In an era of rapid technological change, how can young people entering the mining and minerals sector "future-proof" their skills? This was the question posed on Thursday in the final session of the Mining Indaba 2025 conference, held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

Association of Women in Mining in Africa president Zenzi Awases affirmed that, as mining was evolving, so should they. They should be willing to acquire new skills. They should acquire critical thinking skills by exposing themselves to other disciplines, for example by working alongside colleagues from different disciplines. "See yourselves as more than your qualifications." Mining was not just about extracting minerals. It was also about people and about sustainability.

Anglo American external relations and sustainability impact executive head Nevashnee Naicker stressed that "soft" skills, interpersonal skills, were essential. They were a "competitive differentiator". Everyone wanted to work with someone who was dependable. And it was important to learn some things beyond one's core skills, such as an engineer learning communication skills. Also, companies wanted to employ people who embodied their culture, especially trust. "Trust is the currency of the information era. Trust is absolutely vital." Continuous learning is also essential.

Regarding the role of tertiary institutions, University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) GeoData Analytics director Dr Glen Nwaila stated that they needed to dynamically adapt their curricula, to handle rapid technological change. For example, Wits had changed its engineering syllabi so that all engineering courses now had basically the same first year, exposing all students to a wide range of technologies, such as robotics, which would once have been seen as outside the area of concern for most of them. Engineering students at Wits were also now offered courses in indigenous languages (other than their own).   

"TVET [technical and vocational education and training] colleges should be used as hubs to train people in hands-on skills," he affirmed. These should be skills relevant to the new technologies that were being adopted by the industry. 

He pointed out that careers did not have to be constrained. He cited people he knew, who trained alongside him as mining engineers, but who were now investment bankers.