Up & Coming Geoscientists - a sample of our AIG Honours Bursary Recipients

copper deposit in which small increases in
anhydrite/gypsum or talc can have major
detrimental effects on concentrate processing
and flotation recoveries (added cost per unit).
Additionally, the distribution of fluorine and
arsenic in the orebody is critical in smelting as
law and operations all hold equal voices in
board-level discussions.
In summary, I encourage all the mining
and exploration geologists out there to
continue to excel in mineralogy, mapping,
modelling, ore control and reporting, and
appreciate this is your expertise and why
you were hired. But, without sound business
understanding, market context and the ability
to communicate the value you bring to your
company, we’ll likely see a growing number of
geologists left on the sidelines until the next
boom when the industry comes screaming
for more discoveries. So go spend time at the
mill with your Mets, talk to the accountants,
visit your sales department, befriend your
References cited:
AusIMM, 2016, “The AusIMM Professional
Employment Survey Report 2015 – An Analysis
of Professional Employment in the Mineral
Sector”, AusIMM, Oct., 2015.
Mining professionals in today’s market
concentrations above a set threshold will yield
business analyst, challenge management and
Els, F., 2016, “The Worst year for mining in the
incremental penalties (lost revenue) or product
most importantly understand your business.
U.S. since 1986”, Mining.com, Jan. 2016
rejection (more lost revenue and unhappy
Hopefully we can help change this trend for
Waltho, A. 2016, “Geoscientist Employment in
customers). These deposit attributes can
the better and come out the other side of this
Australia Continues its Slide”, Australian Institute
and should be clearly understood at the
downturn a little wiser this time around.
of Geoscientists (AIG) News, Feb. 2016.
exploration and evaluation stage, not first
realised after the ore enters the mill.
Lastly, the lack of geoscientists at upper
management levels across the industry is
worrying to say the least. During the past
boom, we witnessed numerous operational
issues and acquisition errors that were likely
understood by on-the-ground geologists but
not effectively communicated to the ultimate
decision-makers at the executive level. The
lack of geological understanding at the
executive and board-levels has resulted in the
de-emphasis of geology in mining along with
creation of a “chicken and the egg” scenario
for future leaders. An increase in executivelevel
mentors could assist junior or midcareer
geologists navigate into management
and potentially help balance the engineers
and finance personnel which traditionally
dominate leadership roles due to their better
understanding of the business. I believe
success in the mining game is achieved
when a diverse set of experiences including
geoscience, engineering, finance, corporate
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