Modern Mining February 2020

upbeat about mining prospects (4IR) is currently the buzzword of note in the industry, and Metso is already at the forefront of the trend. He is of the view that 4IR brings a range of new possibili- ties to enhance efficiencies at mines. complemented by open communication and trans- parency at all times.

“For me, everything starts with the customer. Under my leadership, customer centricity will be a major focus of the business. Understanding cus- tomers’ needs and how the Metso offering can be adapted to their needs will be a crucial area of focus,” he says. Positive outlook Having recently attended Investing in Africa Mining Indaba, Niskanen believes prospects in the African mining sector are positive. From what he gathered at the show, precious metals, mainly gold and Platinum Group Metals (PGMs), will carry the mar- ket this year. He is of the view that gold will this year remain the safe haven investment of choice. After a slow start in

In the 4IR basket, digitalisation is one of the emerging key tools that can be used to mitigate potential exposure to unwanted downtime by instantly connecting machine users and OEM experts through a digital platform that has the ability to moni- tor machine health and offer the predictive ability to foretell when in the future a machine is likely to fail. “We will make our customers aware of our remote control centres, which allow Metso experts to remotely monitor key parameters such as produc- tivity, machine health and performance,” he says, adding that this also helps ensure that equipment is maintained at optimum times – not too early and not too late. He believes that digitalisation affords the indus- try access to crucial data about their operations. However, of concern is that many still don’t know how to utilise the available data. “Everyone is still figuring out what’s the optimum way of analysing the data, which is why it’s important, now more than ever, for customers to work with an OEM that is at the forefront of the digitalisation trend,” he says. The third value of focus will be team work, which speaks to the need for working together, both within Metso and through partnerships with customers, to solve issues that threaten the success of custom- ers’ businesses. He also notes that Africa is a very diverse continent, and Metso will prioritise respect,

2019, a price surge from early August last year saw the pre- cious metal hit US$1 553 per ounce (oz) on 4 September 2019, its highest in six years, and $1 570/oz on 7 January 2020. “Based on the feed- back from Mining Indaba, West Africa is the place to be as far as gold projects are concerned,” he says. The PGM market will hold the fort in southern Africa. In the last 12 months, plati-

Talking point “Africa currently contributes about 10% to Metso’s business. Based on prospects of growth on the continent and the plans I have in place for the business, I would like to see the African business taking a quantum leap in the next few years to contribute about 15% to Metso’s overall business.”

num prices have soared by 30%, while palladium prices have doubled and rhodium has quadru- pled. Palladium has scaled almost 54% during the 12-month period, driven by strong demand in the automotive sector as manufacturers increase use of the metal in emissions-reducing catalytic con- verters. Even gold was left in its wake as palladium surpassed the yellow metal a year ago for the first time in 16 years and never looked back. The palla- dium price hit a record high near the US$2 000/oz mark at the end of December 2019. Niskanen reasons that rigid environmental stan- dards around car emissions in Europe and China will continue to influence price growth in palladium, as 80% of all produced palladium is used in catalytic converters. While platinum has trailed behind palla- dium and rhodium, he believes that there is a good chance of a price conversion over the medium term as car makers switch palladium for platinum. “Southern Africa remains an important PGMs market. I believe we will see a lot of activity in that area this year, which is positive for the mining sector at large,” concludes Niskanen. 

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