MINING NEEDS A MAKEOVER TO WIN YOUNG

GOLD miner Evolution Mining says the industry desperately needs to make mining more attractive to younger job seekers to deter them heading to the likes of Facebook and Google.

Chairman Jake Klein said the industry faced a dwindling number of new miners, with only eight mining engineering enrolments at the University of NSW this year — the lowest in 40 years.

And the University of Western Australia had forecast that only eight students would graduate as mining engineers in 2018, Mr Klein said.

The owner and operator of gold and silver mines in Queensland and Western Australia, employing more than 200,000 people, said it paid more than $8 billion annually in salaries and wages, plus almost $11 billion to state and federal governments each year.

“If we are to sustain ourselves as globally competitive for the benefit of all Australians, there are issues we must address with urgency,” Mr Klein said at the company’s annual general meeting yesterday.

“We need to compete with the allure of the likes of Facebook and Google to attract and retain the best and brightest talent back to our industry.”

He said the general community’s understanding of the importance of mining was “undoubtedly eroding”, with the lack of awareness particularly evident around gold mining’s contribution.

“It is critical for us to regain the high ground in the debate of the priorities of our country and ensure the undeniable importance of the resources sector resonates more broadly,” Mr Klein said.

“If we do not take on this challenge, we run a very real risk that we will continue to be seen as a politically acceptable target,” he said, referring to the WA Government’s recently proposed 50 per cent increase in the gold royalty.

National Australia Bank group chief economist Alan Oster said that while WA had seen some employment growth in the past year or so, it was significantly below the rest of Australia.

Mr Oster also said wages growth in the mining sector had remained low, as projects came to an end, resulting in a lack of demand for workers.

During his speech, Mr Klein also called on government to invest in infrastructure in regional Australia and to provide access to reliable power at globally competitive prices.