What Type of Talent Does Mining Need Today

When we talk about the future of mining, we often think about new projects, technology, automation, or innovation. However, there is a question that cuts through each of these challenges: who will make that mining possible?

From my experience working in Human Resources at a world-class mining operation, I have learned that managing talent in mining has very particular characteristics.

It is not enough to find people with the right technical knowledge. We need professionals capable of operating in complex contexts, adapting, working collaboratively, making decisions and, fundamentally, understanding that safety is a value that permeates every aspect of the operation.

Talent becomes essential to the challenges posed by modern mining. Photo: courtesy of Barrick.

Working in high altitude adds an additional dimension. Operating far from family, with shift systems and under demanding geographic and climate conditions requires preparation, but also resilience, autonomy, and ability to coexist.

Therefore, soft skills cease to be a complement and become essential and key competencies for success.

Communication, empathy, flexibility, leadership, and the ability to build diverse relationships complement technical competencies that remain indispensable in an increasingly specialized industry.

Working in harsh climates and far from family requires people capable of building relationships to carry out a task, beyond technical knowledge.

Of course, technical training remains decisive.

Mining is an increasingly sophisticated industry, driven by technology, data, and the constant pursuit of excellence.

But today we need something more: professionals who can combine that knowledge with critical thinking, curiosity, learning capacity, communication, and leadership.

And here emerges one of today's challenges: bringing in young talent.

Incorporating new generations means building the talent we will need in the coming years, and young people arrive with different questions. They want to know why they do what they do, they seek to learn and grow rapidly (on much shorter timelines than previous generations), they expect to be heard, and they value development opportunities.

Female off-road truck drivers. Protagonists of the new mining culture that Barrick-Veladero proposes. Photo: courtesy of Barrick.

They also have a different relationship with new technologies, with leadership, and with the balance between personal and work life.

Sometimes these expectations challenge traditional models in our industry.

The challenge is not to ask young people to simply adapt to the mining we built over decades. We must also ask ourselves what kind of mining we need to build so they want to be part of it and project their future.

Bringing the industry closer to students and young people is fundamental—offering learning spaces where they can develop practices, internships, young professional programs, and first work experiences—and this is where collaborative work with universities and educational institutions becomes truly important.

But attracting them is not enough.

The real challenge is ensuring they find opportunities to grow, assume responsibilities, and project a career.

Something similar happens with the incorporation of women.

Those of us working in mining know how much our industry has changed in this regard. Today we see women occupying spaces and developing careers that years ago seemed unthinkable.

However, there is still much to be done, but being part of this cultural transformation, this paradigm shift in the industry, is something that personally motivates and inspires me.

Inclusion cannot be reduced to improving a percentage.

Expanding spaces for women's participation in mining is not just about growing a percentage, the author notes.

Incorporating more women means reviewing our practices, our selection and development processes, our leadership styles, and also those biases that, many times unconsciously, continue to operate, in order to ensure that gender is not a limiting factor and the decision to become a mother is not a constraint.

From Human Resources we have a concrete responsibility. Each search can open an opportunity.

Each interview can discover potential that a resume does not reveal.

Each development decision can contribute to building more diverse teams.

That is why I believe in selection processes that look beyond traditional career paths and dare to identify capabilities, potential, and new perspectives.

After years working close to the people who make a mining operation possible, there is something I understand more clearly each day: talent will be one of the major factors of competitiveness in our industry.

The mining of the future will need technology, innovation, and investment. But above all, it will need people prepared to learn, adapt, and work with others.

Our challenge will be to attract them, develop them, and create the conditions for them to choose to stay. And in doing so, we have an enormous opportunity: to build a mining industry where more young people and more women can find opportunities, develop themselves, and be protagonists of their future.

Because the future of mining does not depend solely on the resources we are able to develop.

It also depends on the talent to which we are able to open the door.