Page 40 - Finanancial Management_2022

Mining

for talent

t a time when makers of electric
vehicles, solar panels, and
renewable-energy technologies
are doubling down on production,
A mining companies are facing a
talent crunch that could hamper the output of
much-needed metals such as lithium, nickel,
and copper. The trend is sweeping across the
industry in the US, Canada, South Africa, and
Australia, where enrolment in mining
engineering programmes has been on the
decline. In Canada, half of its current mining
workforce is over 45, and 60,000 people are
expected to retire in the next decade. To attract a
younger generation of workers who see mining
as dangerous and polluting, companies and
colleges are funding research into
environmentally friendly ways to process
metals and launching courses in data analytics
and autonomously operated vehicles and
equipment.

An engineering student from the Colorado
School of Mines stands in the college’s
experimental mine in Idaho Springs,
PHOTO BY KEVIN MOHATT/REUTERS train on new technologies.
Colorado, in the US, used by students to