06 Aug Publication: Mining Response to COVID-19: Achieving the Impossible through Collaboration, insights from the GMG 2020 Leadership Summit
The mining industry’s response to the global pandemic has been successful by focussing on opportunities for positive change and innovation. The best practices, lessons learned, and strategies shared by industry leaders have defined some key priorities around enabling remote work, planning for a successful return to work and innovating for the future, while protecting people, communities, and the environment. These strategies aim to benefit the industry not only as we navigate this pandemic, but also for building a safe, innovative, and sustainable future.
One of the key lessons learned? Remote work is possible and can even be beneficial in some situations, thus, enabling remote work can be an effective strategy moving forward. Success involves taking into consideration the impact of this change from all angles, such as supporting employees’ mental health, enabling effective virtual communication and maintaining cybersecurity. A successful return to work also involves looking at the big picture, not only to provide support for the transition but also to establish an innovative and resilient industry for the future through means such as embedding circularity, achieving true interoperability, and enabling zero-entry mining. Looking to the future of our industry, success also means looking broadly to improve not only the health and wellbeing of people within the industry, but also to support sustainable development by protecting communities and the environment.
“Thanks to creative thinking, innovative ideas, and collaborative problem-solving, we have shown how our industry can remain resilient in the face of adversity,” says Michelle Ash, GMG Chair and CEO of Dassault Systèmes Geovia Division. “We look forward to continued collaboration to put these strategies in action.”
This document can be used to help guide industry collaboration as we navigate these uncertain and challenging times and adopt strategies for achieving a successful, safe, and resilient future.
About GMG
The Global Mining Guidelines Group (GMG) is a network of representatives from mining companies, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), original technology manufacturers (OTMs), research organizations, academia, regulatory agencies, consultancies, and industry associations who collaborate to tackle the challenges facing our industry. GMG aims to accelerate the improvement of mining performance, safety and sustainability by creating guidelines and white papers that address common industry challenges, facilitating collaboration and expanding the industry’s knowledge base. GMG also hosts and supports events that bring mining stakeholders together to address the industry’s challenges, successes and innovations. Learn more about GMG at https://gmggroup.org/