Digitalization’s effect on workforce: you’ll still need experts in mining – Adrian Singh
- Mr Singh, firstly, can you tell something about your professional sphere?
- I have my own patented technology for gold extraction and flotation which I’m using in certain places, already in Kazakhstan, Kazzinc. I’m running technology there, full-scale on a plan. And I believe there are a lot of scope within Kazakhstan. I think it’s a good opportunity to improve extraction, to improve recovery, higher recoveries. That’s what I do.
- Is it you first participation in the AMM Congress?
- It’s my first participation in Kazakhstan, but I normally attend conferences all around the world: Canada, Australia, South Africa. So, I usually attend technical conferences.
- Many countries are introducing some digital technologies to make their work easier. How much is your company digitized?
- Not yet, not a lot. I have mechanical equipment that I give to the mind. So, it’s technology that you pump slowly through. It’s hardway for the plant, it’s not digitalization. Of course, this can be integrated into the whole digitalization program. No problem, we can do that.
- What your company’s projects will change or made an effort to change the mining industry?
- As I was saying that technology that I have improves recovery. So, it allows a lot of gold mines to make more many, but not only to make money. Some of them that are marginal, that are at the border line may be making a lot sometimes. It can push them over to make profit. So you could end up saving a lot of jobs, saving rechargements. It improves the profitability which means more stable jobs for workforce. And it something different, it’s sort of disruptive technology. It completely different from what had been trying ten or twenty years ago. It’s a new solution.
- Digitalization influences the number of workplaces. In your opinion, what professions will disappear and appear in the future?
- I don’t think you would see professions disappearing. You might see lower numbers, but you will still need people to control all the machines, you will still need an expert in mining, and an expert in mineral processing. And to what extend the job loses depends on the companies, depends on the government legislation. All this thing has to integrate. But if you do digitalization properly again it can mean jobs for many more years for people that are remaining. I suppose five years or more. So, it’s about how to get sustainability. And, of course, there will be some causalities in a process but long-term for the industry and for people I think there are a lot of stability.
- Thank you for the interview!
Saltanat Sarina
