Rio’s first delivery with giant robot train comes with stark warning
Rio Tinto’s chief executive says the miner is on a collision course with Apple and Google as they compete for a shrinking pool of technology workers, and if Australia doesn’t ramp up its science skills Rio will have to look overseas for recruits.
The warning came as Rio delivered iron ore using the world’s first-ever long distance, heavy haul driverless train. The robotic train carried 28,000 tonnes of iron ore a distance of 280km from Rio’s Tom Price mine in Western Australia to the Pilbara port of Cape Lambert. Its journey was monitored from an operations centre more than 1500km away in Perth.
The mining industry is undergoing a major technological shift, automating many of its processes and bringing more unmanned vehicles on to mines, however, it has found Australia lacks the number of workers it needs to make this change.
Rio Tinto chief executive JeanSebastien Jacques told Fairfax Media Australia was falling behind when it comes to digital, automation and the socalled STEM [science, technology, engineering and maths] skills.
‘‘It is absolutely clear that technology, automation, artificial intelligence and digitalisation will play a more important role across industry, and it’s fair to say, in Australia today, it is difficult to find data scientists,’’ Jacques said.
‘‘If today I recruit 100 engineers, twothirds of them are more mining type engineers and one third would be data scientists.
‘‘I have no doubt in my mind, five or seven years in the future, if you have 100 engineers then two-thirds of them will be data scientists.
‘‘The problem is when you recruit twothirds of your engineers as data scientists then you will be in direct competition with companies like Microsoft, Apple, Google and the like; therefore, we’re going to need a very competing story to attract those people.’’
He said Australia needed to develop the educational systems for these future workforces.
‘‘This is something that we have raised with the government, at both the state and federal level. We have even put in place an open programme with TAFE in Perth, launched in April, to develop these skills but it will take some time,’’ Jacques said. ‘‘We need those skills, it’s not a ‘nice to have’, it’s a must do.
‘‘We have to develop these skills in Australia, otherwise the alternative is for us to look abroad.’’
The delivery of iron ore was a major step forward for the US$940 million ($NZ1.3 billion) AutoHaul rail system and means the project should be on track to be fully operational by the end of the year.
The rise of driverless trains has resulted in a shift in Rio Tinto’s workforce, cutting the number of train drivers, and requiring fewer workers on mines as more processes are automated.
‘‘We are working closely with drivers during this transition period as we prepare our employees for new ways of working as a result of automation,’’ said Ivan Vella, Rio’s iron ore managing director for rail, port and core services.
The mining union said mining companies need to work with employees to create pathways for the future workforce.
‘‘The real issue isn’t the future workers, as this is a generation change, it’s about how we retrain or upskill those currently in the system,’’ CFMMEU West Australian district secretary Greg Busson said. – Fairfax