XXXI International Mineral Processing Congress 2024 Proceedings/Washington, DC/Sep 29–Oct 3 143
it is conveyed to the storage facility to assess whether the
final tailings product meets the design intent of the storage
facility. The EoR is supported by qualified and experienced
technical resources.
Universities are increasingly moving away from field-
based, hands-on training, which is essential in the geo-
technical background for tailings engineers. The applied
engineering skills are mostly and increasingly produced
through consultancies that service the mining industry.
This training ground is limited to a handful of companies
that service the mining industry in the capacity of tailings
management worldwide. At present there is not a university
in the world that will produce an engineer with sufficient
understanding of tailings design to adequately provide
useful and valuable services. Sustainability through man-
aged succession planning is described by Sova (2023) and
others as the most viable vehicle for developing qualified
engineers.
We have the current crisis of resources within the indus-
try as a result of the engineering disciplines being diluted
by the infiltration of social sciences in areas where the focus
should be on generating technical skills. Presently it is the
author’s opinion that in addition to sufficient practical
experience, a master’s degree in a relevant engineering dis-
cipline is almost mandatory in order to achieve a reasonable
technical understanding of the processes that are necessary
to design, operate, and close the tailings dam, particularly
for some of the larger facilities.
The challenge facing the industry now is the devalu-
ation of the engineering disciplines. The lack of focus on
science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and
most importantly the practical application of the skills in a
real-world environment. The industry has been decimated
by key events that impacted our ability to staff and resource
mid-level and senior engineers presently and this deficiency
is projected to continue for the next 15 to 20 years.
The initial reduction in our resource bullpen of skills
occurred in the mid-1990s when the dot com software
companies raided our engineering resources and offered
significant salary advancement with little or no experience.
A large portion of our engineering resources transitioned
only to be caught in a reduction in force (RIF) in the late
1990s when the dot com bubble burst. Economic adversity
in the 1990s, including the sustained depression of metal
prices, resulted in a significant reduction of able resources.
The most detrimental damage to the resource pool
was instigated by the mining pundits who systematically
created a toxic environment vilifying mining and driving
off many qualified young professionals. This designed acri-
mony has left an industry deficit. The current challenge
facing consultants and operators is the development of
robust and experienced technical resources. Experience in
both breadth and depth of experience is needed to success-
fully secure a long and sustainable future in the industry.
This requires a significant commitment from operators as
well as consultants in the development of these resources.
The senior leadership within the industry and those
individuals who are providing review developing young
resources and serving on technical review boards are fac-
ing natural attrition as they transition into the later part of
their lives and their ability to sustain a quality of life is lost.
This generation represents a significant loss in resources and
real-world experience and will need to be replaced in the
next 20 years.
Emotional Intelligence
Kendra Cherry (2024) defines “Emotional Intelligence”
(a.k.a. EI or EQ for “emotional quotient”) as the ability to
perceive, interpret, demonstrate, control, evaluate, and use
emotions to communicate with and relate to others effec-
tively and constructively. This ability to express and control
emotions is essential, but so is the ability to understand,
interpret, and respond to the emotions of others. Some
experts suggest that emotional intelligence is more impor-
tant than IQ for success in life.
Emotional intelligence has degraded post-pandemic.
Individual isolation, segregation, warehousing of people,
and the forcing of individuals to communicate through
media systems have created a significant market disruption
and deterioration of emotional intelligence individually
and as a society. Our engineering resources require not only
technical expertise but also the soft skills associated with
emotional intelligence. The development of these skills
through continuous human interaction in the office and
at the site is invaluable and contributes to a professional
maturity developed with time.
University education provides graduate students with
a box of tools from which they can provide rudimentary
engineering support. The engineer then spends the next 10
years understanding how to apply those tools both theo-
retically and practically. An engineer with 10 to 15 years of
experience has usually reached an opportunity threshold to
develop practical skills and learn how to apply engineering
principles not bound by theory but by practice.
The investment necessary to develop and refine these
skills is a personal commitment. It is not paid for. It comes
from within, and it is the desire to learn and understand
not only what your job is, but how it fits into the greater
good that is the overall project. That understanding and
that experience provide you an opportunity to practically
it is conveyed to the storage facility to assess whether the
final tailings product meets the design intent of the storage
facility. The EoR is supported by qualified and experienced
technical resources.
Universities are increasingly moving away from field-
based, hands-on training, which is essential in the geo-
technical background for tailings engineers. The applied
engineering skills are mostly and increasingly produced
through consultancies that service the mining industry.
This training ground is limited to a handful of companies
that service the mining industry in the capacity of tailings
management worldwide. At present there is not a university
in the world that will produce an engineer with sufficient
understanding of tailings design to adequately provide
useful and valuable services. Sustainability through man-
aged succession planning is described by Sova (2023) and
others as the most viable vehicle for developing qualified
engineers.
We have the current crisis of resources within the indus-
try as a result of the engineering disciplines being diluted
by the infiltration of social sciences in areas where the focus
should be on generating technical skills. Presently it is the
author’s opinion that in addition to sufficient practical
experience, a master’s degree in a relevant engineering dis-
cipline is almost mandatory in order to achieve a reasonable
technical understanding of the processes that are necessary
to design, operate, and close the tailings dam, particularly
for some of the larger facilities.
The challenge facing the industry now is the devalu-
ation of the engineering disciplines. The lack of focus on
science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and
most importantly the practical application of the skills in a
real-world environment. The industry has been decimated
by key events that impacted our ability to staff and resource
mid-level and senior engineers presently and this deficiency
is projected to continue for the next 15 to 20 years.
The initial reduction in our resource bullpen of skills
occurred in the mid-1990s when the dot com software
companies raided our engineering resources and offered
significant salary advancement with little or no experience.
A large portion of our engineering resources transitioned
only to be caught in a reduction in force (RIF) in the late
1990s when the dot com bubble burst. Economic adversity
in the 1990s, including the sustained depression of metal
prices, resulted in a significant reduction of able resources.
The most detrimental damage to the resource pool
was instigated by the mining pundits who systematically
created a toxic environment vilifying mining and driving
off many qualified young professionals. This designed acri-
mony has left an industry deficit. The current challenge
facing consultants and operators is the development of
robust and experienced technical resources. Experience in
both breadth and depth of experience is needed to success-
fully secure a long and sustainable future in the industry.
This requires a significant commitment from operators as
well as consultants in the development of these resources.
The senior leadership within the industry and those
individuals who are providing review developing young
resources and serving on technical review boards are fac-
ing natural attrition as they transition into the later part of
their lives and their ability to sustain a quality of life is lost.
This generation represents a significant loss in resources and
real-world experience and will need to be replaced in the
next 20 years.
Emotional Intelligence
Kendra Cherry (2024) defines “Emotional Intelligence”
(a.k.a. EI or EQ for “emotional quotient”) as the ability to
perceive, interpret, demonstrate, control, evaluate, and use
emotions to communicate with and relate to others effec-
tively and constructively. This ability to express and control
emotions is essential, but so is the ability to understand,
interpret, and respond to the emotions of others. Some
experts suggest that emotional intelligence is more impor-
tant than IQ for success in life.
Emotional intelligence has degraded post-pandemic.
Individual isolation, segregation, warehousing of people,
and the forcing of individuals to communicate through
media systems have created a significant market disruption
and deterioration of emotional intelligence individually
and as a society. Our engineering resources require not only
technical expertise but also the soft skills associated with
emotional intelligence. The development of these skills
through continuous human interaction in the office and
at the site is invaluable and contributes to a professional
maturity developed with time.
University education provides graduate students with
a box of tools from which they can provide rudimentary
engineering support. The engineer then spends the next 10
years understanding how to apply those tools both theo-
retically and practically. An engineer with 10 to 15 years of
experience has usually reached an opportunity threshold to
develop practical skills and learn how to apply engineering
principles not bound by theory but by practice.
The investment necessary to develop and refine these
skills is a personal commitment. It is not paid for. It comes
from within, and it is the desire to learn and understand
not only what your job is, but how it fits into the greater
good that is the overall project. That understanding and
that experience provide you an opportunity to practically