Coming labor precipice in mining sector as shortage of skilled engineering and geo's risks crimping output of critical #metals.
#AI and automation may further reduce the sector's reliance on skilled labor.
The flip side? Drop in mining graduates means those who do choose to go into the industry have a lucrative career ahead.
From Bloomberg:
It's getting harder to find the Mining engineers the world needs.
Fewer students want to be geologists or engineers, partly due to mining's negative image regarding pollution, human rights and gender equality. That's leaving the industry with an aging workforce:
Some 80% of the 1,250 mining engineers registered with the UK's Engineering Council are over 50, and 40% are at least 60!
At the Colorado School of Mines, total enrollment in mining, geophysical and geological engineering undergraduate degree courses last year was down about 35% from almost a decade ago.
In Canada, mining and mineral engineering graduates dropped by a third between 2016 and 2020.
It's a similar story at UK's prestigious Camborne School of Mines, traditionally an important feeder school for the global industry. The number earning degrees from its undergraduate mining engineering course fell in recent years, with new intakes halted in 2020. The school this year announced new programs for mining employees—but they will still not be training any new graduates!! Crazy! 🤯
Coping with fewer workers isn't new. BHP Group ($BHP) and Rio Tinto Group ($RIO) are producing much more iron ore than a decade ago — with a lot fewer workers. AI and automation may further reduce the sector's reliance on skilled labor.
See the whole story on Bloomberg here:
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