In the aftermath of the last supercycle (2000 – 2013), disenchanted investors demanded that the industry rethink its business model and prioritise shareholder value. Value over volume found favour with the investment community over the prioritisation of production volume growth, and the regular payment of dividends was regimented. As miners realigned their balance sheets and […]

Stratum International is proud to have sponsored and hosted “An Uncertain Certainty”, a portrait series by Chris Slabber, a renowned South African artist. Cape Town came to a standstill – check out Chris’s work at @csartist on Instagram. In addition to Stratum’s charitable contributions to communities across Africa and South Africa, Stratum International has a […]

“Information is the oil of the 21st century, and analytics is the combustion engine”, said Peter Sondergaard, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Research at Gartner, a few years ago. He couldn’t be more right. These days, accessing quality data and analysing it is any company’s most precious resource after its employees. Farming, not […]

It was Desmond Tutu who said that we should strive to be the change we would like to see in the world. We couldn’t agree more and believe businesses should be at the forefront of this responsibility. While Stratum has regularly contributed to good causes over the years, we recently decided to formalize a giving […]

2020 has been the year when the ubiquitous phrase ‘our staff are our greatest resource’ became akin to an awakening. The storm of the Covid-19 pandemic continues to blow a stark reminder to businesses that their people are genuinely indispensable. Adjusted workforce needs, ominous risks, and the call for true leadership have been catapulted centre […]

“Why do organisations still pay to use executive search firms? Surely they can find anyone they want on LinkedIn.” At first, this feels like a reasonable question, and undoubtedly one that anyone working in our sector faces daily. Sure enough, finding people who can perform a role is pretty simple. Search for ‘COO and Mining’ […]

An interview about leadership in mining with Ross Beaty. Part of our Interviews with Mining Greats series. Ross Beaty needs little introduction to anyone involved in mining. Currently the chairman of Pan American Silver and Executive chairman of Alteria Power Corporation, Ross has created 14 successful businesses over four decades, creating more than $4 billion […]

  Interview with Mark O’Dea, part of our Interviews with Mining Greats series. Mark is one of the youngest interviewees in this interview series, but his achievements are just as impressive. He has launched and sold several companies since 2011, including Fronteer Gold and, most recently, True Gold Mining, which was acquired by Endeavour Mining […]

  Interview about leadership in mining with Ian Pearce. Part of our interview series with the Mining Greats. With more than three decades of experience working at the most senior levels in mining, few people can rival Ian Pearce’s level of insight and experience. Ian famously worked with Sir Mick Davis at Xstrata plc, helping […]

  Will Coetzer interviews Rick Rule as part of our Interviews with Mining Greats series. Rick Rule is renowned as someone who works relentlessly in identifying and bringing mining companies to market. Over the years many people, particularly those in the junior space, have told me about times when he backed them when no one […]

  Catherine McLeod-Seltzer is interviewed by Will Coetzer as part of our series of conversations with mining greats. I met Catherine McLeod Seltzer in London, during one of her UK transits to far-flung mining sites. With a track record stretching back 20 years, and with no signs of slowing down any time soon, Catherine is […]

  Leadership interview with Lukas Lundin – part of our Lessons from Mining Greats series. Lukas Lundin is part of the legendary Swedish Lundin dynasty and son to Adolf Lundin, who originally established Lundin Mining in 1994. One might assume that being born into a family of such achievement might dull the appetite for hard work […]

  As part of our Interviews with Mining Greats series, Will Coetzer interviews Maryse Belanger. Maryse Belanger became Chief Operating Officer at Atlantic Gold in the Summer of 2016. It seems that after 30 years in mining, very little fazes this multilingual French Canadian. When we spoke Maryse had only recently completed her turnaround of […]

  David Netherway is interviewed as part of Will Coetzer’s ongoing series of conversations with mining leaders. I have the pleasure of knowing David Netherway well and was pleased when he agreed to an interview. Now into his fourth decade in the industry, and with a raft of Chairmanships and NED roles to his name, […]

According to the Global Mining Standards and Guidelines group (2014), only 5-10 percent of people working in mining are women. This falls to seven percent at director level. But recent initiatives across the world are trying to improve on these disappointing figures. The recent Canadian Mining Expo, which took place between 30 May and 1 […]

After many false dawns and disappointments, the increase in mining activity – including investment, exploration, projects, operations and recruitment – we noted in our last Mining Job Market Report has continued and accelerated in late 2016 and early 2017. This increase in activity has coincided with large numbers of baby boomers leaving the sector, creating […]

Leadership interview with mining veteran, Hugh Morgan. Part of our Interviews with the Mining Greats series. I was fortunate to be introduced to Hugh Morgan by a friend and associate, Matthew Grainger at Altus Strategies, the co-founders of Resource IQ. I hope Hugh will pardon me for describing him as one of the great elder statesmen […]