1. MAY 2012 Volume 4 Issue 5 www.irjonline.com
THE INTERNATIONAL
RESOURCE JOURNAL
IN THIS ISSUE AFRICAN
MINERALS
EXCLUSIVE WITH
STANDARD CHARTERED
MOZAMBIQUE
COUNTRY PROFILE

2. 120 SUPPORTING INDUSTRIES EarthStream Global

3. 121MAY 2012 The International Resource Journal
EARTH
STREAM
GLOBAL
Working dynamics
SUPPORTING INDUSTRIES
120

4. 122 SUPPORTING INDUSTRIES EarthStream Global
The mining industry’s acute shortage of talent
is an on-going challenge that companies must
face as skill gaps extend to a wider range of
job functions. EarthStream Global shares its
insight on the state of affairs.
IN A RECENT report, Deloitte contends that it is
time for mining companies to tackle the issue
of global talent shortage in a more systematic
fashion. While collaboration with universities,
programme funding and internships remain im-
portant tools in their arsenal, mining companies
now must pursue longer-term, farther-reaching
and perhaps less conventional solutions or they
disruptions.
Some mining companies have turned to
technology as a way of diminishing the impact of
workforce shortages – including driverless trucks,
remote operations centres, autonomous haulage
systems, automated mine-to-port operations and
security control and data acquisition systems (SCA-
cannot replace the need for skilled talent.
It is against this stark backdrop that Earth-
Stream Global entered the scene as a special-
in 40 different countries and saw more than $15
million in revenue.
Lost generation
in recruitment, having previously started compa-
nies for technology and pharmaceutical sectors
– both of which sold to public companies. In his
natural resources caught his eye.
“This is an attractive place for a specialist
recruitment company to be. Industries at large
across the energy and natural resources mix
have the same common problem, which is an
acute global skill shortage – particularly for tech-
– that is driven by a few factors. First is that oil
and gas, and mining and resources in particular,
have an ageing workforce problem;; there is a
huge vacuum of workers that is going to need to
from a historical perspective, the industry is prob-
ably suffering now for not properly investing in
new young talent during downturns,” Beeke says.
In fact, the shortage of talent in the age
in mining circles, he notes.
“Compared to other industry sectors, the
favourite over the last couple of decades for

5. 123MAY 2012 The International Resource Journal
graduates have been IT and investment banking.
Now in the oil and gas industry, human resources
directors and others are trying to re-promote
their image,” he adds.
Meanwhile, with the war for talent raging,
prospective employees are commanding high
salaries and are able to negotiate with compa-
nies interested in their services. That all adds up
to a positive trading environment for a recruit-
Winning the war
EarthStream covers three broad areas: oil and
gas;; mining and resources;; and energy and
-
tinents. In mining and resources, one of its key
markets is Sub-Saharan Africa, which accounts
Finding and retaining talent is becoming
increasingly challenging as the mining industry
pushes into more remote regions – companies
must determine how to make these locations
more attractive places for families to live. Mean-
do it forever. As a solution, Deloitte writes that in
order to establish a more stable workforce, the
mining industry should be collaborating to build
LIGHTING RAINY SEASON AT CAMP MAKENI

6. 124 SUPPORTING INDUSTRIES EarthStream Global
EARTHSTREAM’S HUMAN RESOURCES ON THE
GROUND
Travis Archibald, regional director, Australasia
With more than 10 years’ specialist recruitment
experience, Travis joined EarthStream as regional
director for Australasia to provide strategic solutions to
companies experiencing a shortage of skilled personnel
in the mining industry.
“Our business has recently been awarded a large number
of 457 working visas, allowing us to seamlessly integrate
these international skills into the Australian work force.
This is crucial, as the Australian region is facing a skill
shortage crisis with 32,000 positions unable to be filled.
The Australian operation liaises with the African offices
due to the large number of Australian-­owned companies
which have prospects in Africa that need to be staffed
with local nationals and expats. EarthStream is working
with Australian projects where the skill set is not readily
available locally. In these situations EarthStream sources
expertise from the African continent.”
Scott De-­Brusaux, regional director, Europe, MENA,
The Americas
For the last five years, Scott has been based in Australia
helping major mining houses staff their operations during
the boom. Although just joining EarthStream in 2012, he
has over 17 years’ experience as a senior search and
selection professional within mining/resources, energy and
engineering.
“We are constantly told there is a skills shortage in the
mining industry, I started by trying to change the mind
SCOTT DE-BRUSAUX, REGIONAL DIRECTOR,
EUROPE, MENA, THE AMERICAS
RYAN FORBES, REGIONAL DIRECTOR,
SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
PAUL BEEKE, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

7. 125MAY 2012 The International Resource Journal
set of my clients by showing them, that it was
not just a skills shortage we were suffering
but also a lack of ”experience” within the
industry. Australia had plenty of skilled people
wanting to get into mining -­ they just needed
the opportunity and the training.”
Ryan Forbes, regional director, Sub-­
Saharan Africa
After five years in London focusing on hedge
fund and asset management recruitment in
the City of London for a major firm, Ryan was
tasked with setting up a satellite office in Cape
Town, South Africa, to facilitate the “cross-­
border” recruitment happening between the
two regions.
It was then he realised the significance of the
opportunity Africa possessed and also the
importance of staffing in companies wanting to
have a global footprint. He joined EarthStream
as the regional director of Sub-­Saharan Africa
in July 2010.
“30 per cent of the world’s natural resources are
currently located in the African continent but
in the last decade it has only attracted five to
seven per cent of the global natural resources
investment, until now.”
He adds that populations in typical, rural,
emerging world countries with little or no
infrastructure have all of a sudden gained
access to technology, such as smart phones with
internet.This means that they are not only able to
learn more about what is going on around them,
but also to get connected to the rest of the world
– one of the reasons why Africa is becoming an
easier place to do business.
Hugh Elvin, project director of African
Minerals (AML), SOS Camp Makeni in
Sierra Leone
Hugh has a background in operations and
country management, as well as business
development in oil and gas and mining
sectors globally, most recently in Port
Harcourt and Lagos, Nigeria. He was serving
in the Athabasca Oil Sands Project in
northern Canada before taking over country
management of Sierra Leone.
“AML’s needs as a client are certainly the
most unique among any that I’ve worked
with around the world. This is a big, fast-­
moving project that is subject not just to the
usual problems of construction but also the
inherent challenges of the location. AML
needs two things to allow it to move ahead
effectively: instant responses to personnel
requests and reliability. To this end,
EarthStream has chosen to work permanently
onsite with the client and personnel, rather
than serving it from a remote location.”

8. 126 SUPPORTING INDUSTRIES EarthStream Global

9. 127MAY 2012 The International Resource Journal
more permanent communities – with schools,
hospitals, housing and the infrastructure that
families expect.
Beeke echoes this sentiment, noting that
workers are not only interested in the salary
camp conditions, level of autonomy and responsi-
bility, and security. In some cases workers do not
have a family and are happy to operate in harsh-
er conditions and for those that do have families,
there could well be interest in being exposed to
He points to African Minerals, an iron ore
project in Sierra Leone for which EarthStream is
a lead provider of the workforce, as an example.
“That project is transforming the area and
economy and touching the lives of a huge
amount of local people in Sierra Leone. In terms
well in some of these territories,” Beeke says.
Costs vs growth
Cost-cutting is less of a driving force behind com-
per-hire” metric is still an important discussion to
have when working with companies, Beeke adds.
Factors that affect such calculations will be the
or site-based, the maturity of the industry or of
the market, and the degree to which the internet
has been adopted. The lowest cost-per-hire val-
ues globally are in the UK and US and Canada.
“These are the most advanced markets, with
sophisticated procurement techniques. Especial-
ly in the US, there is a move to bring recruitment
in-house as opposed to using external providers,
the development of web recruiting strategies all
positions in the US and Canada, those cost-per-
hires are coming down and coming down fast,
Faso, that is a completely different metric,”
Beeke says.
As the next year unfolds, EarthStream has
expansion plans for each of the three sectors it
provides recruitment services for and is looking
“Sitting alongside Sub-Saharan Africa for our
growth plan, we are focused on growth in Aus-
tralia and sitting behind that is Southeast Asia,”
Beeke says, adding that he expects 2012 rev-
EARTHSTREAMGLOBAL.COM