Seeking ways to grapple with scarcity of labor force and quipment

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(Free-Press-Release.com) February 26, 2012 -- Global mining firms are unearthing ingenious solutions to grapple with shortages of workers and equipment amid the commodities boom, recruiting retired miners and buying cut-rate equipment from China and Russia, executives said this week. 'We hired some guys out of retirement, that was the only way to survive and get the skills in place,' said Pekka Pera, chief executive of Talvivaara, a Finnish firm building a new nickel and zinc mine.

Mining firms innovate to cope with labour and equipment shortages Eric OnstadMining firms, trying to cope with shortages of skilled workers and equipment, have been forced to innovate and adopt new solutions, rehiring retired mineworkers and buying cheaper equipment from China and Russia.

Different mining firms in different countries have various methods and policies.

Pera and other executives told the Reuters Global Mining Summit the key was taking advantage of local situations to surmount obstacles thrown up by a global rush to build new mines as metal prices soar to fresh peaks.

The Finnish firm realised that the depressed region around the mine had a lot young untrained and unemployed people, but also a number of retired miners.

Training and keeping workers was the biggest challenge for Major Drilling Group, one of the world's biggest mine drilling companies, Chief Executive Francis McGuire said.

'It takes three to five years to train a driller and it is a very, very skills intensive industry,' he said.

On the equipment side, Peter Hambro, executive chairman of the Russian gold producer that carries his name, said his firm had slashed costs by local purchasing.

The tyre situation has improved, but a lack of them was one reason behind a fall in production last year at the world's biggest diamond mines in Botswana, said Sheila Khama, the head of De Beers in that country.

Right now, big shortages and long lead times were being seen in mills, said Peter Marrone, chief executive of Canada's Yamana Gold.

His firm managed to keep expansion projects on schedule by ordering mills even before the board had formally approved building the new mines.



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