A Maaden official explaining a point to visitors.

Job opportunities for Saudi youth and technology innovation for diversified industrial development were in focus on the second day of the Saudi Mining and Minerals 2015, here on Wednesday.

The event, the first international mining and minerals conference and exhibition in the Kingdom, was essentially dedicated to brainstorming on critical market intelligence with experts providing insight into the potential of the Kingdom’s mining and mineral sector in terms of job opportunities and innovation.

The conference discussed desired outcomes from mining upstream and downstream activities, including employing local talent in mining and metal projects

The first session of the day explored skills and professional base development strategies for the sector to encompass the current and future plans and vision of vocational training to develop human resources (HR) for the industry, including collaborations to meet talent requirements.

In his keynote address, Fouzi A. Bubshait, Maaden vice president HR, emphasized the need for attracting and developing local talent in order to fulfill the vision and mission, and shared the experiences about challenges and rewards while working with the Saudi mining company.

Abdulkarim Al-Nujaidi, executive deputy director general, Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF), in his keynote address, shared his strategic vision to enable national HR with proper training to meet the development and growth objectives of the mining and mineral sector.

The forum also aims to raise awareness in the private sector about the new labor regulations and the ongoing policy of regulating the labor market, he added.

The Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC) also highlighted the policy framework of the Ministry of Labor seeking to fill the gap with qualified and professional Saudi work force and shared TVTC approach in developing local talents to meet the mining and mineral sector needs.

The day’s second session focused on the role of technology and innovation for further enhancing the quality of the mining and mineral sector to help diversifying the economy and also utilize its abundant mineral resources for sustainable development to become a leading global supplier.

Examining the Kingdom’s options in developing, promoting and embracing innovation in technology, Peter Stegmaier, executive vice president of the Swiss-based Hexagon Mining, highlighted the automation and development of technologies in themining sector worldwide and integrated it with the mining solutions for the Kingdom for optimizing its short- and long-term vision.

Sharing his ideas and expertise on operations, safety integration and fleet management, he asserted that safety is the primary concern in the mining and minerals industry, which is progressing rapidly in the Kingdom to catch up with its oil industry, the mainstay of the economy.

During a panel discussion on applied exploration technologies and innovation, Emad Al-Saadawi, director for exploration and technical services, Maaden, shared various aspects of exploration and innovation applied by the Kingdom in its mining and mineral industry.

Differentiating between the values of green field project on virgin land and brown field areas for the mining industry, he elaborated on extraction and supply of minerals to the viable laboratories for efficient working of the industry.

Mark Campodonic, principal resource geologist, SRK consulting (UK), shared his ideas on mining operations and highlighted the importance of hydrologist in helping to coordinate with the idea of water table, which is of immense value in the mining sector.

Jason Cox, director of mine engineering, RPA Canada, highlighted the importance of data collection and analyzed it to optimum utility in the mining and mineral industry.

The session was moderated by Jonathan Coates, executive geo-science adviser to Maaden.

The three-day conference, which ends Thursday, is a forum to boost the mining and mineral sector that offers $19 billion worth of opportunities in upstream and downstream projects.

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