Article
Tracking the trends 2016
Are we there yet?
The 2016 edition of Tracking the trends takes a look at the issues that miners will face in the coming year and outlines a wealth of potential responses proposed from Deloitte member firms' mining professionals.
Executive summary
Anyone who has ever shared a car with children has likely heard the common refrain that exhorts drivers everywhere to go faster. Miners, impatiently waiting for this down cycle to end, have been searching for the proverbial gas pedal for years. Unfortunately, it looks like we still have a way to go.
As commodity prices continue to hit historically low levels, mining companies are struggling to recalibrate. It doesn’t help that the industry faces a host of unresolved challenges—from tumbling demand and declining grades to mounting stakeholder expectations and a lack of financing. At the same time, miners must contend with a range of constantly-mutable issues, including the innovation imperative, shifting regulatory realities and the rising risks associated with both physical and cyber security.
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The issues
Our 2016 edition of Tracking the trends explores not only well-trodden themes, but also ancillary themes miners must take into account if they hope to navigate an increasingly uncertain future.
- Going lean – Operational excellence remains front and centre
- Innovation: the next generation – Preparing for exponential change
- China’s painful transition – Looking for the silver lining
- Adjusting to the new normal – What goes down must come up
- The shifting global energy mix – Preparing for inevitable change
- Engagement party – Changing the nature of stakeholder dialogues
- The capital crisis – Starved of finance, miners struggle to survive
- A taxing time for miners – A global tax reset challenges yesterday’s tax management
- The M&A paradox – To buy or not to buy; that is the question
- Safe, secure and healthy – An expanded view of corporate and personal welfare
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Tracking the trends 2016: Press release
Weak commodity prices, declining grades and a falloff in demand from China will continue global mining sectors’ downward cycle well into 2016. However, regulatory mandates, tax burdens and stakeholder expectations remain as high as ever.