2020 Australian Mining Predictions - How did we track?
13 January 2020
In 2020: The Near Future of Mining, our Natural Resources practice leaders in Australia, Canada, South Africa, the UK and the U.S. offered their predictions for the mining industry globally and in their respective markets. We predicted that by 2020, robots, renewables and the Internet of Things (IoT) would be the main drivers of change—necessitating a greater focus on cybersecurity and leading to greater demand for supply chain transparency.
Since we released our predictions in December 2017, a storm of external pressures has been hitting mining organisations. These include a period of mostly low commodity prices, growing calls from external stakeholders for mining companies to have good environmental, social and governance (ESG) programs, and increased geopolitical tensions that have created uncertainty around demand for raw materials. Mining companies are also undergoing unprecedented levels of innovation around IoT technologies and are up against greater cybersecurity threats. As a result, most of our 2020 predictions are trending in the right direction, albeit Australia's were more 'off-track' than 'on-track'
Here are ours thoughts on our 2020 mining predictions.
| By 2020, tech companies will become the miners of the future. |
On track – as expected |
The continued digitalisation and electrification of our world will see larger global companies like Apple, Tesla, Volkswagen and Samsung vertically integrate to secure the resources they need to scale up and compete. |
| By 2020, artificial intelligence (AI) will change the way we negotiate and price contracts, and humans will no longer control deals in markets. |
Off track – not much movement |
AI has not been adopted yet in price negotiations, largely because of the human element and challenges around the adoption of new technologies, which cannot be underestimated. We now see AI’s use in other areas of the mining process as more likely. |
| The path to growth is changing. Crowdsourced equity funding, a new method of financing created under legislation passed in 2017 which went live in 2018, will transform the growth path of small-to-medium mining companies. |
Off track – not much movement |
We still believe this will happen, but regulatory delays have meant that crowd-sourced equity funding platforms have been slow to come to market. Fundraising is difficult at present at the small end of the exploration market, and any alternative sources of capital will be welcome. |
To see the full report - please see 2023: The Near Future of Mining
For more information, please contact Catherine Bell - Manager, Global Natural Resources Practice