COMMENTARY — Mobile miners making moves

From a recent edition of the Northwest Mining Association’s Bulletin:

Today’s mining companies aren’t just planning for the new world of minerals. They’re also anticipating how that world will affect the people on the front lines.

Neville Henderson of BHP Minerals, which has a substantial workforce, has some advice for aspiring miners:

“Plan your work, work your plan, keep your furniture in the moving van.” As more and more companies take their technical know-how and financial resources to foreign countries, miners must be willing to relocate, Henderson said.

“If you don’t move, you won’t have a career,” he said.

Henderson, who spoke at the Northwest Mining Association’s 98th annual convention in Spokane, Wash., was part of a “human resources issues” panel. The new session addressed human aspects of mining: improving productivity, impending health care costs for companies, productivity through gains-sharing, and attracting and retaining American employees for jobs in foreign countries.

Henderson said BHP has 16,000 employees in 20 countries, a substantial increase from a few years ago. He observed that people used to run for cover when the idea of working in a foreign country would come up, but it’s not like that any longer.

To sustain growth, good people are needed in key positions, Henderson added. Often qualified people are not available in countries where projects are being developed.

BHP management emphasizes the global nature of mining when it recruits employees, filling vacancies from within where possible. Ultimately, however, employees are responsible for their own careers.

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Wood Gundy President Jim Beqaj on changes in the financial services industry caused by deregulation:

(On the multi-national player): To play in this new (global) arena, one needs critical mass . . . a balance sheet to engineer derivative capabilities . . . and new issuance capability to go beyond house accounts.

(On the growing control of holding companies): Gone will be the trust company, dealer or bank parent company. The new parent company will be a holding company, which will provide the balance sheets, the technological and processing capabilities, the capital — both human and financial — and the overall vision of the client.