SPECIAL FOCUS: FUTURE OF MINING
TACKLINGBRAIN DRAIN T
With a growing demand for critical minerals, the mining industry is looking for possible solutions that can access additional sources notwithstanding a limited workforce
he ‘metals of the future’ are deeply reliant on a robust mining sector. Everything from space travel to transportation, to electronics and
power storage, even communications and medical applications rely on critical minerals such as aluminium, platinum, lithium, as well as gold, silver and copper. However, there is a major roadblock ahead: a lack of talent needed to drive the industry forward. “We’re tapped out at this moment
in time,” says William Sattlegger, a geoscientist with more than 35 years in the resource industry and executive director of the Redefining Electrical Metals Conference. “What I’ve seen over the past several years is a deficiency of talent. We just don’t have enough experienced people: technical staff, service providers, operational services, equipment, labour, period.”
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www.engineerlive.com Unfortunately, Sattlegger says the
problem is getting worse, and he sees a limited effort being made by the industry as a whole to improve the brain drain. In his opinion, it starts at the academic level, where there are simply not enough university students seeking a career in the mineral sector. Tis comes on the heels of a report from the Mining Industry Human Resources Council that says the mining industry will need to add 79,680 workers over the next decade in Canada alone and projects about 5,000 jobs going unfilled.
CRITICAL MINERALS Tere are far-reaching implications if the dearth of talent persists. In 2018, the Canadian government, with heightened cooperation with the USA, began compiling a list of minerals that were considered critical for economic and
national security. Te list included 31 minerals such as lithium, platinum group metals and aluminium. Canadian Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau has worked with both the Trump and Biden administrations to increase domestic mining of these minerals, but that becomes much more difficult if people are not entering the industry at a sustainable rate. “It is ironic that you have all these highly talented young people going into the tech industry, aerospace, electric vehicles, but without these critical metals, they won’t be able to produce that technology,” adds Sattlegger. “You can’t build what you don’t have.” Gold, silver and copper were left off the list of critical minerals, but these are also essential for future technologies as well as the transition to renewables and environmental sustainability.
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