Six common Issues in the Mining Industry

The mining industry comes with its fair share of challenges; from scarce resources to uncertainty
around commodity prices, miners are always looking at ways to overcome barriers to stay
competitive. Below we explore 6 challenges currently facing the industry.

1.Access to energy:-

As resources in some areas become scarce or depleted, companies are forced to push new
frontiers of exploration. Depending on what is being mined, this has the potential to be more
expensive than traditional mining and could leave companies more reliant on rental power
solutions. Instead, remote mines are now utilising scalable microgrids that can evolve with the
lifecycle, improving flexibility and efficiency.

2. Health and safety:-

Mining is a dangerous profession. The traditional occupational hazards such as coal dust
inhalation, damage to hearing due to the noise in a mine and chemical hazards still stand but the
changing nature of mining has led to a raft of new issues. As mines are getting deeper, the risk of
collapse has greatly increased. With a rise in surface temperatures and an increasingly
unpredictable climate, the temperature of a mine is more likely to fluctuate and as a result,
consistent temperature control is even more important than it had previously been.

3. Access to capital:-

Access and allocation of capital is often cited as one of the biggest issues facing the mining
industry, especially for its juniors. Rocketing exploration and production costs have impacted
profit margins and left investors reticent to engage with new projects, especially with smaller
companies. Juniors, who lack the war chests of the major companies, face the challenge of raising
the necessary capital to invest in increasingly expensive mining practices or in large-scale
equipment.

4.Volatility of commodity prices:-

Volatile commodity prices make it extremely difficult for companies to plan income and
therefore expenditure. Recent disruption in commodity prices has led to many companies having
to close down operations or make serious cuts in the size of their workforce.

5. Environmental footprint:-
Traditionally a carbon intensive industry, miners are now looking at ways to reduce their
environmental impact more than ever. One of the major ways it can do so, is by evaluating their
energy usage. Remote locations and limited access to local grid infrastructure means that the
mining industry places significant demand on diesel generation for electricity. However, with
recent enhancements in renewable energy, the industry is now seeing the rise of hybrid power
solutions for mine site operations.

6. labor workforce:-

Possible causes include the failure to account for the negative externality of reproduction in the
face of finite natural resources which results in over-supply of labor and falling living standards
for wage-laborers, depersonalization by machines and poor working conditions.