Tag Archives: Sherene Asnasyous

World Economic Forum members to discuss global energy transition at IMARC

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The World Economic Forum (WEF) will bring together political and business leaders at a special forum focusing on the global energy transition, and Australia’s role in it, as part of the International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) being held in Sydney from October 31-November 2.

The event, consisting of an exclusive roundtable and a panel discussion, will explore the challenge of transitioning to renewable energy while managing the need for low-cost and reliable power generation.

The “Australia Energy Transition Community” roundtable will take place on November 1 for WEF’s mining, energy, finance and public sector members.

It will bring together major players from both the public and private sectors to discuss the opportunities, complexities and realities of the energy transition for Australia. Its aim is to set a clearer pathway forward between the government and the private sector on Australia’s energy transition and critical minerals strategy.

IMARC Conference Director, Sherene Asnasyous, says the WEF initiative highlights IMARC’s role as a key forum to enable the industry to address the issues facing not only Australia, but the global energy sector.

She says IMARC, unlike other industry forums, can bring together stakeholders from across the entire value chain to share their insights, perspectives and solutions on how to achieve a sustainable and prosperous energy future for Australia and the world.

She said: “We are proud that the WEF has chosen IMARC to host this important initiative on the energy transition in Australia. Over its 10 years, IMARC has become the leading forum in Australia to connect industry leaders, politicians, and the broader business community to facilitate conversations to address existential issues facing society.”

Jörgen Sandström, Head, Transforming Industrial Ecosystems at the WEF, will lead the discussion with the hope of better aligning the resource and energy sector across public and private sectors.

Sandström said: “The current paradigm, which we hope to change, is that the energy sector and resource sector, particularly from a government level, operate independently from one another, which results in less effective policy. The transition to renewable energy is a complex challenge that requires a collaborative effort between the public and private sectors and we believe that Australia can lead the world given it’s resource wealth, strong governance systems and highly trained workforce.”

The keynote panel discussion to follow, titled ‘Unlocking Australia’s Energy Transition: From a Global to a Country Perspective’ will feature Sandström and executives from leading mining, energy and finance companies:

  • Gillian Cagney: President, Australia and New Zealand (incl. PNG & Mongolia), Worley;
  • Andrew Hinchcliff: Group Executive Institutional Banking and Markets, Commonwealth Bank of Australia;
  • Sam Crafter: Chief Executive Officer, Office of Hydrogen Power South Australia; and
  • Mark Cutifani: Non-Executive Director, TotalEnergies; Senior Independent Director, Laing O’Rourke; and Chair, Base Metals, Vale.

The panel will explore the global trends and challenges of the energy transition, and how Australia can leverage its natural resources, innovation and collaboration to achieve its net-zero emissions target and become a global leader in the green economy.

International Mining is a media sponsor of IMARC 2023 and will be in Sydney to report on the event

Industry leaders to discuss mining’s sustainable future at IMARC

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A greener future will require more mining than ever before, meaning collaboration and the adoption of new technologies across the industry’s entire value chain is no longer an option, but a necessity, organisers of the International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) say.

This will be among the key challenges being addressed by industry leaders and innovators at the conference, due to take place on November 2-4, in Sydney, Australia.

According to key players in mining equipment, technology and services (METS) space, who will be speaking at the forum, there’s an urgent need for the industry to dramatically increase its uptake of sustainable technologies.

AspenTech Vice President and General Manager of Metals and Mining, Jeannette McGill, says not being at the cutting edge of available technology can be risky for mining companies.

“Technology is mandatory as it underwrites the future for mines, especially the ones mining lower-grade metals,” she said. “It’s these technologies that are going to allow us to mine and process more efficiently and allow us to have less impact on the environment.

“We can be more robust in how we push out the technologies into the market, but the constraints are around a skills base to absorb it, but also the adoption of technologies doesn’t come without a cost.”

Paul Berkovic, Chief Commercial Officer at I4 Mining by Rayven, agrees initially some technologies are hard to adopt but will eventually have an extremely significant impact on productivity, safety and in meeting demand for critical minerals vital to future energy solutions, including solar panels and wind farms.

“Competitively, it will be unavoidable, but there will also be huge environmental benefits to the adoption of this technology which consumers should understand because mining is not going anywhere,” Berkovic said. “It’s a really important part of our economy but how do we make it a more friendly part of the economy than it currently is perceived as?”

Ethically-conscious consumers are one of the major driving forces behind the mining sector’s transition, according to METS Ignited General Manager, Kylah Morrison, who says they are more influential on the industry than ever before thanks to the pressure they put on end-user manufacturers.

“You’re seeing a lot of those end users, which maybe had two or three steps before the raw materials got to them, starting to have to take responsibility for what those interim steps are and make them more secure, so we’re seeing miners have a more direct relationships with end users,” Morrison said.

“Fortunately, with data and computing power, we can offer that transparency. Apple, for example, could say to the consumer who’s purchasing an iPhone or an iPad: ‘we know for sure that we’re providing a carbon neutral or low carbon product’.”

With that community influence in mind, it’s also the responsibility of mining companies around the world to ensure they are engaging these technologies in a thoughtful way, rather than making reactionary decisions to engage in short-term solutions that may not be manageable in the future.

“The mining space has been at the vanguard of technology to a certain extent,” Berkovic said. “It’s had self-driving vehicles and all sorts for 20-30 years now, but what is happening now is a whole lot of these new novel technologies are coming out but they’re being adopted in a sort of ‘point and shoot’ manner,” Berkovic said.

IMARC Conference Director, Sherene Asnasyous, says with such a diverse cross section of the mining and resources industry attending, the event is a unique opportunity for collaboration to address evolving challenges such as this.

“IMARC will shine a spotlight on the role the METS sector is taking in driving the global energy transition, how it is bringing innovation to the exploration and development of new future-facing resources, and how it is helping balance the needs of the developed and the developing world, as well as local communities and environments, in the resource transition,” Asnasyous said.

“At its core, IMARC creates a global conversation and is all about the business of mining and resources, providing extensive opportunities for collaboration, knowledge sharing and cross-sector engagement to help drive a smarter, more productive industry of the future.”

International Mining is a media sponsor of IMARC, in Sydney, Australia

Australian skills shortage on the agenda at IMARC

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Leaders from the resources sector are aiming to address the chronic and systemic skills shortage facing the Australian mining industry at November’s International Mining and Resources Conference & Expo (IMARC), in Sydney, Australia, the event organisers say.

The Federal Government’s jobs and skills summit will this week work towards addressing Australia’s overall labour shortage but solving that complex crisis within mining will require urgent industry-wide collaboration, according to the leaders.

Over 250,000 people are employed across the mining value chain, making it one of the largest employment industries in the country.

Australia leads the world in exploration and extraction and there is absolutely no reason why it cannot lead in new recruitment strategies as well, the leaders say.

Among those taking part in the IMARC conference is Debbie Smith, National Mining Leader of PWC Australia, who says there is a lot more governments could do to diversify towns like Gladstone, in Queensland, to make them more than just mining towns. This will help attract long-term residents to these areas who are looking to escape the expensive capital cities.

“COVID-19 has had a lot of people assessing work life balance and the importance of family,” Smith said. “We learnt how much can be done from people’s home and there is no reason why those homes cannot be in regional Australia.”

With businesses across Australia currently experiencing financial pressure associated with inflation, supply chain disruptions and the after-effects of border closures, radical reform is required.

Ian Wells, Chief Financial Officer at Fortescue Metals Group, who will also be speaking at IMARC, says due to the tight labour market in Australia, coupled with difficulties in accessing international workers, the industry as a whole is struggling to attract and retain workers.
Fortescue has invested heavily in local talent, including through the Billion Opportunities program which has invested over A$4 billion ($2.7 billion) into Aboriginal businesses since 2011.

Wells says “when the mining industry is strong, all Australians benefit”, with the Western Australian resources sector contributing A$100 billion directly to the national economy in financial year 2022-21.

“The mining sector is a great place to work with many opportunities, and, while our sector is committed to training and developing Australians to be part of the workforce of the future, current acute skills shortages means we must look beyond our borders for additional workers,” he said.

“As an industry, we must and can do more to build on our commitment to developing a diverse workforce that is reflective of society and to foster a workplace culture that truly embraces diversity and inclusiveness. We believe that diversity has been key to our success and we remain strongly committed to increasing female and Aboriginal employment across the business.”

IMARC’s Director of Conference Content & Strategy, Sherene Asnasyous, says the forum in November will provide a crucial platform for conversations about the next steps towards an essential increase in recruitment and retention across the industry.

“IMARC will allow global leaders and emerging game-changers from the entire mining value chain the unique opportunity to come together under one roof and tackle not only the skills shortage but other urgent challenges facing the industry right now including the energy transition, rising costs, social performance and diversity within the resources sector,” she said.

With over 450 speakers across six concurrent conferences covering global opportunities, industry collaboration, the energy transition, investment, innovation and more, IMARC is the most significant in-person gathering of Australian and international mining and resources representatives in almost three years, the organisers says. It will be held on November 2-4 at the Sydney International Convention Centre.

International Mining is a media sponsor of IMARC