Consultants are expected to provide expert advice on a specific topic or process. There is a perception from mining investors that these specialists are only called in for regulatory purposes to sign off a 43-101- or JORC compliant document for Canada- or Australia listed companies, respectively, or when a specific problem or challenge occurs that requires a ‘fresh’ pair of eyes.
Terry Braun, Practice Leader at SRK Consulting in the US, says in the next 10 years, the role of the mining consultant will expand to “explore, address and test” new possibilities that come with the aggregation and interpretation of new data sets. SRK’s Braun saw the big data trend escalating further into 2030. “From exploration to operation, to reclamation, we will see new possibilities when we aggregate and interpret new data sets,” he said. “The role of the mining consultant will expand to explore, address, and test these possibilities in the real world.”
