Challenging time ahead of mining firms in 2014

A report by Deloitte says mining companies must change core business strategies to achieve long-term growth

Mining companies will continue to face challenging market conditions in 2014 including rising costs, falling commodity prices, supply/demand imbalances, and decreased productivity levels. However, companies that embrace new forms of innovation can lay the foundation for long-term business growth and be best positioned for future success, according to a report from Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited’s (DTTL).

In a report Tracking the Trends 2014 report released today, Deloitte outlined that in order to mitigate risks of a volatile industry, companies must adopt more innovative strategies  as related to financial, safety and talent management programs, as well as with their stakeholders including relationships with communities, governments, shareholders, and regulators.

“The high cost of doing business has topped our list of mining trends for the past three years, and it continues to dominate thinking in the industry though efforts are turning now to increasing productivity as well as reducing costs. To assist in this, we are also seeing an increased need for business innovation — something that links how mining companies are starting to interact with the local communities and stakeholders — as the use of social media increasingly becomes more prevalent,” said Phil Hopwood, Global Mining Leader, DTTL.

“While mining companies cannot change global economic trends, they can change the way they operate. Rather than waiting out the market swing, companies should take this opportunity to evolve their business by adopting the processes, technologies, and mindsets necessary to strengthen their long-term operations,” he said.

According to Hopwood, mining companies have to build innovation into the DNA of their businesses. “To drive performance improvement, mining companies need to adopt technologies that allow them to operate their mines remotely, automate core mining processes, and use techniques like remote sensing to localise ore deposits,” he added.

“How companies use their data on a daily basis to analyse their businesses and report needs to become core to their way of thinking.” Kalpana Jain, Senior Director, Deloitte in India said, “In India, we are witnessing a weak growth trajectory due to high exposure to international trade. Hopefully, as the economy improves we will see an improvement in the sector too. Amongst other things troubling mining industry we have seen many controversies regarding local community acceptance of such companies owing to their potential for significant local environmental effects.

The key is for companies to demonstrate the contributions their longer-term resource development strategies can make to help grow the local job base, the industrial base and the education sector. This will allow companies to differentiate themselves as partners and will be able to alleviate such clashes.”

Now in its sixth year of publication, Tracking the Trends examines the top ten issues affecting mining companies around the world. The report highlights key industry indicators and provides a range of solutions companies can adopt to manage the impacts of shifting industry dynamics.