From roundtable discussions, ministerial forums and special information sessions, to speed networking and fireside chats, Wednesday’s activities at Mining Indaba offered participants a host of opportunities to share experiences, exchange ideas and forge new partnerships.
Anglo American was part of these conversations, with July Ndlovu, CEO of our Coal business in SA, participating in a panel discussion on coal in emerging markets; Tracey Kerr, Group Head of Safety & Sustainable Development talking about improving safety on mines; and Anesan Naidoo, GM Logistics Kumba Iron Ore, discussing iron ore supply and demand.
July was joined by Johann Bester, Project Manager IPPs for Thebe Investments and Nombasa Tsengwa, Executive Head: Coal for Exxaro Resources Limited. They interrogated various global and local coal-related issues including to what extent India is expected to take up the slack left by China.
Opening the session, panel moderator, Roger Baxter, CEO of the Chamber of Mines, said the reality is that emerging economies need power for development. “Coal remains a fundamental provider of base load energy in much of the power station development taking place in the emerging world.”
Giving a global perspective on coal, July said emerging markets can more accurately be described as rapidly growing economies. “Arguably, coal remains the cheapest source of energy. It is easy to transport, abundant and quite safe to use.
“As these developing economies seek to bring their people out of poverty – into middle income families – they need infrastructure. Power plays a key role in this. As these economies experience rapid growth, we can expect to see growth in the generation of power and therefore the demand for coal.
“This is because coal is affordable, despite various challenges, and will therefore remain a significant part of the energy mix in the medium to long term. Some suggest it will be the second largest source of energy, well into the 2040s and 2050s.”
Speaking about the demand for coal in China and India, July said although India briefly overtook China in the demand for coal in 2015, there is no guarantee that India will necessarily take up the slack left by China and that China will remain the engine room for the demand for coal. “These economies continue to experience growth of between 5% and 7%. This means there will be a continual demand for electricity and therefore a continual demand for coal.”
Running concurrently to July’s panel discussion, was a special information session on improving safety and productivity in the mining industry, in which Tracey Kerr was a panellist.
The panel discussed the risks associated with changes in process or asset improvements when mining companies are compelled to take strategic decisions to optimise productivity and deliver on shareholder expectations. Such changes can introduce a new or different level of operational risk, which mining companies need to anticipate and mitigate.
Experience has shown that in many cases, the existing work culture and competencies of front-line employees do not evolve at the same pace as operations, which can result in deteriorating safety performance.
Tracey stressed that a strong culture of operational discipline requires a three-pronged approach. “Firstly, you need effective work design and planning. Sometimes procedures are not designed with the right people at the table and are physically difficult for people to comply with.
“Secondly, you need disciplined execution and, thirdly, you need to be very clear about people’s accountability, for example, what is your role as a section manager, not only on the technical side, but on the leadership and accountability side?”
Anesan Naidoo, GM Logistics Kumba Iron Ore, took to the main stage to discuss iron ore supply and demand with Elias Scafidas, CCO of Simandou, Rio Tinto, and Ian Roper, Division Director for Macquarie.
Some topics discussed by the panellists included long-term Chinese steel production trends, the impact of S11D on supply and demand, and projects that have the greatest chance of making a profit with low prices.
Speaking about the change in rhetoric from volume to value in the iron ore industry over the past five years, Anesan said Kumba is following a value versus volume strategy. “Everyone is running to bring the cost curve as low as possible, but it is also important to look at the impact of what assets you’re looking for – whether they are greenfields or brownfields. In addition to looking at the cost curve, you need to assess them from a quality perspective.
“In the steel-making process, high quality ore actually requires less energy and the trend going forward is towards higher quality ore, which gives you more value, but also helps with environmental issues.”
With one day left of Mining Indaba, Thursday will see a focus on young leaders, rethinking talent and the voice of civil society, amongst other issues.