Conference Day Two
Wednesday 10 April 2013
08:30 Welcome coffee
08:50 Opening remarks and welcome address from the Chair
KEYNOTE ADDRESSES
09:00 Creating a stable taxation environment that will encourage growth and investment
- Understanding the impact of the MRRT and the Carbon Tax
- Why investors require a stable tax system
- The impact of new taxes on the competitiveness of Australian projects
Stephen Pearce, Chief Financial Officer, Fortescue Metals Group
09:40 Fostering workforce skills of tomorrow through education and training partnerships
- Why strategic training initiatives are essential for productivity growth
- Understanding how university partnerships can give you access to the best and brightest
- Working with government training bodies to improve programs
- How being involved in training programs can benefit your business
Gavin Lind, Director - Education & Training, Minerals Council of Australia
10:20 Morning tea
10:50 How to to increase minerals industry productivity by creating a culture of innovation
- Understanding the importance of innovation for productivity gains
- Overview of successful innovation strategies that have improve both exploration and production
- Challenges and opportunities for applying innovation strategies in the mining sector
- The importance of collaboration to access the benefits of innovation
Jonathan Law, Director, Minerals Down Under Flagship, CSIRO
OPERATIONS INNOVATION TO INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY
11:30 Zero Harm: Innovative operations that improve safety and increase productivity
- An overview of new preventative safety strategies
- Benefits and challenges to implementing preventative safety strategies
- Initiating new safety standards to improve operations
- Measuring and proving the success of safety initiatives
“In the mining industry, we’re some 20 to 30 years behind other more progressive sectors in terms of productivity and business practices,”
Mark Cutifani, Chief Executive Officer, Anglo American
COST CUTTING TO INCREASE PROJECT COMPETITIVENESS
12:00 Panel: Decreasing costs and increasing productivity with ICT investment
- The importance of an agile ICT framework
- The advantages of cloud computing for mining
- How to plan your ICT framework to allow for future technology development
- Taking advantage of real-time communications on-site
Moderator:
Panel:
Vito Forte, Chief Information Officer, Fortescue Metals Group
Peter Simko, General Manager IT & Business Systems, St Barbara Limited
Andrew Shook, General Manager Human Systems Integration, Rio Tinto
12:40 Networking lunch
13:40 Outlook for operating cost trends
- Understanding the current climate: The effect of commodity price pressure on profit margins
- Global supply side growth and the impact on Australian producers
- The need for a renewed cost focus in a post-boom market
- Predictions and outlook on operating cost trends
Matt Fusarelli, Senior Economist, AME Group
14:10 Strategies to negotiate major contracts to reduce costs
- The challenges and opportunities associated with negotiating major contracts
- Restructuring contracts to cut discretionary spending
- Maintaining a strong relationship with contractors throughout the negotiation process
Tom Walsh, Manager Buy - Procurement, Rio Tinto
14:40 Afternoon tea
SUCCESSFUL SKILLS RECRUITMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
15:10 Policy strategy on demand-led approach to skills development and workforce capacity growth
- Skills demand outlook for Australian minerals projects
- Overview of current policy strategy
- Targeted areas for policy development
15:30 Workforce planning for long-term productivity growth
- Understanding the workforce as a key driver for productivity growth
- Creating a sustainable workforce recruitment and development strategy
- The importance of balancing recruitment with internal skills development
Ray Hince, General Manager Recruitment - Australia, JDA Applus Velosi
16:00 The cost of mediocrity: why high quality graduates matter
- Winning the talent war
- Regionally educated for a regional industry
- Where is the investment coming from?
Steve Hall, Director, Western Australian School of Mines, Curtin University
16:20 Chairman’s closing remarks
16:30 Close of conference
“As we look to the future environment of (moderating) prices…costs and productivity will be key for both industry and Australia more generally."
Marius Kloppers, CEO, BHP Billiton