

T90

Figure 9 Mass flow manually stabilized by altering feeder frequency

By operating the process with the automatic regulatory control activated instead of manually the

participants can adjust the set point for the PI controller, compared to trying to maintain constant

level manually. In Figure 10 a results from a disturbance is depicted which caused the mantle to

move down and increase the CSS for a short time.

2900 3000 3100 3200 3300 3400 3500 3600 3700 3800 3900 40000

50

100

150

200

Time [s]

M a

s s f l o w [ t p h ]

Mass flow [tph]

T100

T20

T40

T60

T80

T90

Figure 10 Operating the process with the PI controller active and adjusting CSS

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Each simulation was initiated with 4 mm wear on the CSS. Illustrating the importance of calibrating

the crusher at the start of each day or shift. Mantle-to-Mantle calibration routines for a hydrcone

type crusher were performed by systematically following instruction on the display.

The last scenario demonstrated troubleshooting of an alarm. A triggering of a magnetic sensor was

emulated to represent a metallic object on the conveyor leading up to the crusher. The participants

needed to acknowledge the alarm en reset the sensor, before being able to start up the conveyor and

the feeder again, by following the instruction on the display.

Finally each operator filled in a questionnaire, answering questions about the general impression of

the simulation environment and each of the scenarios which will be used to further develop the

training environment.

RESULTS & CONCLUSION

The operators’ capacity to ensure safe and an efficient production is o f high importance. İn thisstudy vital information for further development of qualitative e-learning software for supporting

operator training in a dynamic operator environment has been collected.

The general impression that the operators got from the simulation environment was good on most

aspects, such as navigating through the interfaces, setting up the process and. Some technical

difficulties come up during the training, especially during the calibration routine. Making it

difficult to get a reliable feedback from the operators.

Few aspects were discussed during the training session that will be incorporated in the next

iteration of the training simulator environment. These are:

Quality factor – Feedback to operator about the quality of the product being produced, i.e.the amount of over- and undersize and an indication of the shape of the material.

Process Optimization – Introducing process optimization and visualize the process whilethe algorithm is locating of optimum process parameters.

Complex systems – Introducing more complex systems for a deeper understanding ofoperating a large scale system

The information collected during the usability study gave a valuable feedback regarding the

development of the operator training. The development will continue in creating an easily

accessible operator training that support and trains the operators’ cognitive capabilities in operating

crushing plants.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This work has been performed within the Sustainable Production Initiative and the Production

Area of Advance at Chalmers; this support is gratefully acknowledged. The authors wish to thank

the Hesselman Foundation for Scientific Research and the Swedish national research program

MinBaS (Minerals, Ballast, and dimensional Stone) for its financial support. Special Thanks to

Emma Vidarsson at Chalmers University of Technology for doing the ground work in connecting

the dynamic simulator to the HMI.

REFERENCES

Asbjörnsson, G., Hulthén, E., & Evertsson, M. (2012). An On-line Training Simulator Built on Dynamic

Simulations of Crushing Plants. Paper presented at the 15th IFAC symposium on Control,Optimization and Automation in Mining, Mineral and Metal Processing., San Diego, USA.

Asbjörnsson, G., Hulthén, E., & Evertsson, M. (2013). Modeling & Simulation of Dynamic Crushing

Plant Behaviour with MATLAB-Simulink. Minerals Engineering 43-44 , 112-120.

Bainbridge, L. (1983). Ironies of Automation. Automatica, 19(6), 775-779.

Hulthén, E., Asbjörnsson, G., & Evertsson, M. (2012). Tuning of real-time algorithm for crushing plants

using a dynamic crushing plant simulator. Paper presented at the Comminution '12, Cape

town, South Africa.

ICONICS. (2012). GENESIS64 Standard Training Manual.

Swedish Standard Institute (2008). Ergonimic design of control centres - Part 5 (Vol. ISO 11064-

5:2008).

Li, X., Powell, M. S., & Horberry, T. (2012). Human Factor in Control Room Operations in MineralProcessing: Elevating Control From Reactive to Proactive. Cognitive Engineering and Decision

Making, 6 , 88-111.

Stahre, J. (1995). Towards Human Supervisory Control in Advanced Manufacturing Systems. Chalmers

University of Technology, Department of Production Development, Sweden

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Sustaining metallurgical competencies

Karen McCaffery1, Aidan Giblett2 and Robert Dunne3

1. Tastufo Consulting, Australia

2. Mineral Processing, Newmont Mining Corporation, USA

3. Rob Dunne Consulting, Australia

ABSTRACT

A worldwide decline in competency levels of practicing metallurgists over recent decades has

become clearly evident and is a common topic of discussion among senior practitioners and

professional associations. The associated impacts on the industry are material and include

operational inefficiencies, missed optimisation opportunities and suboptimal new plant designs.

There are many contributing factors to this condition.

Decrease in competency is particularly evident both in regions where imbalance between supply

and demand has led to a general reduction in experience levels for comparable roles over time and

in emerging regions where a rapid rise in demand for practitioners has occurred in conjunction

with rapid economic development and industrialization. The context, depth and breadth of

education curricula and levels vary with location such that solutions to the technical competency

dilemma may need to be developed specifically for each region with these influences in mind.

Delivering, demonstrating and maintaining competencies are a critical requirement of

undergraduate training and ongoing professional development. Other factors such as generational

and cultural characteristics and expectations, political influences, role requirements and

employment reward and recognition systems all play a critical role in determining if core

competencies can be effectively developed, applied and subsequently maintained.

This paper reviews factors impacting and some common approaches to competency development.

The authors’ experiences in the management of professional development efforts within the global

industry are reviewed and a blueprint proposed to address industry requirements in this area.

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THE 50,000 FT VIEW

The observed decline in metallurgical competencies negatively influences all areas of the discipline

including fundamental research, consulting and engineering practices and is due to numerousfactors including:

Social and school: Inadequate prerequisite STEM (science, technology, engineering and

mathematics) skills, limited career guidance impact and influence.

University: Low enrolments and funding levels; variable content, quality and relevance of

tertiary programs within and between countries; variable quality of education professionals;

limited practical application content of training; counterproductive rating systems.

Industry: Ineffective industry-educator liaison, low levels of industry sponsored research and

development (R&D).

Workplace: Inadequate role definition; low availability of quality mentors, limited and low

quality on the job training; lack of sustained workplace focus and funding for continuous

professional development; counterproductive workplace reward and recognition systems.

DO WE STILL NEED “METALLURGISTS”?

Sites often do away with senior metallurgy roles believing these are no longer necessary as

personnel leave or retire, especially where these are from more expensive management roles. The

assumption is that junior metallurgists or operations personnel can take on this work. This may be

the case at simple operations with highly consistent ore bodies or where operations personnel have

strong metallurgical capability. Based on experience, this is almost never the case for complex

operations and ore bodies.

Georgius Agricola (1556) stated ‚those who take an interest in the methods and precepts of mining

and metallurgy should … consult expert mining people, though they will discover few who are

skilled in the whole art. As a rule, one man understands only the methods of mining, another

possesses the knowledge of washing, another is experienced in the art of smelting, another has a

knowledge of measuring the hidden parts of the earth, another is skilful in the art of making

machines, and finally, another is learned in mining law‛.

Times, technology and methods have obviously changed yet the skill essentials for a successful

mining operation have not. Regardless of how or where metallurgical knowledge and skills are

acquired or the label given to its practitioner, the person skilled in the knowledge of ‚washing‛ is

still a critical element for the economic success of any resource development project, mineral

processing operation or metallurgical research. This is even truer today as ore body grades decline

and complexity increases.

SUPPLY AND DEMAND

Figure 1 shows global mineral production by region against graduate minerals engineers produced

by region (Cilliers, 2013). Enrolments in mineral processing specific education courses have been

declining for several decades in western economies for a variety of reasons, with the result that

many universities no longer offer dedicated undergraduate courses. The converse is true in

economies experiencing rapid growth in the mining sector (Cilliers, 2013).

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While traditional mining economies such as those in Australia and Africa still account for a large

portion of global production, Latin America and China have emerged as the largest producers

representing almost forty percent of global production. The combined BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia,

India, and China) and South America collectively contribute over half of total production.

Figure 1: Global Mineral Production and Graduates Produced by Region

With the exception of China, the Middle East and Turkey, all regions are in a graduate undersupply

situation. Demand in China, Central and South America is high with numbers accounting for

almost seventy percent of the global graduation rate of around 5,800. On the other hand, in

Australia, North America and Western Europe, graduate numbers account for under five percent of

total supply.

Depending on location, there are two main scenarios.

There are shortages of minerals processing qualified graduates with demand gaps typically

being filled by graduates from generic engineering degrees such as chemical engineering or

from combined Mining or Material Science and Minerals Processing degrees.

There are large quantities of enrolments and graduates however the rapid growth in

numbers of schools offering minerals training has resulted in imbalances in quality of course

delivery, teaching facilities and assessment

In both cases the main consequences for the industry are around the questions of volume and

quality of suitably skilled people to enter minerals industry roles.

SCHOOL FACTORS

Career Choice Influences

Formal education, societal focus and industry reputation all play a part in positively or negatively

influencing students to enter a particular profession or industry. Family, friends and teachers also

influence a student’s current and future outlook (Harvard, 2009). Career guidance counselling and

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capability testing during high school influence initial selection of senior high school electives as

prerequisites for study and career options. Low levels of university and industry involvement are

apparent in junior and senior high school career guidance activities (Rothman and Hillman, 2008).

Education BaseAbility to sustain long term economic development is strongly correlated with STEM skill

competency (ERT, 2009) that varies widely between and within countries (PISA, 2012). The more

developed a country, the lower the inclination of students to pursue education or careers in STEM

disciplines (ERT, 2009). To compound this, universities have relaxed STEM requirements thereby

reducing the relevance of these subjects to students (Office of the Chief Scientist, 2012).

Countries with a traditional agrarian base (e.g. Chile, Brazil, Indonesia and Peru) are improving but

still score at the lower end and also show a wide range linked to wealth distribution and rural and

city population demographics (PISA, 2012). Given most existing and proposed new mine

developments are located remote from cities and in lower scoring countries, this suggests impetus

be given to boosting basic education levels in local rural populations as a precursor for entry to

tertiary education. This appears to be of most urgency in areas expected to account for the bulk ofmining investment over the next few years.

UNIVERSITY FACTORS

Tertiary Enrolment Levels and Funding

More students than ever are completing tertiary studies and global government spending on

education is at an historic high (World Bank, United Nations, 2014). Funding, as a proportion of

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is fairly static in developed nations but has increased substantially

in nations experiencing rapid economic growth. Public funding models for universities are however

generally based on per capita demand that doesn’t consider cost of course delivery nor futureimpact potential a graduate might have on GDP or other important social factors. Supplementary

funding from fees and public research funding are also demand driven.

A better educated nation is not just about having many highly educated people but having enough

people educated in the right things. Students in emerging economies are more likely to consider

STEM based studies and this is reinforced by governments encouraging students to enter industries

considered of economic importance such as the mining sector. This has been very successful in

China for example where graduate supply is meeting minerals industry demand.

At a generic level, the important question is, are university funding programs being spent for

greatest benefit of the country? The answer appears to be no, especially in developed economies

(DoI, 2012).

Curricula

Diversity and flexibility in career opportunity are important considerations for students who tend

to gravitate toward courses that open more options to bring earlier and/or greater reward (ERT,

2009). Employers are also demanding greater diversity in graduate skills including financial and

management knowledge (Ahonen & Heiskanen, 2013).

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Given these trends, that are unlikely to change, providing generic engineering grounding with

options to specialize in minerals engineering may be a preferred approach and is already available

in many schools. Furthermore, in a bid to attract students, cut overheads and lower cost of mineral

and metallurgy course delivery several actions have been taken and include:

Amalgamation with chemical engineering with options for dual majors. E.g. Australia,South Africa, USA, Canada, UK.

Amalgamation with mining engineering courses as a dual Mining and Mineral Processing

degree. E.g. Turkey, Canada, USA, Australia, UK.

Development of inter university training where generic core engineering subjects are

offered by the home university while minerals and metallurgy training is via a minerals

specialist school. E.g. University of South Australia in conjunction with Curtin (WASM).

Development of undergraduate four year Master degrees. E.g. UK Camborne and Royal

School of Mines. This also provides for study at international campuses.

Development of post graduate two year Master degrees for Mining, Minerals or

Environmental specialization, that are taught via inter university training supplemented bya pool of external experts from academia and industry. E.g. European Minerals Education

Course Delft (Holland), Aachen (Germany), Aalto (Finland), Miskolc (Hungary) and

Wroclaw (Poland).

Virtual classrooms, Massive Online Open Courses (MOOC’s), online training courses and

webinars. E.g. EduMine, SME Webinars, AusIMM webinars etc.

The first option provides greater flexibility for graduates to enter other industries while the second

provides ability to move between functional areas within the industry. In either case, the downside

is dilution of mineral processing course content. One other problem is that mineral processing

laboratory facilities are an expensive proposition and are being curtailed or shut down.

The internet age has seen the proliferation of private and university provided internet based

tertiary training, online training courses and seminars. Professional societies also offer online short

courses and webinars. Cost varies from free to full fee paying for online degrees. Assessment also

varies with no or minor assessment or qualification granted to Masters level degrees. Given the

widespread and remote nature of the mining industry, online training, assignment and assessment

capability opens huge possibilities for provision of quality remote minerals processing training.

Assessment Standards

Increase in degree diversity, rapid growth of minerals schools and courses in emerging economies

and increased global movement of graduates reinforces the need to ensure common training quality

and assessment standards for graduates within and between countries. This is already happening

fairly extensively via the Washington Accord within the broader engineering function. Global

coverage is reasonably good with exception of Africa (other than South Africa) and Latin America.

EU countries are not represented other than Turkey but are closely linked with the UK (IEA, 2013).

Accreditation for example in the Minerals Engineering space in the USA is via ABET (Accreditation

Board for Engineering and Technology) with input from the SME. In the UK this is via the

Engineering Council UK with input from IOM3 (Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining).

Completion of a period of appropriate practical industrial experience is a syllabus requirement for

granting final qualification for an Engineering degree accredited under the Washington accord.

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University Staffing

The expected rapid increase in requirement for minerals engineering lecturer numbers in areas

anticipating largest growth is cause for concern. The risk is that training quality and by extension,quality of graduate starting skills will be compromised. This is exacerbated by the ageing profile of

skilled academic staff (Cilliers, 2013; Lind, 2013; Moudgil, Farinato & Nagaraj, 2013). New lecturers

are required both as the current pool of lecturers near retirement and to meet the needs of future

expected increases in student numbers.

Typically, new lecturers are drawn from the ranks of Masters or PhD graduates. Lecturers sourced

from these ranks are in general not as able to provide the benefit of practical experience and

industrial context to their students.

Lecturer salary is also an important aspect to be considered. Salary of a lecturing professional is

typically lower than a comparable seniority position in industry. In emerging economies, this gap

can be very high with salaries as low as a quarter or less of an industry based role.

What’s important to Universities?

University lecturer and research funding attraction is influenced by ranking systems. (QS

Intelligence Unit, 2014). The definition of success for practitioners within the academic system is

traditionally prioritised by research funding, numbers of peer reviewed journal publications and

citations, number of graduate students and to a lesser extent, teaching (P. Taylor, CSM, pers. comm.

7 Feb 2014). Unfortunately, in many instances the ranking criteria are potentially counterproductive

to producing quality undergraduate engineers.

INDUSTRY FACTORS

What’s the industry expectation of tertiary education?

Two main problems are reported by industry (IMPC, 2013). These are graduate baseline minerals

processing technical knowledge and practical skill levels and how skills are applied in the

workplace (Ahonen & Heiskanen, 2013). These are impacted by teaching methods and generational

traits (Coates, 2007).

Expectations of industry in terms of baseline depth and content of technical knowledge may simply

be too high. Universities are only required to educate undergraduates to achieve entry level to a

profession. The metallurgical industry is broad ranging and encompasses plant operation and

management, technical operations support management or specialised plant design, engineering,

research and development technical services. Prerequisite knowledge needs change with each ofthese streams and also with organisational level.

An obstacle for graduates on entering the workplace is making the link to and adapting, applying

and enhancing theoretical fundamentals learnt at university to their particular role. They also need

to adapt to the difference between the study and work environment. Yiantos (CASIM, pers. comm.

23 Jan 2014) notes that even though most students in Chile have completed workplace experience,

the quality of this varies depending on site and opportunities. In the case of metallurgical engineers

or equivalent, the industry has special programs for training in plant, but in general, new graduates

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need an additional six months to a year in plant in order to become familiar with industrial

practices.

Industry – University Liaison

Several of the authors in the 2013 IMPC report comment on low levels or ineffective industryliaison with universities. This includes inadequate input to curricula, funding support, provision of

workplace experience opportunities and advice on future industry manpower requirements.

Liaison exclusively via an industry human resources (HR) function without significant input from

the technical or operational functions is less likely to be effective.

Industry Research and Development

Mining industry investment in research and development (R&D) has suffered since the 1980’s as a

result of in-house research facilities closing, due to market and metals price outlook, low

profitability, prohibitive exploration and new mine start-up costs, mergers and acquisitions,

consolidation, outsourcing and an increasingly conservative business approach (Filippou & King,2011). This has adversely impacted academia and education providers and driven closure of public

research or not for profit industry supported institutions. Other trends are in-house technology and

engineering groups being closed or spun off as independent companies. At the other end of the

scale, few mine sites have even the most basic metallurgical laboratory facilities to perform even the

most basic diagnostic or operational support investigations.

A series of high profile technology, mine and processing start-up failures have driven conservatism

and risk aversion. The industry has a poor record of committing adequate time and money to R&D

needed to bring new technology or projects to the market. There is a high level of reliance on

suppliers to develop technology with the industry largely being a follower, not a pioneer in R&D.

Risk, long lead times and failures are of course to be expected as part of implementing new ideas

(innovation) in the mining industry. False expectations arising from researchers overselling project benefits and time to deliver results foments industry distrust and lack of willingness to spend in the

future. Poor project planning, execution and management on the part of researchers are also de-

motivators for industry R&D funding support. Where there is good R&D engagement between

industry and research institutions, this is often subject to stringent intellectual property (IP)

agreements that restrict wider access to research resources and limit results access to project

sponsors or commercial licensees.

There is also an increasing desire of governments to better control their natural resources and to

develop their people and therefore carry out development work (including R&D) ‘in-country’.

Given the location of expected global minerals project development this means that collaboration

with universities and technology service companies in emerging regions will be of ever increasing

importance to support the need for technical and managerial expertise to sustain the miningindustry.

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WORKPLACE DEVELOPMENT

The Development Obligation

A common complaint, especially where companies are operating in emerging regions, is that

graduates in whom they have invested significant funds and time to train leave to pursue

opportunities with smaller in-country, international companies or at intercompany sites. The latter

can promote lack of willingness to advertise intercompany opportunities to people with the result

that they leave the company altogether.

In emerging regions, most focus is given to trades, operator and office administration training. Less

focus is given to professional technical training. This capability does not generally exist in the in-

house training department other than provision of safety, organisational and possibly supervisory

or leadership training.

Providing a positive development experience, even if the graduate leaves at the end of this creates a

very positive impression of a company such that they will be considered and recommended toothers as a preferred employer. Diverse experience gained as a result of intra and intercompany

movement is also of benefit to all.

Importance of role descriptions in driving competency development

Lack of understanding of what a job ‘role’ encompasses, its purpose and how it relates to other

roles and expected deliverables all contribute to the right work not being done by the right people

at the right time (Macdonald, Burke & Stewart, 2006).

The assumption is often that the incumbent knows what they are expected to do and deliver. This is

often not the case, especially for new personnel. The only guidance provided might be: broad goals

set to achieve over a work year, from watching, learning and mimicking what others do, from what

they are asked to do or from work they perceive as important based on messages sent by senior

management. This leaves much room for critical tasks and responsibilities to be missed.

The situation is worse if a manager is also unclear on what they should be doing. This is often an

artefact of organisations where personnel have rapidly progressed through the ranks due to

shortages of experienced personnel and can quickly deteriorate into a situation of ‚the blind

leading the blind‛. This can also support unrealistic expectations of requirements and timing for

career advancement.

Workplace reward and recognition systems and competency

Effective workplace reward and recognition systems support continuing professional development.

In the past, technical personnel development primarily concentrated on developing technical skillsand knowledge, especially during early career stages. Promotion to management roles was

predominantly based on technical expertise with management or leadership skills often left to be

picked up along the way, sometimes with disastrous results.

The recognition of the importance of effective social interactions in workplace productivity has seen

significantly more emphasis on this including in the assessment of performance and in reward

systems (Charan, Drotter & Hill, 2001; Goleman, Boyatzis & McKee, 2002; Goleman, 2011).

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Performance measurement and reward systems drive behavior. While there is no doubt that the

demonstration of well-developed social process skills is essential for effective workplace

performance and leadership, disproportionate reward can diminish the importance of other

necessary individual capability elements such as knowledge, technical skills, complex thinking

ability and application in delivering sustained results (MacDonald, Burke & Stewart, 2006).A possible negative consequence of this might be that technical skills are seen as unimportant to

progress rather than as required ‚threshold‛ or entry level capabilities for leadership positions.

This could lead to practitioners being discouraged from applying or seeking to advance their

technical skill base in favor of development perceived to be more aligned with rapid career

progression or other rewards (Munro & Tilyard, 2009; MacDonald, Burke & Stewart, 2006).

Graduate Programs

In larger companies, extensive graduate development programs used to exist and often commenced

with large groups of graduates being recruited annually and trained in fundamentals at corporate

facilities before being deployed and rotated around a company. Early years included opportunity to

work at different sites and in different work streams. The closure of corporate research centres infavour of outsourcing this type of work or decentralising graduate recruitment to site level means

this approach, while still in place at some companies, is not as typically available today.

Tertiary institution supported workplace programs are filling this space, are gaining traction and

are reported to be delivering good results (Ahonen & Heiskanen, 2013; Drinkwater & Bianco, 2013;

Sweet et al, 2013). Other options for staff technical development are online training courses and

development programs offered by professional societies that can be coordinated and run in-house

and encompass both professional and workplace competency development.

Some characteristics of successful graduate development programs are:

Executive management who financially support the program through boom and bust cycles.

A structured program and rotation schedule designed to holistically develop personal,professional, company, technical, discipline specific, operational and business competencies.

Rotations include exposure to cross functional areas and alternate functional work streams.

This is supported by mentors who understand and value their role in graduate development.

Clearly defined competencies, expected outcomes, results and deliverables for graduates,

supervisors and mentors.

Focus is on demonstrating competencies in the workplace in tandem with meeting business

needs and onus is on graduates to take responsibility and accountability for their own

development.

Targeted quality technical, financial and discipline specific training accompanied by

workplace assignments to embed skills. Foreign language training should be included asappropriate to support future global mobility.

Mechanisms to assess, track and record competency development. Supportive reinforcement

from the company performance reward and recognition system.

Ongoing Professional Development

Graduate retention post formal development programs is not guaranteed and depends on

availability of alternative positions and ability and willingness to move. Up to half of the graduates

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from a structured program can leave in the first year after completion. Part of the reason for this is

that there is generally no transition or formal structure that demonstrates continued supportive

career development. People are also often ready to change roles after a few years and in the absence

of in-company opportunity will more than likely leave. Lack of opportunity as opposed to chasing

salary or other factors is often cited as a reason for seeking employment with other companies.

Demonstrating continuing professional development (CPD) is required and routinely audited by

many professional societies for members to gain and retain chartered status as a practicing

engineer. Securities and exchange instruments define professional society membership,

qualifications and experience criteria needed for a practitioner to act as the Qualified or Competent

Person for disclosure of reserves statements, minerals project reports or similar. Professional

membership and achieving and maintaining chartered status via ongoing CPD are however largely

voluntary, not mandatory for routine practice or employment as is the case within the medical or

accounting professions. Senior personnel comment that there are few company supported

competency and career development programmes for people in the five to fifteen plus years’

experience bracket. Development opportunity is often associated with personal relationships or is

short term company priority driven. Loss of senior personnel reduces an organizations knowledge

base and mentoring capacity.

In general a direct manager will be more focussed on developing a person into their current role.

Unfortunately, coaching, mentoring and guidance by direct managers can fall by the wayside in the

face of day to day production pressures. Ongoing guidance is required for people at all levels of an

organisation to support continuing development.

Development does not only come from attending courses, conferences and workshops but from

providing workplace opportunity to develop skills and expertise. Any training should always be

accompanied by application and be assessed, even if informally. Unfortunately, in most instances

this is neglected, often due to the lack of mentorship and therefore the value of training is negated.

A company that provides a picture of typical pathways and alternatives including nominating

pivotal roles needed to progress, defined competency expectations, offers real workplaceopportunity and mechanisms to help people develop according to their aspirations and to company

needs will be a preferred employer.

Technical Competency Assessment

Technical competency assessment can be aligned with generic competency frameworks outlined by

professional engineering societies that generally cover personal, professional and business

capability areas. These systems are broadly associated with differences in levels of work complexity

as it relates to increasing level in an organizations management hierarchy. Some professional

societies have nominated discipline specific competency guidelines for metallurgical engineers.

These are somewhat broad and like the generic frameworks focus on types of work activities and

results rather than specific knowledge or technology areas (ECSA, 2001; AusIMM, 2013).

Discipline specific criteria for what competency entails in relation to work stream and work (or

organisational) level require definition. For example what exactly constitutes an adequate level of

skill and knowledge in terms of grinding or flotation theory, metallurgical practice and operation?

Is this necessarily the same for a metallurgist working in an operational, operations support or

research role? What is the difference between a junior metallurgist, senior metallurgist and chief

metallurgist? Is the competency requirement and assessment the same between different companies

or countries? (F. Wirfiyata, PT NNT, pers. comm. 5 Feb 2014).

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REFERENCES

Agricola G.A. (1556) translated Hoover H.C. & L.H., (1950). De Re Metallica , Dover Publications Inc.

Ahonen A.M., Heiskanen K., (2012). ‘Transformational Curriculum for B.Sc. Graduates towards MineralProcessing Expertise’ Minerals Industry Education and Training (IMPC)’, 2013. IIME pp. 107-116

AusIMM (Graduate Program Best Practice Guidelines) retrieved 02/2014

http://www.ausimm.com.au/content/docs/ausimm_graduate_guidelines.pdf

Charan R., Drotter S., Noel J., (2001). The Leadership Pipeline , John Wiley & Sons.

Cilliers J., (2012) ‘The Supply and Demand of Minerals Engineers’ Minerals Industry Education and Training

(IMPC)’, 2013. IIME pp. 3-14

Coates J., (2006). Generational Learning Styles , LERN Books.

Drinkwater D., Bianco N., (2012). ‘Developing Technical Excellence in Young Australian Metallurgical

Professionals’ Minerals Industry Education and Training (IMPC)’, 2013. IIME pp. 117-130

Office of the Chief Scientist, Commonwealth of Australia, (2012). ‘Mathematics, Engineering & Science in theNational Interest’ retrieved 02/2014 from http://www.chiefscientist.gov.au/2012/05/mes-report/

DOI, Department of Industry and Innovation: Australian University Enrolment data by functional area 2012

retrieved 02/2014 from http://www.innovation.gov.au/highereducation/HigherEducationStatistics/

ECSA, Engineering Council of South Africa (2001). Discipline Specific Guidelines: Metallurgical Engineering

retrieved 02/2014 from https://www.ecsa.co.za/ECSADocuments/ECSA%20Documents/Documents/

ERT, European Round Table of Industrialists, Johansson L. et al, (2009). ‘ERT, Mathematics, Science &

Technology Education Report’ retrieved 02/2014 from http://ert.eu/ERT/Docs/

Filippou D., King M.G., (2011). ‘R&D Prospects in the mining and metals industry‛, Resources Policy, 36 pp.

276-284

Goleman D., Boyatzis R., McKee A., (2002). Primal Leadership , Harvard Business Review Press.

Goleman D., (2011). Leadership: The Power of Emotional Intelligence , Harvard Business Review Press.

Harvard Business Publishing (2009). ‘Leading across the Ages – Discussion Guide’ CEB Corporate Leadership

Centre

IEA International Engineering Alliance, Washington Accord (2013). Graduate Attributes and Professional

Competencies retrieved 02/2014 from http://www.ieagreements.org/

IMPC, Cilliers J., Drinkwater D., Heiskanen K., (2013). Minerals Industry Education and Training ‘A collection of

papers from the special symposium on human resource development XXVI International Mineral

Processing Congress (IMPC)’, 2012. IIME pp. 1-149

Lind G.H., (2012) ‘Minerals Industry Engagement in Metallurgical Education in Australia’ Minerals Industry

Education and Training (IMPC)’, 2013. IIME pp. 87-104

Macdonald I., Burke c. Stewart K., (2006). Systems Leadership, Creating Positive Organisations , Gower.

Moudgil B.M., Farinato R., Nagaraj D.R., (2012). ‘Mineral Industry Education and Training Trends in North

America: Challenges, Opportunities and a Framework for the Future’ Minerals Industry Education and

Training (IMPC)’, 2013. IIME pp. 59-68

Munro P.D., Tilyard P.A., (2009). ‘Back to the Future – Why Change Doesn’t Necessarily Mean Progress’

Proceedings Tenth Mill Operators Conference , AusIMM

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PISA (2012). ‘PISA 2012 Results in Focus: What 15-year-olds know and what they can do with what they

know‛ retrieved 02/2014 from http://www.oecd.org/pisa/

QS Intelligence Unit, (2013). ‘World University Rankings® and methodology’ retrieved 02/2014 from

http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings

Rothman S., Hillman K (2008). ‘Research Report 53 Career Advice in Australian Secondary Schools: Use andUsefulness’ ACER, retrieved 02/2014 from http://research.acer.edu.au/lsay_research/3/

Sweet J.A., Harris M.C. Franzidis J.P., Plint N., Tustin J., (2012). ‘The AGDP in 2012 – Nine Years of Exceptional

Graduate Training’ Minerals Industry Education and Training (IMPC)’, 2013. IIME pp. 131-149

World Bank GDP and Education Data retrieved 02/2014 from http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/

United Nations Education Data retrieved 02/2014 from

http://gpseducation.oecd.org/

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Why good professional development is key to

profitability in the mining industry

Diana Drinkwater1 and Tim Napier-Munn2

1. SMI Knowledge Transfer, JKTech, Australia

2. Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre, Australia

ABSTRACT

This paper argues that, although specialist mineral engineering expertise is essential for the efficient

design and operation of mineral processing plants, the environment in which these skills are supplied to

the industry has changed forever, and not for the better. Most of the mineral engineering programmes in

western universities have died or are dying. The long-service mine site mentors have gone, operations are

run on a staffing shoestring so that there is no longer the time (or inclination) for considered decision-

making, and the FIFO model has discouraged continuity of optimisation projects and communication

between professionals. At the same time the technical challenges of designing and operating effective

process plants are increasing. These trends are not going to be reversed any time soon, if ever. The ability

to run efficient mineral processing operations has been materially compromised as a consequence.

We propose that well-designed professional development can help to recover this situation, and it can be

done easily and cheaply. The workplace is the best environment for such skills development.

Professional development training should be integrated with normal duties throughout the early years of

a graduate’s service (and probably beyond), and the cost should be regar ded as non-discretionary

expenditure for the business. If such programmes are properly resourced and managed and extended

over longer time periods, there will be a measureable rise in the level of technical understanding and

competence within companies and a resulting beneficial impact on resource utilisation and thus

shareholder value. The paper outlines some of the approaches that we believe will work, and the benefits

that we expect will accrue.

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INTRODUCTION

Resource projects need to be effectively designed and efficiently operated if they are to return value to

their shareholders. Generally speaking, mine grades are declining and ore-bodies are becoming more

complex. At the same time increasing market volatility and complex community and environmental

issues are increasing the challenges of the external operating environment. Mining companies need to

focus on both technical excellence and human capital in order to successfully deal with these challenges

and maximize the profitability of their operations.

There is a view that the human element is intrinsically inefficient and should be designed out of modern

processing operations. However, with the possible exception of large bulk mining operations, industry

has a long way to go before technology is sufficiently robust to to engineer the operator out of the picture.

Process performance will be dependent on the creativity and flexibility of humans for some time yet.

Specialist minerals engineering expertise is therefore essential, and the minerals engineering tool-kit is

complex. Whether it is conscious or unconscious, mining companies understand this and recruiters are

struggling to meet the demand for minerals engineers with what one has described as ‚the scarcecombination of technical know-how and leadership savvy‛ (Nissinger 2013). More commonly the

expertise has to be developed in-house.

This paper examines the environment in which minerals engineering talent is sourced and cultivated, and

recommends a strategy for professional development that will enable high potential graduates and early

career professionals to achieve performance excellence, both as individuals and in teams . Such excellence

makes a direct contribution to shareholder value.

SUPPLY AND DEMAND OF MINERALS ENGINEERING TALENT

Numbers of graduates produced by Universities and recruited by the minerals industry has been the

subject of many studies including a comprehensive global review by the international mineral processingcouncil (IMPC) (Cilliers, 2012).

It is harder to find information in the public domain about the quality of graduates or the suitability of

University curriculum, which may well be driven by historical, rather than current, industry needs. The

supply of minerals engineers and the environment in which these skills are supplied to the industry has

been changing rapidly, due in part to changes in the University sector and in part to changes in the way

that the industry engages with Universities. Leaner workforces and tight operating budgets make it

difficult for industry to provide work experience to undergraduates, and OH and S restrictions have made

it so difficult for Universities to run meaningful field studies and site visits that they mostly don’t even

try.

Another significant factor is that most of the mineral engineering programmes in western universities

have died or are dying. First degrees are becoming more generic, and specialisation is being left to

postgraduate study if at all. A review undertaken by the Minerals Council of Australia of minerals

engineering recruitment in 2011 found that out of approximately 200 graduates hired nationally to fill

metallurgical and minerals engineering positions, only 40 came from specialized minerals engineering

programmes, with most of the rest being chemical engineers (Lind 2012). This means that that most

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graduates are being employed with only a partial set of knowledge and skills required to effectively

perform their tasks.

Another important consideration is that whether or not a graduate has specialist minerals engineering

education, they nearly all require time and experience to translate their classroom-based skills and

behaviours to full professional competency. This translation happens fastest and most effectively when it

is carefully managed. Companies used to address this by putting new graduates through graduate

development programmes that lasted 2 years or longer, Followed by mentoring by experienced long-

service domain experts on the operating sites. However, the industrial blood-letting of the 1980s and

1990s has completely changed the professional landscape. The long-service mentors have gone,

operations are run on a staffing shoestring so that there is no longer the time (or inclination) for properly

designed or resourced on-the-job development programmes.

That is not to say that professional development activities do not take place in modern mineral processing

operations; quite the contrary. A recently commissioned study undertaken by JKTech indicated that most

professionals are engaging in development activities throughout their careers, and some specific findings

will be presented later in this paper. Nonetheless, we suggest that much of this training is ineffective, andtraining expenditure could be put to better use in more structured, longitudinal programmes integrated

directly with work practices.

EFFECTS ON COMPANY PERFORMANCE

The decline in training effectiveness has had an impact on the economic performance of process plants,

though the research is yet to be done to quantify this. There is a substantial amount of anecdotal data

about poor practice due to lack of basic knowledge (Munro and Tilyard 2010). One notable area where

opportunities for productivity gains are being consistently overlooked in favour of second-rate operating

strategies is described in a review of the Mine-to-Mill operational strategy by Professor Don McKee

(McKee 2013). Despite 20 years of supporting evidence that this approach can be expected to produceoperational cost reductions of up to 20%, the take-up remains low.

The explanation for this is that the organisational culture in much of the mining industry does not

question or challenge, and is slow to innovate. Despite the fact that our universities are producing

graduates with a broad range of attributes including critical thinking, intellectual agility, problem-solving

skills and an ethos of life-long learning (de Graaff and Kolmos, 2007), industry often fails to develop them

into mature professionals who can adapt and innovate in the face of uncertainly or change.

One of the most significant outcomes of this is that rather than focusing their technical skills on adding

value through process improvement, engineers must rely instead on the blunt instrument of cost

reduction to improve productivity.

To address organizational culture a company needs to look at the way it develops its human capital, fromtop to bottom. Whether or not a lack of appropriate professional development is the cause; certainly

professional development can help to recover this situation.

Many mining companies, especially the larger ones, do operate graduate training schemes. A review of a

dozen such schemes (Napier-Munn, 2007) showed that they ranged from the excellent to the

dysfunctional, in terms of their organisation and their contribution to the health and productivity of the

company. Some are merely an ad-hoc conglomeration of short courses, coordinated by centralized HR

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departments with little or no appreciation of the knowledge, skills and behaviours required for effective

technical performance. We argue that companies who want to ensure a supply of high-performing

professionals need to move to a more strategic talent management approach, extended over longer time

periods, where technical understanding is integrated with personal development.

WHAT SHOULD BE IN THE MINERALS ENGINEERING TOOL-KIT?

Management of complex technical operations is always difficult, whether in manufacturing, food

processing or chemicals, but mining operations face the additional challenges of orebody uncertainty,

constant variability and strongly cyclic commodity markets. Technical skills are only a part of the tool-kit

required for these challenges. Minerals engineers need to weave their technical skills development with

more general professional engineering skills like effective communication, project management, team-

work and leadership. They need to develop all kinds of intelligences including emotional, intellectual,

political and strategic. Yet when compared with other industrial sectors, the mining industry is generally

a poor supporter of leadership and management development.

There is quite a lot of good analysis of the technical skills recommended for minerals engineers,

metallurgists and mineral processors. Some examples are on the websites of professional bodies such as

The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) (Table 1) and the South African institute

of Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM). They differ in detail, but there is a lot of commonality suggesting

that in order to accurately monitor process plant conditions, manage grade control and respond quickly to

change minerals engineers need sound numerical skills capabilities, a knowledge of mineral properties, of

process chemistry, of energy requirement and ultimate recovery potential, as well as metallurgical

accounting, process control, sampling theory and statistics. They also need to be aware of all aspects of

mining life cycle, the mining value chain and the impact of market changes on their overall profitability.

Table 1 Example of Graduate Develoment Guidelines - AusIMM

DEVELOPING TALENT ON THE JOB

The chemical company DuPont has developed what it calls a ‚massive, top-to- bottom training program‛

to accelerate the development of their workforce, because they assert that only organisations who are

‚able to swiftly recognize and effectively address business challenges through the development of a safe,

efficient and capable workforce can remain successful in this environment.‛ The DuPont approach for

bringing their workforce up to speed quickly is to blend classroom study and collaborative learning with

lots of practical, on-the- job training. ‚The more an organisation’s leaning activities centre around

providing practical experience...,the quicker knowledge transfer will happen‛ (Ponzo 2013).

A capable and knowledgeable workforce will have the skills required to deal with operational complexity.

They will make considered decisions when faced with variability and uncertainly, and add value to

process performance by making incremental improvements. There will be a constant focus on keeping

their minerals engineering tool-kit sharpened. The tools in this kit are not just technical, of course, as

professionals and others also have to deal with challenges such as those presented by the FIFO model

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which has discouraged continuity of optimisation projects and communication between professionals,

with we believe a negative impact on the economic performance of concentrators.

The Napier-Munn review (2007) looked at several graduate development programmes and identified

some significant success factors. These included good educational design, support from local site

supervisors, support from the company head office and input from mentors or coaches to manage the

application phase of skills development, supporting graduates first time around in practicing and

applying tools and techniques as they try them out in the workplace.

It is also important that the graduate development programme is truly focused on developing specific

learning outcomes rather being a tool to attract graduates.

There is considerable agreement within the education research literature about what constitutes effective

professional development:

Learning is ongoing and continuous (1-2 years), rather than one-off ‚episodic updates of

professional information delivered in a didactic manner‛ (Webster-Wright, 2010)

Learning is situated within the work context and is related to authentic work experiences

Learning is social and collaborative

Learning is learner-centred and self-directed

Learning is active

Learning is supported by organisational leadership

A disciplined programme of structured activities will provide a framework for an individual to embed the

learning, and these might include workshops, readings, projects, case studies and applications in their

own workplaces.

WHAT TRAINING ARE AUSTRALIAN MINING PROFESSIONALS DOING? THERESEARCH.

In 2013 JKTech Pty Ltd commissioned a study of current training activity in the Australian mining

industry (Ward and Gonzales, 2013). A survey questionnaire asked about what training they were doing,

its effectiveness, and their major motivators. The 195 respondents were resource industry professionals

who identified as mining engineers, minerals engineers and geologists, and were made up 25% early

career professionals (with fewer than 5 years in their current career) 39% mid career professionals

(between 5 and 10 years) and 36% Learned/elder professionals with more than 15 years service in their

current career.

The objectives were to understand the way to-day’s resource sector workforce undertakes professional

development: To measure the characteristics and demographics of the market.

To understand market behaviours, including career status and progression.

To determine market behaviours and the decision making process, including previous and future

engagement in professional learning, key drivers and barriers associated with undertaking

courses and the most important elements of choice.

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To understand performance and skills utilised, for example skills needed to undertake current job,

impact of these skills on performance and under-utilised skills.

The group was asked how much training they are doing (days per year), what kind of training, how

effective it is, what seems to work best, who pays, why are they doing it and what (if any ) are the major

barriers.

Over 90% of respondents had undertaken some training or professional development during the last

twelve months, and are set to do the same in the next 12 months. The average time spent on all training

related activities was 30 days per year, which included on-the-job mentoring, and learning on the job.

Time spent in formal on the job learning averaged 13 days per person.

This equates to a substantial amount of training activity and a significant spend for employers, who are

funding 78% of all training activity.

Figure 1: Time spent in Training Activities

Only 1 in 3 training days are taken by formal on-the-job training. Manager and peer mentoring accounts

for 26% and traditional leaning such as short courses account for the remaining 41%.

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Figure 2: Share of all training by number of days taken

Efficiency and productivity are key drivers for formal on-the-job training, while course content, quality of

instructors and the reputation of the training provider are key drivers for selection of formal professional

education courses.

When asked to rate how effective they found the training, the overall response was that that although

courses are used on the job, they are only useful in 40% of cases and contribute to improved performance

in about 50% of cases. This would seem to indicate that the training budget could be put to better use.

Another significant finding was that the major motivating factor for training and education was that it is

compulsory. Professionals are just doing what they are told. In some cases courses are taken in isolation

to meet some regulatory training obligation (ticks in boxes) rather than as part of an integrated

programme planned with purpose. Here again is an indication of a culture that doesn’t question or

challenge, and we suggest that the consequence is a sub-optimal performance outcome.

Almost all survey respondents plan to continue to participate in training and development during the

next twelve months, most of which involving on-the-job training and/or professional development short

courses. Formal professional education, especially short courses, make up a large portion of the training

activity (69%) and this type of education takes 7 days on average per year (Figure 1). The data suggests

that the reason for this proliferation of short ( 2 – 3 day) courses in this market is related to the time spent

away from work by workers. On-the-job or professional development short courses tend to offer thegreatest opportunity as they minimise the time away from work.

SUGGESTIONS FOR HOW IT CAN BE APPLIED

Despite the increasing sophistication of monitoring technology and experiments with remote operation

and technical support, specialist mineral engineering expertise is still essential for the efficient design and

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operation of mineral processing plants. This is counter to the

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