Dig Deep – The Mining Podcast Podcast

In this episode, we chat with Adam Oehlman, CEO of African Gold, an ASX-listed junior explorer who are exploring and developing a multi-million ounce potential at the Didievi Gold project in Côte d’Ivoire.

With qualifications in Geology, Mineral and Energy Economics and an MBA, Adam is an experienced mining professional with a strong background in both technical and commercial roles, holding key positions at Northern Star, Hancock Prospecting, and Goldfields.

At the helm of African Gold, he gives us an overview of the business, recent activities they have undertaken, and some of the challenges they have faced and overcome. He understands the importance of mentoring, so he will provide some advice to young professionals starting out and the value you should always be looking to give your employees and others you work alongside in the industry.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Young professionals should seek guidance from experienced individuals and actively pursue opportunities rather than waiting for them to come.
• African Gold operates in Cote d'Ivoire, a premier West African mining jurisdiction with strong infrastructure and support from existing mining companies. The company is focused on exploring and developing its Didievi Gold Project, which has a maiden inferred resource of 450,000 ounces.
• The company is currently executing a 10,000-meter drilling program aimed at expanding its resource base. Adam believes that the current resource is just the beginning, with the potential to exceed one million ounces.
• Adam highlights the company's commitment to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives. African Gold actively supports local communities, including educational programs and training for locals, to foster trust and demonstrate the benefits of mining.
• With gold prices at record highs, African Gold is well-positioned to capitalise on market conditions. The company plans to release a resource update and continue drilling to unlock additional resource zones, maintaining a steady flow of positive news for investors.

BEST MOMENTS

"I think you'd be crazy not to have a big focus on community and environment these days. It's a massive focus of us."

"Every drill program we do, every hole we put in, there's gold in mind. It's not just drilling to test science; it's drilling to find answers and add shareholder value."

"Cote d'Ivoire is just an absolutely lovely place. I've just been so surprised how welcoming the people are, how good the infrastructure is."

"I always think people, you can probably live in your head a bit too much. So I think you probably need to think less and do more."

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Mail:        [email protected]

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-tyson-3a26a68/

X:              https://twitter.com/MiningRobTyson 
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DigDeepTheMiningPodcast 

Web:        http://www.mining-international.org

This episode is sponsored by Hawcroft, leaders in property risk management since 1992. They offer:

• Insurance risk surveys recognised as an industry standard
• Construction risk reviews
• Asset criticality assessments and more

Working across over 600 sites globally, Hawcroft supports mining, processing, smelting, power, refining, ports, and rail operations. For bespoke property risk management services, visit www.hawcroft.com

GUEST SOCIALS

Website: https://www.african-gold.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/african-gold/

X: https://x.com/AfricanGold_Ltd

Email: [email protected]

ABOUT THE HOST

Rob Tyson is the Founder and Director of Mining International Ltd, a leading global recruitment and headhunting consultancy based in the UK specialising in all areas of mining across the globe from first-world to third-world countries from Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. We source, headhunt, and discover new and top talent through a targeted approach and search methodology and have a proven track record in sourcing and positioning exceptional candidates into our clients' organisations in any mining discipline or level. Mining International provides a transparent, informative, and trusted consultancy service to our candidates and clients to help them develop their careers and business goals and objectives in this ever-changing marketplace.

CONTACT METHOD

[email protected]

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-tyson-3a26a68/

Podcast Description

Rob Tyson is an established recruiter in the mining and quarrying sector and decided to produce the “Dig Deep” The Mining Podcast to provide valuable and informative content around the mining industry. He has a passion and desire to promote the industry and the podcast aims to offer the mining community an insight into people’s experiences and careers covering any mining discipline, giving the listeners helpful advice and guidance on industry topics. 

In this episode we chat to Nicole Richards, CEO of Allonnia, who are a company harnessing nature to solve the biggest environmental challenges for net positive impact. They transform liability into value by leveraging the power of biotechnology and engineered systems to help our customers reach their ESG goals in a waste-free world.

Nicole has over 28 years of industry leadership within water treatment, mining, and chemicals industries and gives us the history and story behind Allonnia, how they work with mining companies, how their technology helps mining companies hit their sustainability goals and thoughts on the trade wars that are having an impact on our industry.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Allonnia is leveraging synthetic biology to innovate within the mining industry, focusing on transforming waste into value and addressing sustainability challenges through biotechnology.
• The company is developing solutions for environmental contaminants like 1,4-Dioxane and PFOS, showcasing the potential of biotechnology to remediate harmful substances in various industries, including mining.
• Allonnia's first product, D-Solve, aims to selectively remove impurities from ore, which can enhance the grade of metals like nickel and improve overall mining efficiency while reducing environmental impact.
• The mining industry is increasingly open to innovation, with major companies actively seeking partnerships with startups to test and implement new technologies, creating opportunities for faster commercialisation.
• Focus on Value Unlocking: The immediate economic drivers for biotech in mining are centred around unlocking value from low-grade ores and waste streams, with long-term goals of reducing environmental liabilities and promoting sustainable practices.

BEST MOMENTS

"Waste is a failure of the imagination. How do you take synthetic biology or really transformational biology and bring that into these processes?" 

"In the near term, the biggest driver is in the value unlock... around metals recovery from low-grade ores and waste streams." 

"If you shut down a mine for a minute, the millions of dollars they're going to lose is incredible." 

"The way we look at it... is that that's been a huge improvement. They're creating innovation challenges." 

"What is rare is countries being able to domesticate the processing of those rare earths."

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Mail:        [email protected]

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-tyson-3a26a68/

X:              https://twitter.com/MiningRobTyson 
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DigDeepTheMiningPodcast 

Web:        http://www.mining-international.org

This episode is sponsored by Hawcroft, leaders in property risk management since 1992. They offer:

• Insurance risk surveys recognised as an industry standard
• Construction risk reviews
• Asset criticality assessments and more

Working across over 600 sites globally, Hawcroft supports mining, processing, smelting, power, refining, ports, and rail operations. For bespoke property risk management services, visit www.hawcroft.com

GUEST SOCIALS

• Get in touch at https://allonnia.com/contact-us/
• Follow Allonnia on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/allonnia/

ABOUT THE HOST

Rob Tyson is the Founder and Director of Mining International Ltd, a leading global recruitment and headhunting consultancy based in the UK specialising in all areas of mining across the globe from first-world to third-world countries from Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. We source, headhunt, and discover new and top talent through a targeted approach and search methodology and have a proven track record in sourcing and positioning exceptional candidates into our clients' organisations in any mining discipline or level. Mining International provides a transparent, informative, and trusted consultancy service to our candidates and clients to help them develop their careers and business goals and objectives in this ever-changing marketplace.

CONTACT METHOD

[email protected]

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-tyson-3a26a68/

Podcast Description

Rob Tyson is an established recruiter in the mining and quarrying sector and decided to produce the “Dig Deep” The Mining Podcast to provide valuable and informative content around the mining industry. He has a passion and desire to promote the industry and the podcast aims to offer the mining community an insight into people’s experiences and careers covering any mining discipline, giving the listeners helpful advice and guidance on industry topics. 

In this episode, we chat with Karl Akueson, Founder, CEO, and Director of Switch Metals, who are the largest holder of coltan (tantalum and niobium) and lithium licences in Côte d’Ivoire with over 3,000 km2 of licences with their flagship project being the Issia coltan project.

Karl is a natural resources entrepreneur and former investment banker with BMO Capital Markets in London, who co-founded Awale Resources and has now established Switch Metals. In this episode, he talks through his entrepreneur journey, the background to Switch Metals and their projects, Côte d’Ivoire as a mining jurisdiction, and the tantalum market, plus more.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Switch Metals is primarily focused on tantalum, a metal used in various electronic devices due to its unique properties, such as heat resistance and conductivity. This focus differentiates the company from other mining ventures that typically concentrate on more common commodities like lithium.
• Cote d'Ivoire is highlighted as an attractive mining jurisdiction due to its infrastructure, stability, and under-explored potential. The country has a growing mining sector, particularly in gold, which provides a supportive environment for new ventures like Switch Metals.
• The company aims to generate early cash flow through shallow coltan placer mining at the Issia Coltan Project. This approach is designed to provide a strong cash flow foundation, allowing for sustainable operations and further exploration without relying heavily on equity financing.
• ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) considerations are integral to Switch Metals' operations. The company emphasises ethical sourcing and community engagement, ensuring that local communities are informed and involved in the mining process, which helps mitigate the risks associated with artisanal mining.
• The immediate focus for Switch Metals is on resource definition through systematic pitting and bulk sampling to estimate the grade of tantalum. Following this, the company plans to conduct metallurgical studies and a scoping study to establish economic parameters, paving the way for future production.

BEST MOMENTS

"Tantalum is a metal that we use daily... It's used in capacitors, in the electronics industry particularly, but also in the cutting industry, in the alloy industry in general."

"Cote d'Ivoire had that potential, but nobody really knows about it... I decided to build a company around this potential in the past few years."

"We have this advantage of having both some material at surface... It's generally called placer deposits... It's something you can scratch from at the surface very shallow, it's free dig."

"ESG is inherent to what we do... We have no choice but to meet all these ESG criteria because our end clients want us to demonstrate that we have traceability."

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Mail:        [email protected]

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-tyson-3a26a68/

X:              https://twitter.com/MiningRobTyson 
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DigDeepTheMiningPodcast 

Web:        http://www.mining-international.org

This episode is sponsored by Hawcroft, leaders in property risk management since 1992. They offer:

• Insurance risk surveys recognised as an industry standard
• Construction risk reviews
• Asset criticality assessments and more

Working across over 600 sites globally, Hawcroft supports mining, processing, smelting, power, refining, ports, and rail operations. For bespoke property risk management services, visit www.hawcroft.com

GUEST SOCIALS

https://www.linkedin.com/in/karl-akueson-b3456617/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/switch-metals/

https://switchmetals.com/

ABOUT THE HOST

Rob Tyson is the Founder and Director of Mining International Ltd, a leading global recruitment and headhunting consultancy based in the UK specialising in all areas of mining across the globe from first-world to third-world countries from Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. We source, headhunt, and discover new and top talent through a targeted approach and search methodology and have a proven track record in sourcing and positioning exceptional candidates into our clients' organisations in any mining discipline or level. Mining International provides a transparent, informative, and trusted consultancy service to our candidates and clients to help them develop their careers and business goals and objectives in this ever-changing marketplace.

CONTACT METHOD

[email protected]

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-tyson-3a26a68/

Podcast Description

Rob Tyson is an established recruiter in the mining and quarrying sector and decided to produce the “Dig Deep” The Mining Podcast to provide valuable and informative content around the mining industry. He has a passion and desire to promote the industry and the podcast aims to offer the mining community an insight into people’s experiences and careers covering any mining discipline, giving the listeners helpful advice and guidance on industry topics. 

In this episode, we chat with Andrew Hume, the MD of Thor Energy, a dual-listed exploration company (ASX and AIM) focused on natural hydrogen and helium, with a significant footprint in the highly prospective South Australian region. In addition to their clean energy focus, they maintain a diversified portfolio of strategic metal projects in uranium, copper, nickel, tungsten, lithium, and gold across Australia and the US, offering investors exposure to a range of key commodities.

A geologist by background, Andrew has a 27-year career in the energy sector, holding key roles in multinational companies across business and technical disciplines, principally in the USA, Australia, Denmark, and the UK. After joining the company at the beginning of the year, Andrew gives us an overview of the company, news on the hydrogen and helium market, updates on their projects, and plans for the future.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Thor Energy is rationalising its portfolio to concentrate on key assets, particularly in natural hydrogen and helium, while also maintaining a diverse range of strategic metal projects. This strategic focus aims to enhance the company's growth potential and market positioning.
• The natural hydrogen and helium market is viewed as having significant growth potential, with increasing demand for hydrogen in various industrial applications and the unique advantages of natural hydrogen as a cleaner energy source compared to traditional methods.
• Thor Energy plans to employ innovative exploration techniques, such as soil air analysis with gas chromatography, to better understand subsurface potential. This approach aims to enhance the accuracy and efficiency of identifying hydrogen and helium deposits.
• The recent Maiden Prospective Resource Assessment for the High Range project indicated promising figures, with substantial estimated volumes of hydrogen and helium. This assessment provides a strong foundation for future exploration and potential commercialisation efforts.

BEST MOMENTS

"Natural hydrogen and helium... has some of those same sort of hallmarks that the oil and gas industry would have had 100, 150 years ago... This really could be part of the global energy solution going forward."

"The geology in our areas is really very interesting... We've got known discovered natural hydrogen and helium very close by... So we know we're in a very good place geologically."

"Hydrogen... is almost the cleanest energy source, right? It's coming out of the ground. We're not having to put any energy into it to produce the hydrogen."

"We're going to be looking at some other esoteric techniques... to better understand the right places to eventually drill."

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Mail:        [email protected]

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-tyson-3a26a68/

X:              https://twitter.com/MiningRobTyson 
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DigDeepTheMiningPodcast 

Web:        http://www.mining-international.org

This episode is sponsored by Hawcroft, leaders in property risk management since 1992. They offer:

• Insurance risk surveys recognised as an industry standard
• Construction risk reviews
• Asset criticality assessments and more

Working across over 600 sites globally, Hawcroft supports mining, processing, smelting, power, refining, ports, and rail operations. For bespoke property risk management services, visit www.hawcroft.com

GUEST SOCIALS

https://thorenergyplc.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/thor-energy-plc

https://x.com/ThorEnergyPLC

ABOUT THE HOST

Rob Tyson is the Founder and Director of Mining International Ltd, a leading global recruitment and headhunting consultancy based in the UK specialising in all areas of mining across the globe from first-world to third-world countries from Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. We source, headhunt, and discover new and top talent through a targeted approach and search methodology and have a proven track record in sourcing and positioning exceptional candidates into our clients' organisations in any mining discipline or level. Mining International provides a transparent, informative, and trusted consultancy service to our candidates and clients to help them develop their careers and business goals and objectives in this ever-changing marketplace.

CONTACT METHOD

[email protected]

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-tyson-3a26a68/

Podcast Description

Rob Tyson is an established recruiter in the mining and quarrying sector and decided to produce the “Dig Deep” The Mining Podcast to provide valuable and informative content around the mining industry. He has a passion and desire to promote the industry and the podcast aims to offer the mining community an insight into people’s experiences and careers covering any mining discipline, giving the listeners helpful advice and guidance on industry topics. 

In this episode, we chat with Santiago Montt, CEO of Los Andes Copper, who are focused on developing its 100% owned tier one Vizcachitas copper-molybdenum porphyry project in Chile. Vizcachitas is one of the largest advanced copper deposits in the Americas.Santiago is a seasoned mining executive with over a decade of experience in multinational mining companies. Before joining Los Andes, he spent more than ten years at BHP, where he held various senior roles overseeing corporate and legal affairs across the Americas, including in Chile, Brazil, and Australia. He gives us an overview of Los Andes Copper, discusses how Chile will continue being the number 1 jurisdiction for copper, and the outlook of the commodity for the energy transition.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Los Andes Copper is focused on developing its 100% owned Vizcachitas copper-molybdenum porphyry project in Chile, which is one of the largest advanced copper deposits in the Americas, with significant resources and robust economic metrics.
• Transitioning from a major mining company like BHP to a junior mining company involves a shift in responsibilities and work dynamics, requiring a direct problem-solving approach and a willingness to engage in hands-on management.
• Los Andes Copper emphasises the importance of building trust and engagement with local communities, implementing programs that promote social value, such as female entrepreneurship initiatives and educational programs to prepare the workforce for future mining operations.
• The demand for copper is expected to rise significantly due to the global energy transition towards electrification, with estimates suggesting a need for an additional 10 million tons of copper by 2035 to meet this demand.

BEST MOMENTS

"We are a mining company that owns the Vizcachitas project, a copper moly project based in Chile, the number one producer of copper in the world."

"When you decide to move from a major to a junior, it's a change of career. It's a change of lifestyles as well."

"Copper is a fundamental element of nature. There's no better conductor... We're moving to decarbonise our economies. There's no replacement."

"We have been doing a lot of work in this area... to increase and build trust and connection with the community."

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Mail:        [email protected]

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-tyson-3a26a68/

X:              https://twitter.com/MiningRobTyson 
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DigDeepTheMiningPodcast 

Web:        http://www.mining-international.org

This episode is sponsored by Hawcroft, leaders in property risk management since 1992. They offer:

• Insurance risk surveys recognised as an industry standard
• Construction risk reviews
• Asset criticality assessments and more

Working across over 600 sites globally, Hawcroft supports mining, processing, smelting, power, refining, ports, and rail operations. For bespoke property risk management services, visit www.hawcroft.com

GUEST SOCIALS

X: https://x.com/LosAndesCopper 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/los-andes-copper/

https://losandescopper.com/

[email protected]

ABOUT THE HOST

Rob Tyson is the Founder and Director of Mining International Ltd, a leading global recruitment and headhunting consultancy based in the UK specialising in all areas of mining across the globe from first-world to third-world countries from Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. We source, headhunt, and discover new and top talent through a targeted approach and search methodology and have a proven track record in sourcing and positioning exceptional candidates into our clients' organisations in any mining discipline or level. Mining International provides a transparent, informative, and trusted consultancy service to our candidates and clients to help them develop their careers and business goals and objectives in this ever-changing marketplace.

CONTACT METHOD

[email protected]

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-tyson-3a26a68/

Podcast Description

Rob Tyson is an established recruiter in the mining and quarrying sector and decided to produce the “Dig Deep” The Mining Podcast to provide valuable and informative content around the mining industry. He has a passion and desire to promote the industry and the podcast aims to offer the mining community an insight into people’s experiences and careers covering any mining discipline, giving the listeners helpful advice and guidance on industry topics.