Author: yinghui

Australia tops the world in nine commodities

Federal Government statistics have been released showing that Australia has the world’s largest identified resources in nine major mineral commodities.

The latest Australia’s Identified Mineral Resources(AIMR) report includes assessments of reserves and resources at operating mines and other deposits, evaluations of long-term trends for major commodities, and comparative world rankings for mineral resources.

It shows that Australia’s robust mining industry remains a world leader, keeping the country well placed as an attractive investment destination.

As at December 2016, Australia had the highest Economic Demonstrated Resources in the world for gold, iron ore, lead, nickel, rutile, tantalum, uranium, zinc and zircon. In 2017, Australia had 301 operating mines.

Australia is in the top five in the world as a producer of 20 out of 34 important commodities, including gold, bauxite, iron ore, rare earths, mineral sands, zinc, lead and coal.

“These commodities are essential for maintaining and powering our modern lifestyles and for building a high-tech future,” according to Geoscience Australia.

In 2016, Australia’s mineral exports (excluding petroleum) amounted to a value of more than $151 billion, the report stated.

This was almost 46 per cent of the value of all exported goods and services. In the 2016-17 financial year, mining accounted for 7.4 per cent of Australia’s gross domestic product.

FLSmidth completes acquisition of Sandvik Mining Systems projects business

With the transfer of assets in South Africa now completed, the previously announced acquisition of the Sandvik Mining Systems projects business has been finalised. The acquisition includes continuous surface mining and minerals handling technologies and competences that strengthen the company’s core minerals business.

By integrating the mining systems projects business into its offerings, FLSmidth closes the gap and covers a wider range of the full mining value chain from the primary crushing point in the mine and the transport from pit to plant all the way through the minerals processing plant to the tailings handling.

“With the completion of the South African assets we have added references, local expertise and improved ability to deliver complete solutions to our Sub-Saharan customers. We welcome our new colleagues and customers to FLSmidth,” said Manfred Schaffer, Group Executive Vice President, Minerals Division.

As part of the transfer, FLSmidth will either assume existing orders or provide project management services on behalf of Sandvik on selected ongoing projects and supply parts and services for the installed equipment.

 

CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS GIANT MOVES INTO THE RECYCLING INDUSTRY

Hanson Australia has announced it has acquired recycling aggregates company The Alex Fraser Group.
Hanson Australia has announced it has acquired recycling aggregates company The Alex Fraser Group.

CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS GIANT MOVES INTO THE RECYCLING INDUSTRY

Posted February 12, 2018 | By Talia Paz • Staff Journalist
Building materials supplier Hanson Australia has acquired leading recycled aggregates producer the Alex Fraser Group in a move that will increase its presence in ‘aligned’ industries.

Hanson Australia – a subsidiary of multinational company HeidelbergCement – acquired Alex Fraser for approximately €135 million ($AUD208m) after its parent company John Swire & Sons decided to sell it following a ‘strategic review’ in 2017.

In a statement, Hanson noted that the acquisition would allow the company to continue expanding into parallel industries such as recycling and asphalt.

“The acquisition represents an important step for Hanson Australia,” HeidelbergCement managing board chairman Bernd Scheifele said.

“In particular, it will provide Hanson Australia with expertise in asphalt and construction materials recycling that complements the existing business and can be leveraged for entry into other markets.”

Alex Fraser managing director Peter Murphy said the agreement was an ‘exciting opportunity’ for the business.

“I’m delighted to see Alex Fraser acquired by Hanson, which is one of Australia’s largest and most innovative providers of construction materials,” Murphy said.

“There are great synergies between our businesses. There’s a bright future ahead for Alex Fraser and we look forward to being part of Hanson,” he added.

Hanson’s chief executive Phil Schacht also confirmed that Alex Fraser would continue to operate as a stand-alone business, noting it was ‘important’ for the company to retain its brand.

Quarry approached Hanson and Alex Fraser for additional comments regarding the local impact of the acquisition on the aggregates industry but both companies declined to comment.

Alex Fraser was established in 1879 in Melbourne and is now one of Australia’s leading C&D recycling contractors.

Hanson is an aggregate producer that operates nationwide. It is part of HeidelbergCement, a multinational cement, concrete and heavy building products supplier that operates on five continents.

Mining recovery boosts CIMIC performance with new contracts

Global contractor CIMIC has used improving market conditions in mining and minerals processing to help increase its 2017 profits by 21 per cent.

The diversified company’s mining and minerals processing divisions — Thiess and Sedgman — achieved growth last year, CIMIC reported, securing contracts and extensions in Australia and Indonesia, including an extension at the Fortescue Metals Group’s Solomon Hub iron ore operation in the Pilbara of Western Australia.

This performance in mining and minerals processing helped CIMIC deliver $702 million in profits for the year, which was just above its $640–700 million guidance.

CIMIC also strengthened its position in the construction industry with several new contracts, both in Australia and internationally.

Michael Wright, CIMIC chief executive officer, said the company leveraged its competitive position and favourable market conditions to produce the operating performance and further diversify an order book across mining, construction, services and public private partnerships.

“We increased our focus on the development of our people during the year, and will further this in 2018 to ensure our performance-based culture provides long-term, rewarding career for our people,” Wright said.

CIMIC secured $18.4 billion worth of new work in 2017, including the $650 million contract extension at the Solomon Hub.

Also in mining, the BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) awarded Thiess two contracts worth a combined $440 million at the Caval Ridge and Peak Downs coal mines in the Bowen Basin of Queensland.

Thiess was also awarded a $189 million contract extension to continue to operate the Jellinbah Plains open pit at the Jellinbah East coal mine in central Queensland.

Sedgman’s contract wins included a $107 million EPC contract at Heron Resources’ Woodlawn zinc-copper project in New South wales, a $6 million EPC contract with Stanwell Corp at the Meandu mine coal handling and preparation plant in Queensland, and contracts worth a combined $100 million at QCoal Group’s Byerwen coal mine in Queensland.

The most valuable mining brands

Australian miner BHP has unseated Glencore as the most valuable brand in mining, according to research from Brand Finance.

BHP “struck gold” with its major 2017 re-branding exercise, a report on the research explained, with the company’s brand value rising by 29 per cent to $US5.1 billion, pushing it well above Glencore ($US3.7 billion) on the Brand Finance Mining, Iron & Steel 25 league table.

In May 2017, BHP launched the “Think Big” campaign, which involved rebranding from BHP Billiton to BHP. The rebranding not only increased BHP’s brand value in Brand Finance’s latest research, but also bolstered its Brand Strength Index (BSI) score from 73.2 to 74.3.

The brand value is equal to a net economic benefit that a brand owner would achieve by licensing the brand, whereas brand strength is used to determine what proportion of a business’s revenue is contributed by the brand, according to Brand Finance.

Glencore’s brand value dropped by 11 per cent in 2017 due to the significant fall in brand strength, from 62.9 to 55.3, caused in part by its association with the Paradise Papers released during November.

Rio Tinto improved two spots to fourth on the league table, behind South Korea’s Posco, with a 25.4 per cent increase in brand value to $US3.1 billion. Brand Finance said Rio enjoyed strong brand value growth alongside higher iron ore prices driven by a lift in demand in China.

Brand Finance chief executive David Haigh said after the 2014 metal price crisis, caused by a drop in demand for raw materials in China, the industry was once again being shaped by the Chinese market.

“The country’s demand for higher-quality iron ore imports is benefiting the industry’s largest brands such as BHP and Rio Tinto,” Haigh said.

“Challenger brands will need to define their competitive advantage to capture a greater proportion of the ever-growing Chinese market.”

The world’s most valuable mining, iron and steel brands (source: Brand Finance):

2018 Rank Brand name Country of HQ Brand Valuation (USD, billions) 2017 Rank Movement
1 BHP Australia 5.1 2 ▲
2 Glencore Switzerland 3.7 1 ▼
3 Posco South Korea 3.6 3 =
4 Rio Tinto United Kingdom 3.1 6 ▲
5 ArcelorMittal Luxembourg 2.9 4 ▼
6 China Shenhua China 2.8 9 ▲
7 Nippon Steel Japan 2.3 8 ▲
8 Vale Brazil 2.1 7 ▼
9 Thyssenkrupp Germany 2.0 5 ▼
10 Baowu Steel China 2.0 14 ▲

Elliott Management renews calls for BHP restructure

Elliott Management renews calls for BHP restructure

News  Ewen Hosie
Investor Elliott Management has again suggested that BHP should review its dual-listed structure and reorganise as a single company in Australia to add over $22 billion in value for shareholders.

It is a view that the company’s chief executive officer Andrew Mackenzie has disagreed with in the past. The CEO said late last year that costs would probably outweigh the benefits, and estimated a cost of $1.3 billion.

According to Elliott’s report, however, which was created under commission by FTI Consulting,  reorganising BHP’s head operations into a single Australian entity would cost only $391 million.

BHP’s dual-listed structure, a result of the 2001 merger between the Australian half of BHP and the UK half of Billiton, means BHP Billiton as a whole has two HQs (Melbourne and London) and two market listings, but a single management and board.

FTI’s study stated that restructuring into single listing could result in a $14.1 billion increase in market valuation and a return of $8.7 billion through improved tax credit efficiency.

Malcolm Turnbull says 2018 will be a year of “rewards” — including tax cuts

Malcolm Turnbull

By Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will hold out the prospect of 2018 as a year of “rewards” after 2016 and 2017 were “the years of reform”, in a scene-setting speech delivered in the regional Queensland city of Toowoomba on Thursday.

Two days after Opposition Leader Bill Shorten focused on cost-of-living pressures, flat wages and rising health insurance costs, Turnbull’s pitch will be that dividends will start to flow from government policy.

“In 2018 lower tax rates kick in for businesses with a turnover up to $50 million; genuine needs-based funding begins for our schools; child care will be more affordable for low-income families from July; and we will continue to put downward pressure on energy prices,” he will say.

Without spelling out the timing, Turnbull will say the government’s “next tax priority is further tax relief for middle-income earners” – while not compromising a return to budget surplus in 2020-21.

“The stronger the budget becomes, the more we will be able to give back to hard-working Australians.”

On wages, which Shorten committed to lifting, Turnbull will say: “Let’s be very clear about this – the laws of supply and demand have not been suspended, wages growth will come because a stronger economy results in more investment, more jobs and more intense competition for workers.”

On Wednesday Labor’s workplace relations spokesman Brendan O’Connor said on Sky that one option Labor was looking at was making the minimum wage a certain percentage of the medium wage. But later Labor sources played down his comment, discounting the prospect of the ALP adopting that course.

The government is stressing the Turnbull speech is a restatement of its economic plan, not an attempt at a reset. It comes as the economic indicators have recently been encouraging.

Turnbull will say: “2016 and 2017 were the years of reform; this is the year we really start to see the rewards of that hard work.

“We are starting to see what happens when government policies are all pulling in the same direction – to build a strong and resilient economy that gives every Australian the opportunity to pursue their dreams.

“Business and consumer confidence are both up, and there has been more investment and record jobs growth.

“We are seeing growth, investment and employment right across our country – not just in the big cities.”

Turnbull will link a stronger economy to a greater ability to pay for the services people expect.

“The right mix of policies, combined with our commitment to budget repair that will return the budget to balance in 2020-21, means our economy is much stronger. And that means we can pay for the services that Australians expect.

“Put simply, a strong economy means better schools, better hospitals and better essential services that Australians use each and every day.

“We know that our plan is delivering for Australians. The challenge now is to stay the course and follow through in 2018 and beyond.”

Turnbull will reaffirm that when parliament returns next week the government will press its legislation to reduce the company tax rate to 25% for businesses with turnovers above $50 million. So far the Senate has only been willing to pass cuts for small- and medium-sized businesses.

The Conversation“With the US cutting company tax to 21% the need to remain competitive is more intense than ever. We know that if you reduce business tax you get more investment and if you get more investment, you get more and better paid jobs. Don’t take my word for it – the IMF just lifted global growth forecasts off the back of the Trump tax cuts,” he will say.

Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Never miss a story: sign up to SmartCompany’s free daily newsletter and find our best stories on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.

BDO predicts robots will replace over half of miners by 2020

A report from global advisory organisation BDO Australia has predicted a number of future trends in the mining industry, including the prediction that 50 per cent of miners will be replaced by robots by 2020.

Handily though, the report also claims that around half of the jobs to be replaced will result in retraining of employees for remote technology control, spurring a demand in upskilling and hopefully avoiding any Skynet-style pitfalls in the process.

An additional plus side of this robotisation is that it should also cut workplace accidents by 75 per cent. However, the report, which can be read in full here, does warn of the potential ramifications of mining’s increasing connectivity; it suggests that by 2020, there will have been at least five global PDoS (permanent denial of service) cyberattacks at mine sites initiated through connected devices.

“The value of harnessing technology is clear,” said Sherif Andrawes, national leader, national resources at BDO.

“Driverless technology increases mining output by 15 to 20 percent while cutting fuel and maintenance costs by 10 to 15 percent and 8 percent, respectively [and] it also improves mining safety exponentially.

“At the same time, though, these Internet-connected technologies open the mining industry up to new cyberattack vectors that they must hedge against through proper internal controls. If not, they risk seeing their entire operation crippled by a single attack.”

In addition to trends of automation and connectivity, the report also predicts that renewables will account for a quarter of global electricity generation — a big change from the 14.1 per cent figure cited by a BP report in 2016 — and that deep-sea mining will begin to take off commercially, citing the work done by Nautilus in Papua New Guinea.

This is in part due to a cutdown in coal use, which currently accounts for around half of global electricity production. China, the world’s largest coal energy market, recently introduced new environmental protection legislation to combat its famously high air pollution.

2020年时的矿山

THE NEAR FUTURE OF MINING: GLOBAL PREDICTIONS

January 2018

Insights_Intl-Global-1_1110.jpg

Read the Full Analysis [PDF]

WHEN ROBOTS RUN THE MINES
PREDICTION 1

ROBOTS
By 2020, robots will replace more than 50 percent of miners, and mining accidents will be cut by 75 percent. Half of the miners will themselves be retrained to run the technology controlling the robots.

Robots will be at the forefront of most mineral extraction by 2020, reducing safety risks for miners, maximising output, and streamlining costs. By 2020, we predict robots will replace most miners. Most in the workforce will be retained, but advances in technology and remote mining equipment will transform what that workforce looks like.

The global mining industry is already well-acquainted with autonomous technology. Self-driving trucks and autonomous drillers and muckers are employed onsite at almost every large multinational company’s mines. “Snake robots”—named for their agility—are equipped with Internet-connected sensors and used to navigate narrow mine shafts and collect data. Drones are also beginning to play a role in mapping the topography of a mine and capturing aerial images of inaccessible areas of the mine to identify possible vulnerabilities
and areas of tension. Remote vein miners (RVMs) are being developed to eliminate the need to drill and
blast to excavate rock—potentially reducing rock stress that can lead to seismic events.

The rise of the robot is not a death knell for the mining workforce but will inevitably lead to a demand for
reskilling. Traditional operational positions—drilling, blasting, and driving—will be downsized, but replaced by demand for remote operators and maintenance personnel to create the new version of the miner. Emerging digital mining jobs—engineers, software developers, and data processing and data analytics specialists—are more likely to attract the technologically savvy millennial workforce. By 2020, mining automation and data analytics will be key components of the curriculum for mining engineers.

Digitisation also promises to reduce safety risks for miners. Not only will robots assume the most dangerous tasks, but they’ll also be key to minimising damage if disaster strikes. Snake robots and the smart sensors they’re equipped with will be further optimised to capture real-time data to predict or quickly identify equipment malfunctions and closely track miners’ exact locations and vitals. With the aid of robots and new technology, the number of mining fatalities will be cut in half by 2020.

Mining is in the early stages of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, or Industry 4.0, and further digitisation is just around the corner.

TRANSPARENCY COMBATS CONFLICT
PREDICTION 2

EU CONFLICT MINERALS RULE
Supply chain transparency will take the compliance spotlight for 2020 as companies gear up for the European Union’s Conflict Minerals Rule, effective in 2021.

The EU’s efforts to stem trade in minerals that finance armed conflicts and terror groups will turn a spotlight on global mining companies’ supply chains by 2020.

The EU’s Conflict Minerals Regulation, effective in 2021, establishes supply chain due diligence for imports of tin, tantalum, tungsten, and gold (3TG)—used to produce phones, cars, and jewellery. The rule aims to ensure
European industries use responsiblysourced minerals, stemming proceeds that finance armed conflict in highrisk areas.

What the rule means for the mining industry:

  • EU-based 3TG importers and their international supply chain partners—smelters and refiners— will need to update their supply chain due diligence
  • Additionally, 3TG importers in the EU will need to identify the smelters and refiners in their supply chains, confirm their due diligence practices comply, and report insufficient supply chain due diligence
  • The Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) laid out a five-step framework for the due diligence requirements:
    • Create strong company management systems
    • Identify and assess supply chain risk
    • Implement a program to respond to such risks
    • Conduct an independent thirdparty audit of supply chain due diligence
    • Submit annual reports on supply chain due diligence.

All upstream companies are subject to the due diligence requirements when they import—the riskiest area of the supply chain—as are downstream companies that import metal-stage products. This regulation will likely create a lowest common denominator effect across the global mining industry—for EU-based 3TG importers and their international supply chain partners—requiring the entire industry to put supply chain due diligence at the forefront.

HACKTIVISTS TARGET MINES
PREDICTION 3

CYBERSECURITY
By 2020, activist hackers will launch at least five cyberattacks on mines around the world in Permanent Denial of Service attacks aimed at eliminating the environmental and social threats they pose. They’ll use workers’ connected devices to initiate the attacks.

The mining industry is no stranger to environmental scrutiny. Advances in technology have introduced more sustainable mining methods, including the emerging practice of bioleaching, in which companies extract inerals by using biological assets instead of harmful chemicals. Despite those advancements, environmental concerns ersist, including water and soil contamination, carbon emissions, and impact on animal life. Pressure from environmentalist is set to increase by 2020. In fact, an emerging type of environmentalist—activist hackers (hacktivists)—will soon have their targets locked on the mining industry. By 2020, there will be at least five Permanent Denial of Service (PDoS) cyberattacks on mines around the world, motivated by eliminating the environmental and social threats they pose.

PDoS attacks are the next generation of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks—which temporarily disable operations—and aim for permanent destruction. In a PDoS attack, hackers’ goals include destroying physical equipment and structures, disabling services, and/or wiping out data. For global mining companies in the early stages of harnessing big data, losing seismic and reserves data would be damaging to their ongoing operations.

While the rapid acceleration and adoption of new technology will be instrumental in bolstering mining’s future, it will also be the sector’s Achilles heel when it comes to cybersecurity. The industrial control system, the central hub controlling a mine’s automated operations, could serve as the hacker’s point of entry into the mine’s remote
operating controllers and connected devices. Damage and disruption to automated equipment could also jeopardise the safety of workers in the mines—as many of the systems in place are designed to monitor and
detect dangerous conditions.

COAL STRIPPED OF SOME POWER
PREDICTION 4

RENEWABLES
By 2020, renewables will account for one-quarter of the world’s electricity generation as dependence on coal wanes.

Decreased coal consumption in China—the world’s largest coal consumer—is slowing global demand for the commodity. According to the International Energy Agency, global coal consumption decreased about 2 percent last year. In confluence with the rapid growth of renewables, the world’s energy mix is set for a shakeup. By 2020, we predict that renewables will grow to account for one-quarter of the world’s electricity generation as dependence on coal wanes.

Mining plays an integral behindthe-scenes role in developing renewable energy. Electric vehicles, wind turbines, and solar panes rely on minerals like aluminium, copper, lithium, and various emerging, rare metals. Powered y new technology, deep-sea mining is allowing mining companies to tap into previously inaccessible reserves of copper, nickel, and cobalt, among others, beneath the ocean floor to fuel increased demand for these minerals.

In 2019, Nautilus Minerals, a Canadian mining firm, is set to launch one of the first large deep-sea mining ventures in the Bismarck Sea with the aid of remote-controlled robots. The excursion is forecast to produce more than 72,500 metric tons of copper and more than 4.5 metric tons of gold. The International Seabed Authority, a United Nations regulatory body, has granted 25 contracts to nations including China, India, Japan, and Brazil to embark on similar deep-sea mining projects.

By 2020, further advancements will be made to overcome one of renewables’ largest hurdles: energy storage. The world’s largest lithium ion battery—built by Elon Musk in November 2017—is a 100-milliwatt (MW) battery storage farm located in Australia. Come 2020, the capacity of energy storage is likely to evolve well beyond 100MW, solidifying renewables’ role in the world’s energy mix.

AN ARSENAL OF AUTOMATION BOOSTS PROFITABILITY
PREDICTION 5

IoT IN MINING
Global mining companies leveraging Internet-connected sensors and automated drillers in mines will decrease their per ton digging costs by more than 30 percent.

In an environment of subdued commodity prices, the value of harnessing technology is clear. Mining companies’ end consumers closely monitor the price of commodities and are sensitive to the slightest uptick. For automakers, for example, steel is a significant expense on their books. When multiplied by a few thousand metric tons, a variance of a few cents on steel price could incentivise automakers to find a new supplier. Global demand is not expected to wane. In fact, steel and mining company ArcelorMittal forecasts a 36 percent increase to automakers’ global demand for steel by 2020. However, which global mining companies win that business is up for debate.

Tapping into new technology is key to streamlining operations, reducing expenditure, and enabling companies to keep their prices competitive. The International Institute for Sustainable Development estimates driverless technology, for instance, increases mining output by 15 to 20 percent, while decreasing fuel and maintenance costs by 10 to 15 percent and 8 percent, respectively. Self-driving trucks are just the tip of the iceberg. Global
mining companies that digitise nearly all their drilling—relying on a combination of automated drillers and Internet-connected sensors—will recognise far more significant savings. By 2020, we predict global mining companies’ per ton digging costs will decrease by more than 30 percent because of automation.

These savings factor in reduced labour costs, increased output, a decrease in the number of safety incidents, and companies’ ability to enhance decision-making capabilities leveraging the vast amount of data collected by smart mines.

Return to BDO’s Energy 2020 Vision: The Near Future of Mining

The top mining trends of 2018

Mining is poised for growth, according to Deloitte’s 2018 Tracking the Trends report.

The latest issue of key mining trends, the 10thedition in the series, focuses on how the Australian, and global marketplace, is navigating this expansion by identifying strategies companies can use during the ongoing industry recovery.

Click here for a snapshot of this year’s trends from Deloitte.

With this growth, rapid change will follow, Deloitte explained, adding that a common modern-day theme — digital technology — would be at the core of this transition.

The industry has progressed from the need for miners to understand and develop digital projects to how they ‘bring digital to life’ at their operations.

This is the opening trend for Deloitte in 2018, and one that offers an overbearing theme for many of the points that follow it in the report.

Digital may be an ongoing trend in the current mining environment, but Deloitte points to the importance of effectively using the data these technologies create, including the ability to organise, manage and process it.

Deloitte Australia national mining leader Ian Sanders described digital technology as an important competitive advantage that miners must capitalise on.

“If you look at the majors, yes, they have the programs of activity up and running. They are looking at their investment dollars, particularly how they invest them and the competitive nature of these investments,” Sanders told Australian Mining.

“Digital is one of those competitive elements — how much do they actually spend on automation? How much do they spend on the back office digital? how much do they actually look at their ecosystem of suppliers and customers, government, other stakeholders and co-mingle that investment within digital is really important?”

Deloitte’s report explained that transitioning to the future digital mine typically started by focusing on core mining processes with the goal of automating physical operations and digitising assets.

It believes the real value from digital technology comes from unlocking the insights within data by rethinking the way information is generated and processed.

Many major miners have been on the front foot in this area, according to Deloitte, with the report using the example of a global company that identified latent system potential across its pit, rail and port network by effectively using data.

However, the report adds that many mining organisations are not yet using all the data they are capturing from operational systems, or are still struggling to improve reporting from legacy systems.

Despite the challenges, Sanders said the full spectrum of mining companies was now looking at digital technology projects — the majors, mid tiers, juniors and services companies.

“I think you have to. Firstly, to be relevant, and secondly, to survive,” he said. “Whether you are a major, junior or mid-tier you are absolutely thinking about it because everyone is thinking about efficiency and digital is a core element of becoming more efficient.

“There are some mid tiers and juniors which are very active when it comes to digital and technology. It’s not as though they have been left behind, it’s how can they extract the investment dollar to best leverage digital within their organisation?”

Technology isn’t the only disruptor in mining — there are also emerging commodities changing the landscape of the industry, according to Deloitte’s trends.

The so-called tech metals, or Deloitte’s commodities of the future — nickel, lithium, cobalt and graphite — are another leading element of change in mining.

Deloitte Consulting mining leader David Cormack said it would have been hard to believe 20 years ago that these commodities would be an affordable way to power batteries.

“But, today that is the reality and a potential growth opportunity, particularly with the emergence of electric vehicles,” Cormack said.

“And although asteroid mining for rare metals still sounds like science fiction today, the market potential in the not-too-distant future could be huge. If mining companies want to get ahead of the trends, they need to delve deeply into emerging market disruptors.”

Deloitte’s 2018 trends include: Bringing digital to life; Overcoming innovation barriers; The future of work; Shifting perceptions; Transforming stakeholder relationships; Water; Changing shareholder expectations; Reserve replacement woes; Realigning mining boards to drive transformation; and, Commodities of the future.

Click here for a snapshot of this year’s trends from Deloitte.