ERG Masterclass
1. Does your company work with “open innovations”?
Yes
No
I do not know
2. Does your company have a dedicated department which works with start-ups?
Yes
No
I do not know
3. Has your company implemented projects using artificial intelligence or "big data"?
Yes
No
I do not know
Plenary Session 1
1. Do you believe that foreign investment is important to a healthy and sustainable mining industry in Kazakhstan?
Yes
No
Somewhat
2. Do you believe that the new subsoil use law will help to attract new investment in the mining industry in Kazakhstan?
Yes
No
Somewhat
3. Do you believe that the government has sufficient resources to implement the new subsoil use law?
Yes
No
4. How significantly do you believe the new subsoil use law will change the mining industry operates in Kazakhstan?
Significantly
Somewhat
Not at all
5. How important are environmental, social, and closure considerations to mining in Kazakhstan?
Very important
Somewhat Important
Not particularly important
Not at all
Panel Discussion 1
1. The “Social license-to-operate” has been presented as the risk #1 for miners. Is this true for Kazakhstan?
Yes
No
To some extent
I don’t know
2. What is the main challenge of doing exploration in remote geographic areas in Central Asia?
Lack of infrastructure (roads, communications, energy supply
Lack of skilled labour
Lack of equipment
Other
3. Over 30% of EY annual survey respondents said that technology companies have a significant potential to disrupt the mining sector. Do you agree with that?
Yes
No
Other non-technological factors are more critical
4. The “New World Commodities” has been moved globally to #10 position in comparison with #4 in 2018. Does this influence your business?
Yes
No
Not sure
5. The EY research showed that the capital allocation to finance digital initiatives in majority of cases differs from 0% to 5%. What is the situation in your business?
Similar
Different
Our business does not invest in digital transformation
6. The “Disruption” is named as one of top 10 risks for miners. What are disrupting factors you consider the most significant for the Kazakhstani mining sector?
Job disruption
Customer or client disruption
Asset disruption
Economic disruption
Other
Technical Session 1
1. Will revisions to the environmental code promote the introduction of more effective pollution control technology?
Yes, it will
No, it will not
Yes, to some extent
I am not sure
2. Is there a wide gap between the legislation in OECD countries and Kazakhstan?
Yes, this gap is being narrowed by means of extensive revisions to the Environmental Code. Yes, to some extent
Yes, to some extent
No
I am not sure
3. Will the new liquidation requirements change the financial provisions that must be made for closure?
Yes, it will
No it will not
I am not sure
4. Should mine waste management be at the forefront of mine planning?
Yes, to increase the safety and reduce the footprint of waste in a green economy
No, it is not necessary
I am not sure
Technical Session 2
1. Is IPO on LSE a viable option for exit in Kazakhstan?
Probably yes
Probably no
Not sure
2. Is IPO on AIX a viable option for exit in Kazakhstan?
Is IPO on AIX a viable option for exit in Kazakhstan?
Probably no
Not sure
3. What, if anything, stops investors to invest in the mining sector in Kazakhstan?
Government policies
Lack of attractive opportunities
Current market environment
Availability of debt
Some other reason
4. If you are to invest in the mining sector, what would be your first choice?
Early stage exploration
Late stage exploration
Early production
Mature production
Plenary Session 3
1. What are the main barriers to new exploration in Kazakhstan?
Lack of prospectivity
Lack of background data to guide companies to the potential of the country
Competition from large corporations who ‘do it all’
Cost of acquiring and maintaining licences
2. What are the barriers preventing the growth of small-scale mining in Kazakhstan?
Licensing issues
Environmental rules
Lack of capital
Expertise
3. What has been the impact of the recent changes to the subsoil code?
More licences issues and increased activity
Increased interest in the mining sector in Kazakhstan
Decreased activity in the mining sector
Confusion
4. What has been the government handling of the recent changes to the subsoil code?
What has been the government handling of the recent changes to the subsoil code?
Good - they have addressed issues in a reasonable time and clarified most issues
Average – slow to respond and many issues left unresolved
Poor – low energy
Technical Session 3
1. Do you use custom-made software products for long run planning of mining activities?
Yes
No
Not sure
2. Does your company management promote the introduction of state-of-the-art IT-technologies in production?
In all production processes
In some production processes
No
3. In your opinion, when will digitalization degree of production processes in your enterprise exceed 50%?
It has already exceeded
In next 5 years
In next 10 years
Not sure
4. Which one of automatic process control systems do you use for management of mining and conveyor complex?
Modular
Wenco
Jigsaw
VIST
MineStar
Micromine
Other
We don’t use any automatic process control system for this purpose
5. Do you use a pit optimizer module in practice?
Yes
No
I'd like to
Technical Session 4
1. What is the proportion of modern optimisation methods use at the modern mining enterprises in Kazakhstan?
Not more than 30%
Over 30%
Difficult to answer
2. What approaches to planning and optimising production indicators do you find most acceptable, western or adopted in the post-Soviet space?
Western
Adopted in the post-Soviet space
Difficult to answer
3. Which key indicators in mining economics are most important when planning, technical or financial?
Technical
Financial
Both
Difficult to answer
4. Will the Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan ABOUT PREPARATIONS AND WASTE USE be promoted to stimulate the process of introducing new methods to optimize mining economy?
Yes, it will
No, it will not
Difficult to answer
5. Is permanent work necessary to search for optimal economic parameters of mining production, from exploration and design to the closure of an enterprise?
Not necessary
Absolutely necessary
Difficult to answer
6. How important is flexibility and efficiency in making decisions on changes in key indicators of production?
Certainly important
Not important
Difficult to answer
Technical Session 5
1. Exploration integrated geoscience - key challenges?
Appropriate software
Sparse and uncompleted datasets
Limited knowledge of geoscience disciplines
2. The Canadian Goldcorp, together with IBM Canada, created an ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE technology to predict the potential of gold mineralization processing various geological exploration data sets. Are you interested to use such systems in your exploration program?
Yes
No, we successfully cope without these technologies.
Not sure if this is applicable for us at this stage
3. What software does your company use for data integration and geoscience analysis?
Excel
Maptek
Micromine
Datamine etc package solutions
Wide range of products for different data sets
Do not integrate the geoscience data
4. Major exploration advancement in 2019?
Improved geophysical survey resolution
Drone survey- possibility to reach the difficult areas, lower cost
Image colour processing
Portable geochemistry (XRF, XRD)
Data integrating software
5. Major challenges in exploration in 2019 in Kazakhstan?
Diverse data quality
Lack of mapping, exploration, geoscience and management skills
Available finances
Problem to acquire exploration licenses
Technical Session 6
1. What is the primary task of the analytical control laboratory?
Timely information transfer to production sites
Identification of substandard products
Ensuring express analytical control
2. What is the most optimal solution for decreasing the load on the laboratory?
Hiring professional staff
Introduction of automation for routine operations
Use of services of third-party laboratories (outsourcing)
3. What is the best option for on-the-job training?
Using the experience of senior employees (mentoring)
Participation in conferences, seminars
Attending highly specialised training courses
Other
Panel Discussion 2
1. What will the digitisation in the mining industry lead to?
Unemployment growth
Creation of new jobs
To the redistribution of the ratio of workers and IT specialities
2. Experience of which countries should be used as an example when planning and implementing socially oriented projects in the mining industry in Kazakhstan?
Experience of developed countries
Experience of developing countries
Experience of developed and developing countries.
Experience of the countries of the Eurasian Economic Community
3. What limits social responsibility of mining companies?
Company framework
The boundaries of the region where the company operates
National borders
Responsibility is not limited to national borders
4. Why do companies need to spend money on creating a strong brand?
To make employees proud to be working for the company
To facilitate attraction of new talent and qualified personnel
In order to improve the investment attractiveness of the company and its projects
In order to receive the most favourable conditions from suppliers of equipment and services
To obtain the most favourable conditions for financing the company's projects
For all of the above purposes