Ben digs his career in responsible mining – For Alumni, By Alumni

Ben Lepley (MESci 2008) is a geoscientist and environmental, social, and governance specialist in the mining and minerals industry. He also dabbles in education, works to improve public knowledge of responsible mining, and aims to inspire recruits who want to tackle planetary challenges. Here, Ben debunks some mining myths and makes the case for joining the industry, which calls for a wide range of skillsets.

“Do we still do mining?!”

This question was asked to me by a middle-aged businessman when travelling recently. He was astonished that the world still mined – this was an ancient tradition only really done by orcs and dwarves in Middle-earth, wasn’t it?! It made me think about how disconnected many western countries have become from the origins of everyday items. Do Mr Bezos and Mr Musk just create products from an infinite supply of materials that appear as and when required?

In fact, we mine (or quarry) on a staggering level today. Far and away, the most mined materials are sand, gravel, and clay for construction, as well as other industrial minerals such as limestone (mainly for cement), with a combined total of approximately 50 billion tonnes per annum. Coal is still also mined in huge quantities, with all metals accounting for approximately three billion tonnes per annum (the majority being iron ore for steel production).

And this is still not quite enough. We are starting to recycle at much higher rates than ever before, which helps to reduce the need for primary mining. But we simply haven’t mined enough of most materials to meet society’s current demands, particularly with respect to new and emerging technologies. Metals such as lithium, rare earth elements, and cobalt have never been required on the scale used today in batteries, electric vehicles, and other renewable technology.

The industry is also heading towards a talent crisis in the coming years. We don’t have enough young people studying relevant subjects or interested in a career in mining, and so we face a skills shortage. As for myself, I studied Geology at Cardiff, got a job with a mining consultancy based in the city, and am still here 16 years later. I now work in the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) space (aka sustainability) and attempt to help mining and mineral exploration companies mine responsibly. And I also want to raise awareness of this industry as a potential path for people with a variety of skillsets.

I understand the viewpoint of many that mining is destructive, dirty, and counterproductive to sustainable development, and therefore not the favourite choice of career path. A quick search online does not a pretty read make; you will quickly learn about the dark side of the industry – child labour and human rights abuses, environmental disasters, national protests, and rainforest destruction to name a few. I am not here to defend any of that (and these issues sadly do exist in some parts of the world), but the mining industry is not all like that.

As you might have gathered from the statistics above, there are an enormous number of mines, and their reputation comes from the poorest performers. A many number of mines and quarries do operate in responsible ways, through protection of the surrounding environment and putting huge amounts of effort into community and social issues. Significant technological advances have also helped to reduce or avoid negative impacts – these include electrification of vehicles and equipment, dust and gas filtration equipment, and water treatment processes. The way we mine is evolving too, with companies investigating bioleaching (using bacteria to dissolve metals instead of chemicals) and direct extraction of metals from groundwater.

So, what kind of people do we need to join the mining industry? The answer is a staggering variety. Some of the most obvious examples are the geologists (rock lickers), who look for new deposits and help mines to keep digging the right stuff. We also need a variety of engineers, including those who design the mining operations, as well as chemical engineers, electrical engineers, and geotechnical engineers. And we need chemists to understand how to get the valuable bits out of the rocks, and environmental specialists who understand how to protect ecosystems. We need social scientists to understand how a mine affects local communities and develop socio-economic plans. We need lawyers, communications experts, data scientists, IT specialists, health and safety experts, economists, construction staff, security experts, transport planners, landscape architects, drivers, mechanics, surveyors… you get the idea.

If you’re interested in learning more about the mining industry, you can follow my updates on LinkedIn here.

Ready to connect with fellow Cardiff alumni like Ben? Don’t forget to join the official alumni LinkedIn group to expand your network, ask questions, and keep up to date with career opportunities.