BUSINESS ENQUIRER 102 | AHEAD OF THE DIGITAL GAME

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October / November 2021

Industry 4.0 Edition Driving The Future

An insight into Share Now

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A Journey of Growth & Passion Inside Cotecna

Manchester United

AHEAD OF THE DIGITAL GAME A JOURNEY OF COMMERCIAL SUCCESS AND DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Also featuring: Glencore + Ionic Rare Earths + Boart Longyear + more W W W. B U S E N Q . C O M

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Contents 08 The FinTech Revolution

12 The Great European Unicorn Boom

28 Manchested United A Journey Of Commercial Success & Digital Transformation

20 Watchlist: An AI Revolution

36 Cotecna - A Journey Of Growth And Passion

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Contents 46 SHARE NOW Denmark Driving The Future

76 Ionic Rare Earths A Green Gold Giant In The Making

56 Glencore Modernising Copper Mining

84 Boart Longyear Renewal & Rebirth

66 Ok Tedi Mining Developing Communities, Generating Wealth

92 Ascot Resources Raising The Bar

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MEDIA

PRODUCTION

Jamie Waite Partner & Creative Director jamie.waite@busenq.com

Sarah Sprason Head of Production sarah.sprason@busenq.com

Liam OHara Partner & Chief Financial Officer liam.ohara@busenq.com

Bethany Waite Production Manager bethany.waite@busenq.com

Malvern Kandemwa Partner & Chief Operations Officer malvern.kandemwa@busenq.com

Talitha Minnis Production Manager talitha.minnis@busenq.com

Glen Newton Senior Project Director glen.newton@busenq.com

Tanya Rudd Head of Finance tanya.rudd@busenq.com

Gary Smith Senior Project Director gary.smith@busenq.com

Thomas Fyre Lead Designer thomas.fyre@busenq.com

Stephen Owen Senior Project Director stephen.owen@busenq.com

Hannah Watkins Junior Designer hannah.watkins@busenq.com

Liv Culling Project Director liv.culling@busenq.com

Adam Fulwood Head of Video & Content Creation adam.fulwood@busenq.com

Greg Finch Project Director greg.Finch@busenq.com

EDITOR & JOURNALISTS

Chiara Salter Project Director chiara.salter@busenq.com Sam Patrick Project Director sam.patrick@busenq.com Megan Bradfield Project Director megan.bradfield@busenq.com

Jay Benmehidi Senior Editor jay.benmehidi@busenq.com Carol Gibson Lead Editor carol.gibson@busenq.com Rebecca Matthews Senior Journalist rebecca.matthews@busenq.com

HR

Harry Bradfield Project Director harry.bradfield@busenq.com

Susan Tumelty HR Partnered company info@hrdept.co.uk

WEBSITE

LEGAL

Matt Hardwick Online Website Manager matt.hardwick@busenq.com

Chloe Bird Birketts LLP Norwich

A word from our editor...

Dear reader, Technological innovation isn’t just conjured out of thin air. Rather, it is owed to the endeavour of our predecessors, who gathered knowledge, experience, and techniques to achieve goals and solve the problems of their day. Over generations, this knowledge was passed down and refined, which would help inspire new ideas, new knowledge, and new innovations at ever greater speed with every passing generation.

Today, the pace of innovation and technological advancement has reached such unprecedented speed that it can feel as if the world around us is changing before our very eyes. And it is – the digital transformation is well underway and ahead of schedule, following the outbreak of COVID-19, across all industries from financial services and tech, to mining.

The astonishing growth of device connectivity is ushering in a new era of ubiquitous communication that even now is changing how we live and work. Within the decade, everything from our clothing, mobile phones, watches, home appliances, urban infrastructure, and even medical equipment will be sending and receiving data as component parts of the internet of things - a vast network of interconnected devices network, which will be processed in ‘the cloud.’ Our homes, the buildings around us, and our workplaces will all contribute to this new digital reality.

To say the least, digitalisation is an endlessly fascinating subject and its certainly a topical one for the business community.

In this issue of Business Enquirer, we’ve most excited to have had the opportunity to work with Manchester United - a name that requires little introduction, regardless of whether or not you follow the beautiful game. In the Premier League, the race to digitalise is as fierce between rival clubs off the pitch as it is on the pitch, and as Richard Arnold explains, Manchester United will have to dominate both spheres if it to maintain its standing as one of the world’s richest, most iconic football clubs.

Also in this issue, we’ve featured SHARE NOW Denmark – the market-leading car share brand in Europe - which, under the leadership of Morten Jakobsen, is revolutionising transport in Copenhagen. We also have the pleasure to feature the professional journey of Vincent Gauriat, the Chief Information Officer of Swiss giant, COTECNA. Then there’s Boart Longyear – one of the greatest brands in mining, and a name with a rich mining heritage stretching back over a century, as well as Ionic Rare Earths and Ascot Resources – two of the industry’s most exciting and dynamic rising stars.

On behalf of the BusEnq team, we hope you enjoy reading this issue as we’ve enjoyed creating it.

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FinTech Revolution

The FinTech revolution:

The digital upstarts that are driving transformation in banking

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FinTech Revolution Bill Gates once famously stated, “Banking is necessary, banks are not.” For years, this idea was a baffling one, such was our reliance on traditional banking institutions for which there was no alternative, but no longer – in light of the success of fintech over the past decade, it would appear his observation was a prescient one.

The emergence of fintech companies – innovative, dynamic online-only financial services providers such as Monzo, Klarna, and Revolut, for example – has transformed and disrupted the financial services sector in equal measure.

They are lean, agile, and – most importantly of all – capable of harnessing cutting-edge technologies to deliver user-friendly, tailored solutions in a way that the industry’s legacy banks currently cannot compete with.

From novelty to mass market in less than a decade Suffice to say the fintech sector has come a long way in recent years, during which it has evolved from being an insurgent financial sector novelty into what it is today: a dynamic, irresistible force that is changing the rules of the game in banking.

“Fintech has really grown up. It has proven that it can serve people the way they want to be

served and in a more accessible manner. It’s really exciting because success begets more success,” said Nina Mohanty, CEO and founder of Bloom Money in a recent fintech report.

Much to the benefit of the consumer if not the industry’s traditional incumbent banks, the digital revolution they are driving is vastly improving the customer experience (UX). Companies like Stripe, Klarna, Revolut, Starling and Monzo have captured millions of customers from traditional high street banks, which for all their capital, resources, and expertise, have increasingly ceded market share - a trend which has gathered pace following the outbreak of COVID-19.

Demand for digital banking was already growing prior to 2020, of course, but the sweeping lockdowns and shuttering of the high street during the darkest days of the outbreak was a game changer. As OneConnect’s CEO for Southeast Asia, Tan Bin Ru, noted, the pandemic brought about “hyper-acceleration of digital adoption,” to the extent that the digital transformation of the industry leaped forward by up to a decade.

However, Tan and other leaders in the fintech space know full well, it is not just technology that is driving the digital transformation of the financial services sector - improving the UX is the real differentiator between fintech operators

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FinTech Revolution and their legacy rivals. It is this that will drive adoption, not the provision of free apps and cheaper services alone.

Customer experience is king Technology spoils us with infinite choice and lower costs. We can have food delivered to our door with a click rather than going to a supermarket. Through ride hailing services we can be picked up and dropped off anywhere at any time. Highly sophisticated search engines, using advanced algorithms and AI can anticipate our needs and present us with the music, the information, and the stores, products and services that we need, and even that we don’t. Quite simply, it affords us a peerless customer experience.

Apple did not destroy the music industry or close down high street music retailers; being forced to queue up in a shop to buy an entire album did. Amazon didn’t finish off retailers large and small; lack of choice, queues and inconvenience did. Uber didn’t wipe out taxi companies; having to find a taxi rank or wait to flag a trip home did – you get the idea. It’s not technology that is the real disrupter per se, rather it’s the convenience, value-add, and ease of use that technology affords us that can really dictate whether we have a positive or negative customer experience: “A major thing for customers is ease of use, especially related to onboarding. I think there is still quite a big psychological barrier related to the effort required to buy certain products and services from banks as lots of them require a lot of additional information, the provision of which is often dependent on antiquated analogue processes,” announced Ross Logan, Co-founder and Product Director of Snoop, in a report.

Tailored service offerings, utilising AI Imagine this situation: you are walking through the city centre on the way to work and you want a coffee. You want one, so naturally you pop

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into your favourite coffee shop and buy a large café mocha for $4.50 using your credit card. You decide to sit down for five minutes, you can already savour the smell of the dark roast coffee and chocolate, and you’re about to take your first steaming sip; you’re stopped by the buzzing of your phone.

It’s a text from your bank notifying you that you have already spent $85.50 on coffee so far this month, and what’s more it has informed you that had you saved half of that money over the space of a year and invested it into an ETF your bank is offering, centred around clean energy stocks, you could have earned returns of up to 15% on top of the money you’d have saved. Below this, there’s a link in the message through which you can enter into such a plan with just a few clicks – the bank already has your details, after all. Your bank then offers to schedule an alert for the next time you order coffee, so as to help to regulate your coffee spending habits.

You choose no – we need some treats in life, after all.

Right now, such a scenario is not possible, but in the near future such services will be the norm.

Banks are fast digitalising, particularly as far as the adoption of AI technologies is concerned, and they will increasingly be able to offer us as customers ever more tailored solutions that can enhance our quality of life, in line with our behaviours, needs and spending habits. As this happens, our relationship with banking could well change: presently, banking for most of us is a means to end that allows us to get the things we need and to build the life we want, but what if our banks offered us real value-add and not just loans and credit cards?

The banks that are able to offer bespoke, high-quality solutions will quickly gain an enormous competitive advantage over their market peers and reap the rewards that come with being a first mover. And bearing in mind the overwhelming digital edge they enjoy, it will almost certainly be fintechs and online challenger

FinTech Revolution banks that succeed in delivering such AI-centric solutions to customers, not their high street competitors.

The future of banking is digital The threat that traditional banks face from their digitally advanced rivals is real and existential. It is not an option for them to do nothing – banks know well that if they fail to keep pace digitally, they could well end up the high street book shop to fintech’s Amazon.

Ultimately, it’s impossible to know how the digital revolution banking will play out, and who will be where at the end of it all. What is certain, however, is that the companies that come out on top will lead the field as innovators and customer-centric service providers.

Going forward, future financial customers – Millennials and Gen-Z – will settle for nothing less than seamless, digital service offerings.

They are tech savvy and expect user-friendly, personalised, efficient and competitive services.

To win their custom, financial institutions will have to seek to understand them, not the other way around. Even in its infancy, fintech companies have already shown that they can first identify, and then cater to their customers’ needs in a way that legacy banks presently can’t. Personal banking for high-net-worth individuals aside, legacy banks continue to offer one-size-fits all financial products to its customers – a state of affairs that is tolerated by long-standing existing customers, perhaps, but one which will do them no favours in winning over new ones.

Of course, the legacy financial institutions can see which way the proverbial wind is blowing.

They know that in order to stay relevant and win the digital era they must digitalise and innovate, and increasingly a growing number of big-name banks are seeking to make up the digital deficit through strategic acquisitions of, and partnerships with fintechs. For all the rivalry that exists between incumbents and upstarts, collaboration is increasingly a strategy which benefits both sides – the banks benefit from the digital nous and energy of fintechs, the fintechs benefit from building positive, potentially long-standing relationships with the big beasts of finance.

It’s win-win.

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Watchlist

The great European unicorn boom –

How the continent is leading the way...

F

ollowing a rip-roaring year which has seen billions of dollars raised, various rounds closed, and the birth of over 75 US$1 billion plus startups so far this year, it would appear that Europe will soon need a bigger unicorn stable.

Investment into start-ups are at an all-time high because investors see tech as a safe asset and innovation is continuing as entrepreneurs are identifying gaps in the market and are bulging with ideas. This is a huge vote of confidence in the global tech sector.”

Europe’s growing herd of unicorns has overtaken that of China, following a surge of VC investments into the region which has seen the UK alone create more US$1 billion-plus valued tech startups this year than the world’s second-largest economy. In total, Europe has birthed over 290 unicorn companies since 1990, whereas China has created a total of 276.

Buoyed by a surge in VC spending, which has seen over US$50 billion flow into the continent – more than all of Asia combined, it would appear Europe is finally starting to fulfil its tech startup potential. It is telling that of the world’s 170 unicorn cities — cities with one or more unicorns, 65 are located in Europe.

“European tech has hit a purple patch in 2021,” stated Yoram Wijngaarde, the CEO and Founder of Dealroom. “While records for VC investment are being broken everywhere, no developed ecosystem is growing as fast as Europe. Outproducing China on unicorns is also an important milestone.

“Tech continues to be a major economic driver, attracting investment and jobs at a time when the rest of the economy slowed down as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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The UK remains the centre stage for unicorn creation in the region, with Germany and France having also performed well this year. And then there’s Sweden, or more specifically Stockholm the leading per capita global creator of unicorns, Silicon Valley aside, and home to the continent’s most valuable unicorn, Klarna – valued at US$45 billion.

It’s been an especially strong year for fintech startups, who have dominated the 2021 unicorn space, but a number of exciting firms from across the board have emerged that are raising the flag for European business.

European Unicorns

Lendable Location: UK Valuation: US $1 billion The London-based personal loans fintech, which offers fast, competitive loans via a soft credit search system – used so applicants won’t have their credit score affected, has been a huge hit with consumers.

The fintech is an industry leader due to its fast-growing sales, its fast-track application process, and most importantly its ability to offer credit to those with less-than-perfect credit at low rates of interest by using institutional capital to fund the loans. In light of this, its success is perhaps to be expected - Lendable now issues a new loan every 30 seconds. So popular with customers, in fact, that the review engine Feefo.com have given the company a 100% approval rating on services and response times.

The company recently appeared in the Sunday Times Top 10 in Tech alongside Revolut, by measure of fastest-growing sales. Plans are afoot to expand into the US marketplace, and there are also rumours the company will soon be launching a new credit card product.

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European Unicorns

Gorillas Location: Germany Valuation: US $1.38 billion The Berlin-based grocery delivery startup, Gorillas - a new entrant that is committed to offering locally sourced, on demand products to cut down grocery shopping wastage – certainly entered the field at the right time: the beginning of lockdown in March 2020, to be precise. It speaks volumes that little more than 18-months later it has become Germany’s fastest-ever unicorn.

The startup has introduced a pioneering model where customers only buy what they need, when they need it. Groceries are distributed from a fulfilment centre in a customers’ immediate local area, which not only gives customers the chance to get to know the people delivering their food but also decreases carbon emissions.

With only a click, consumers have over 2,000 products to choose from, and deliveries will arrive directly at their doorstep in little more than 10 minutes, all for a fee of € 1.80.

To date, Gorillas operates out of over 100 fulfilment centres across Europe and has a footprint in more than 30 cities, including Munich, Paris, Amsterdam, and London, Berlin – a presence it has built up in just over 10 months.

Additionally, the company has also setup shop in Spain, where the company’s services are currently available in Madrid.

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Watchlist

Starling Bank Location: UK Valuation: US $1.53 billion The rise to unicorn status in 2021 has capped a great year for London-based Starling Bank, which has joined the growing herd of UK fintech unicorns that are taking the financial sector by storm.

Starling’s substantial cash injection came about following a Series D funding round that raised US$378 million, the lion’s share of which came from US-based Fidelity Investments as well as Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund. For Starling Bank’s CEO, Anne Boden, this heavy investment is a vote of confidence in the company’s unique, customer-centric approach to doing business, which she believes is what consumers expect and demand in 2021: “Digital banking has reached a tipping point. Customers now expect a fairer, smarter and more human alternative to the banks of the past and that is what we are giving them at Starling as we continue to grow and add new products and services.”

Today, Starling is already one of the UK’s fastest-growing banks, with over 2 million accounts having been opened since its inception in 2017 and a net income of US$2m per month. For Starling, the next step in its plan going forward is to expand into Europe – a goal it is seeking to achieve through mergers and acquisitions.

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Watchlist

Alan Location: France Valuation: US $1.62 billion From its headquarters in Paris, Alan – the first digitally native health insurer in France - has succeeded in disrupting the €36bn French health insurance market – something it achieved only five years after becoming the first company to be granted a health insurance licence since 1986. An impressive achievement indeed.

Alan hit the ground running after it moved to provide health insurance with a simple pricing structure and a cheerful app for employees of small businesses, which represented a drastically different approach to that of the century-old industry giants such as Generali Axa. This fresh, humanistic approach to doing things has underpinned the startup’s rapid growth and success believes Philippe Laffont – the billionaire Founder of Coatue Management, which led the most recent round of funding: “With their people-centric approach, Alan delivers better care for patients at a lower cost for the healthcare system. We are proud to support their vision of building the healthcare super-app.”

The company, which had a user base in excess of 150,000 as of the summer this year, aims to reach one million customers across Europe by 2023. Following the success of its recent round of funding, the French health insurer intends to accelerate its growth plans by hiring 400 new staff across the continent by the close of 2023.

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European Unicorns

BitPanda Location: Austria Valuation: US $3.4 billion In addition to being a good year for European unicorns, 2021 has been a fantastic year for the price of Bitcoin. The crypto bull market has been on something of a tear since early 2020, and this in turn has spurred the rise of the crypto exchange, Bitpanda – otherwise known as Austria’s first unicorn.

The fintech giant, which raised an impressive US$258 million following a fresh round of funding in August, has emerged to become a well-rounded investment platform that allows its customers to invest and trade in a range of investment products, such as cryptocurrencies, precious metals, and fractional stocks, from as little as US$1. Bitpanda also unveiled a Visa debit card in January, which allows customers to make payments using multiple assets.

To date, Bitpanda has built up a user base of over three million users, and, so long as the crypto surge continues, the startup is on course to reach 6x customer growth year-on-year, and a sevenfold revenue increase.

Following the successes of this year, Bitpanda is looking to invest heavily in its team as it plans for further international expansion and growth.

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European Unicorns

Shift Technology Location: France Valuation: US $1 billion Shift Technology is a provider of AI-driven decision automation and optimisation solutions which allows insurance clients to detect fraudulent claims – a useful service indeed for the industry.

To date, the company states it has already analysed 2 billion claims on behalf of insurers since it opened its doors for business. First, Shift receives data provided by the client, as well as public data about the claimant. Their algorithms will then read and process the claimant’s claim declaration before determining whether to file an appeal or carry out a check for money laundering.

The software-as-a-service company can do more than just help clients detect fraud, however - the startup also intends to offer a tool capable of managing the entire chain. by analysing claims for crimes like money laundering.

Presently, Shift technology has a client list that includes AXA, Generali France, and MS&AD. Going forward, the company, which is headquartered in Paris, and has offices in Boston, London, Hong Kong, Madrid, Singapore and Zurich, intends to use its fresh funding to expand its position in property and casualty insurance markets, and also expand into health insurance.

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Watchlist

Itiviti Location: Sweden Valuation: US $2.5 billion The Stockholm-based startup, Itiviti, is the latest fintech to emerge from Sweden – a country that has developed quite a reputation as a global unicorn hub.

Itiviti is a trading technology and service provider to many of the world’s leading financial institutions, focusing on front-office trade order and execution management systems – at the time of writing, the company serves 24 of the 25 world’s leading investment banks.

Built on a modular, open architecture, its award-winning sell-side OMS, trading and connectivity solutions allow financial institutions to win opportunities across global markets, and also provide reliable, efficient support to their trading operations.

Over the past three years, Itiviti has invested heavily in its trading tech and partnered with a number of fintech experts to offer value-added functionality.

The Stockholm unicorn continues to enjoy stellar growth, and to date the company has a 2,000-strong client base worldwide and has generated in excess of US$240m in revenue.

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Watchlist

An AI revolution – The startups that are changing the world AI is an emerging disruptive force that will be the primary driver of economic competitiveness, not to mention social change, over the coming decades. To say that AI is going to change the rules of the game would be an understatement – suffice to say, there is considerable interest, excitement, and no little anxiety surrounding artificial intelligence and the role it will play in building the world of the future.

In the grand scheme of things, today, AI is still in its infancy and yet the effects of its increasing integration into businesses and homes is already bringing about disruption and transformation in equal measure. From chess-playing computers to self-driving cars, and Alexa, of course, AI is increasingly a regular feature in our everyday lives, but it is the impact of AI on business and the wider economy that is dominating conversation on the topic.

The integration of AI into everyday operations is still in its very early stages for most organisations, although, tellingly, up to three-quarters of companies are already using AI to augment their customer experience and support services, IT, marketing, and supply chain operations, according to IBM’s 2021 Global AI Adoption Index.

Broadly speaking, executive leadership teams are looking at AI and seeing the extraordinary

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benefits that intelligent machines can bring to bear.

The pace of advancement of this revolutionary area of technology has been astonishing but, interestingly, unlike in other industries, it’s not the traditional heavyweights of the business world that are pushing the development of AI. Rather, AI innovation is occurring as a result of the work of an ever-growing number of R&D laboratories, digital platforms and – most importantly of all – startups.

Startups are the pioneers that are spearheading technological progress in areas such as image recognition, advanced robotics, automated driving, and natural language processing. Thus, creating an optimal environment in which these players can flourish has been top of the agenda in the regions that are leading the race to build thriving AI ecosystems – countries like the US, China, Israel, the UK, Germany, France, and India. Indeed, these global players are of not just aware of the economic cost of falling behind in the AI race, but indeed the high geopolitical price that will be paid too.

The following are some of the emerging AI startups that are making waves in the business world this year:

AI Startups

Verge Genomics Location: San Francisco, USA Verge Genomics is a pharmaceutical startup that combines AI with human genome data to seek out new drugs for neurodegenerative diseases. Many drugs that show initial promise in animal models aren’t effective when applied to humans, noted CEO Alice Zhang, so Verge has pioneered a way of doing things differently: start with human data instead to see how new drugs might succeed. Verge’s first computationally predicted drug, a treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, will enter clinical trials next year.

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AI Startups

Quantexa Location: London, UK

Nate Location: New York, USA Nate uses AI to centralise online shopping from any website through a single platform, something which makes it unique in the ecommerce space. Through its mobile checkout app, nate will consign cumbersome, clunky online shopping experiences - the leading cause of cart abandonment by frustrated mobile shoppers - to the dustbin of history.

A customer need only share any item they wish to purchase on the nate app, click buy, and that’s it - done. At the back end, nate’s AI-powered tech completes the purchase process and arranges shipping and delivery, leading to an improved customer satisfaction and much-increased conversion for retailers. Additionally, nate offers users the option to pay in four instalments, which further streamlines the buying experience for users.

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The London-based anti-fraud and cybersecurity firm, Quantexa, develops technology to secure organisations’ data and flag potential illegal activity. The company’s suite of data and network analytics tools enables it to support data-heavy industries, such as banking, public sector, and e-commerce, to make analytical models that uncover data risk, highlight commercial opportunities, and enhance decision making.

“Our platform dynamically generates the context needed to automate millions of operational decisions, at scale, across multiple business units, including anti-money laundering, fraud, credit risk and customer intelligence,” says CEO and Founder, Vishal Marria.

Watchlist

Pony.ai Location: California, USA Pony.ai is an autonomous vehicle tech company that has roots in three different locations: Silicon Valley, Beijing, and Guangzhou.

Quite simply, Pony.ai is a startup that builds full-stack autonomous driving solutions that are safe and reliable. Pony is building what it describes as an agnostic virtual driver for all sizes of vehicles, from small cars to large trucks, and to operate on both ridesharing and logistics service networks.

The company has been working with OEMs and suppliers to apply its automated technology to the long-haul trucking market, but undoubtedly it is best known for its effort to develop robotaxis.

Fox Robotics Location: Austin, USA Fox Robotics is mid-stage startup that specialises in industrial automation. Under the leadership of its founding team, which has world-class experience in robotics, cloud services, computer vision and machine learning from Carnegie Mellon, Stanford, Bosch, YouTube, Google Robotics and KUKA, Fox Robotics has developed solutions over a number of business segments, including warehouse automation, self-driving cars, the PR2, self-driving lawn mowers, industrial robots, cloud robotics, and more.

The company, which is based in Texas, USA, is something of an AI thought leader in its field, and its technologies has significantly reduced expenses for a number of its clients.

Last year, a fleet of electric, autonomous Hyundai Kona crossovers equipped with a self-driving system from Pony.ai and Via’s ride-hailing platform began shuttling customers on public roads in Fremont and Irvine, California, and Guangzhou, China.

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Watchlist

AIBrain Location: California, USA

Cardiologs Location: Paris, France The mission of Cardiologs is simple: it is using AI to reinvent cardiac care.

As the name already suggests, the company provides an innovative software technology enabling any healthcare professional to accurately and reliably screen patients for cardiovascular diseases. In-line with its objective, the business has joined forces with leading cardiac experts and doctors to make the machine learning process better and more efficient to serve humanity.

By using the AI technology provided by Cardiologs, clinicians are better able to make improved cardiac diagnosis and provide better patient care.

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AIBrain is a Palo Alto, California-based tech startup that is striving to augment human intelligence with AI in true sci-fi fashion.

By fusing problem solving, learning and memory technologies together, the company can build systems that learn and adapt without human assistance. The company stated: “AIBrain delivers the full autonomy based on its breakthrough technologies: AICoRe (Adaptive Interactive Cognitive Reasoner), a fully autonomous cognitive AI; Memory Graph, AI memory encompassing both episodic and semantic knowledge.

AIBrain is the home for brilliant AI brains with the grand aim to augment human intelligence with AI. the creator of AI, we will be able to augment our intelligence with autonomous AI and memory.”

AI Startups

AEye Location: California, USA

Nektar.ai Location: Singapore Whilst sales is an inherently human-touch industry, Nektar.ai is a B2B sales productivity startup that can support sales teams in two ways: it reduces the amount of time they spend on manual data entry, and provides analytics that can increase revenue.

Nektar.ai’s all-in-one tool offers an AI-powered virtual assistant to sales teams and a connected revenue enablement platform to improve productivity, boost sales, and streamline growth.

AEye has cleverly developed what is known as LiDar technologies: a laser-based sensor system that can accurately detect surroundings for self-driving cars. Lidar, which stands for light detection and ranging radar, uses laser light to create a highly accurate 3D map of the world surrounding the car. This tech has been well received, and is widely considered by many in the emerging automated driving industry as a critical and necessary tool.

Additionally, the company utilises AI to help OEMs create smart self-driving vehicles using its intelligent detection and ranging (iDar) technology to provide surrounding senses much like that of a human.

“At the right price and reliability, we believe lidar will eventually be in everything that has a camera today,” said CEO Blair LaCorte during an investor presentation. “With expectations for broad adoption of lidar for consumer and industrial applications, we forecast a total addressable market of $42 billion by 2030.”

At present, the startup works with select customers in India and the US in private beta, although it plans to launch the product fully in the first half of 2022.

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AI Startups

Atomwise Location: San Francisco, USA

Bearing Location: California, USA It would be quite the understatement to say tracking ocean-bound cargo shipments is a tricky business. Rough seas, stormy weather, and all manner of other challenges can cause havoc on scheduled arrivals in port.

To counteract this problem, Bearing utilises AI to help shipping firms to track and manage their fleets, optimise routes, and reduce fuel consumption. The models Bearing uses to predict vessel performance are a great deal more accurate than the physics-based models the industry has traditionally used.

After successfully demonstrating Bearing’s optimisation tools, CEO Dylan Keil stated: “it was still thrilling to actually guide that first 650-plus-foot vessel across the Pacific.” Presently, Bearing has entered partnerships with major global shippers, MOL and K Line.

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Atomwise is a biotech startup that specialises in developing AI systems using powerful deep learning algorithms and supercomputers to help discover new drugs, medicines and agricultural compounds.

Through its AtomNet technology, the company’s drug discovery algorithm uses a neural network to simulate how different small molecules might bind to a protein. It’s AI tech harnesses millions of data points and thousands of protein structures, enabling it to quickly solve problems that would a human chemist many lifetimes. Due to their convoluted structures and complex interactactions, thousands of proteins are as of yet unlinked to any drug treatments.

Atomwise’s 250-strong customer base, which includes Columbia University and pharma heavyweights like Bayer, are running nearly 800 projects across areas, including brain diseases, cancer, and blood clotting disorders. To date, Atomwise has already helped to pioneer promising drugs ebola and multiple sclerosis, which were successful in animal trials.

Watchlist

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Manchester United

A JOUR COMME SUCCESS & TRANSFOR 28

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Sports Feature

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PROJECT DIRECTED BY

WRITTEN BY

Jamie Waite

Jay Benmehidi

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Manchester United

T

here is something magical about Manchester United. Yes, they’ve won 66 major titles but, as impressive as this trophy haul is, the stardust that surrounds the Red Devils can’t be attributed to winning alone.

Perhaps it is their commitment to the ‘The United way,’ a swashbuckling philosophy that prizes attacking flair and never-say-die excitement, that best embodies what the soul of this grand old club represents? It is difficult to pinpoint exactly what makes United special, but what is certain is that it is more than just a football club, that much is clear.

To win on the pitch, you have to win off it Alas, whilst the club has a footballing past more glorious than any other club in England, Manchester United’s fortunes on the pitch have fallen short of the incredible successes of the Ferguson-era – a period of domination that saw them swat aside all challengers, be they

Wenger’s Invincibles or arguably the greatest threat to their dominance under Ferguson, Mourinho’s lavishly assembled Chelsea side.

However, whilst United’s recent on-pitch results have been disappointing, it’s off-pitch commercial performance has been nothing short of stellar.

For Richard Arnold, Manchester United’s Group Managing Director and a lifelong United supporter to boot, such commercial prowess has given the club a much-needed shot in the arm during what has been a difficult time. In his view, United can only retake their rightful place at the top of the table if they have the financial engine to invest in the team in the first place: “Commercial success is only possible because of the unparalleled engagement we have with our fans. The end goal is creating a virtuous circle, where more engagement with our fans equals greater opportunities for our partners.

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Manchester United And that in turn equals greater revenue, and more opportunities for academy investment and world class signings to deliver the performances and success United fans expect and deserve.

Expressed simply, for us to win on the pitch, we have to win off it.”

Quality of execution: they key to successful digital outreach Being digitally capable as a club is no longer a choice but a necessity, especially following the outbreak of COVID-19 – an event that has turbo-charged the digitalisation of the world at large. Where once the key to commercial success was dependant on support from the terraces, be it from ticket sales or selling replica shirts and other merchandise, today, it is all about fan engagement. Engaged fans and sponsors are vital for creating a commercially sustainable football club – as executives like Richard know all too well, there’s nothing more valuable for a club than the people who support it.

With a global fanbase in excess of 650 million and an active social media following of 142 million, United’s supporter appeal is universal and unrivalled. Much as you might expect of a club with United’s commercial nous, its leadership team has led from the front in leveraging the enormous potential of disruptive technologies and digital platforms to connect with its vast supporter base, both at home and abroad: “What our fans have been interested in hasn’t changed significantly over 100 years. It’s about quality of execution - the right content to the right fans at the right time, in the right language, in the right technology format, through the right medium.”

A digital transformation of the beautiful game In the space of little more than half a decade, football has undergone a digital transformation that has changed the fan experience, along with every other facet of the game, beyond recognition. The provision of 24/7 content via social

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Sports Feature media and digital platforms has intensified the relationship between club and fans, who no longer interact with their clubs over the 90 minutes of a game – they expect engagement round the clock, in-line with their increasing digital demands. Ticketing is now an entirely digital process, and online merchandise sales are par for the course; and this is but the tip of the iceberg of the United’s game plan, which is clearly set out in the club’s digital strategy: “The rapid shift of media consumption towards internet, mobile and social media platforms presents us with multiple growth opportunities and new revenue streams. Our digital media platforms, such as mobile sites, applications and social media, are one of the primary methods by which we engage and transact with our followers around the world… these actions help to ensure that we have both a greater degree of control over the production, distribution and quality of our proprietary content and better insight into how to evolve our mobile and content strategy as we continue to develop and roll out carefully targeted new products and services.

In addition to developing our own digital properties, we intend to leverage third party media platforms and other social media as a means of further engaging with our followers and creating a source of traffic for our digital media assets.

Our mobile and content offerings are in the early stages of development and present opportunities for future growth. We believe we have the opportunity to further leverage our extensive CRM database.”

What our fans have been interested in hasn’t changed significantly over 100 years.

It’s about quality of execution...

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Sports Feature Engaging directly with fans in a fragmented media landscape To be successful in modern football, clubs must provide fans and sponsors with a seamless, value-creating digital experience that builds loyalty, breeds passion, attracts new fans and provides new possibilities for generating revenue.

With this objective in mind, Manchester United, in partnership with its digital transformation partner, HCL Technologies, has gone to great effort to oversee the development of a portfolio of digital assets and initiatives to further consolidate its leadership in the digital space.

The 2018 launch of the club’s free official app, which immediately reached number one in the App Store’s sports category download charts in 68 countries, was a milestone moment in the club’s digital journey. Certainly, its proven to be invaluable platform through which United can engage directly with its supporters, anytime, anywhere, anyplace: “The point worth making is that phenomenal engagement and the phenomenal digital reach also means that the value of what some would refer to as traditional inventory, also remains very, very sought after, because it’s such a powerful connecting tool with our fans. That represents an increasingly valuable commodity in an increasingly valuable, increasingly fragmented media landscape.

The app is providing us with the ability to have a closer relationship with our fans and provide them with a one-stop-shop for all things Manchester United, including breaking news, statistics, highlights and other exclusive content.

In addition, there are material business benefits including the cross promotion of other clubs of our other club products and services. And the growing user base also presents increasingly attractive opportunities for our commercial partners through brand integration initiatives.”

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Manchester United Xperience Lab – the next stage of Manchester United’s digital evolution This ground-breaking global partnership between Manchester United and HCL Technologies continues to bear fruit today, and efforts are ongoing between both to further expand and improve the club’s digital offerings to its 659 million supporters.

Only this July, it was announced that the next stage of this partnership would see HCL build a cutting-edge United Xperience Lab inside Old Trafford - only the seventh such lab to be built anywhere in the world. Inside this lab, Manchester United and HCL will continue to devise innovative, industry-first processes and technologies to raise the digital bar even further:

It is a very exciting prospect and the possibilities of what we can achieve are endless.

“Our partnership with HCL is a first for Manchester United. With the introduction of the United Xperience lab at Old Trafford, we hope to demonstrate best practices within the industry to generate new ideas that leverage the latest technology available in the evolving digital landscape,” Richard explained.

“It is a very exciting prospect and the possibilities of what we can achieve are endless. Through digital transformation we hope to change the way in which our fans experience and interact with Manchester United.

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Cotecna

A Jou of gro and pa 36

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Technology Feature

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PROJECT DIRECTED BY

WRITTEN BY

Liam O’Hara

Jay Benmehidi

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Cotecna

I

n a world which is nothing if not competitive, attaining success in life and in business are goals that all aspire for, and yet few achieve.

However, while the journey to success is fraught with challenges and adversity, it can be a little less arduous for those who find their passion, and are then able to marry this passion with the drive and discipline needed to progress in the professional world – something that Vincent Gauriat, Chief Information Officer at COTECNA, discovered during his own journey, albeit unexpectedly as he admits: “My passion for IT started during my years at the university where I learned development languages. I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I was a student but, by chance, I got the opportunity to work in parallel in a small IT shop where I was building, installing, and servicing personal computers, printers and networks for end customers. I found it so diverse to discover all these different fields and jobs behind that one little word ‘IT.’ I was totally fascinated! So, I decided to start my career in IT and to complete my studies in evening classes. I quickly understood that IT was a field in constant evolution.

Being a Chief Information Officer now with a strong IT technical background, I am different from many in my position. I am able to talk about technical topics with anyone in my team, about really deep subjects that can be very complex, but also to translate them and adapt when discussing with my business colleagues.”

Inspired by the endless complexity and scope for learning in this most fascinating of sectors, Vincent has enjoyed a stellar 20+ year career in IT that has seen him earn a reputation as a thought-leader and highly capable technician.

COTECNA is a leading provider of testing, inspection and certification services. They offer solutions to facilitate trade and make supply chains safer and more efficient for our clients.

Their trusted network of pr​ofessionals and certified laboratories provide expertise across five key sectors: government & trade solutions, agriculture, food safety, minerals & metals, and consumer goods & retail. Founded in Switzerland in COTECNA employees performing an inspection

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Cotecna 1974, Cotecna started off as a family business and has now grown to become a world-class international player with over 5,000 employees in more than 100 offices across approximately 50 countries.

Today, as Chief Information Officer at COTECNA, Vincent manages a team of more than 120 people across 30 countries and a multi-million-dollar annual budget. Certainly, the IT veteran has come a long way since he took the opening steps of his career with the highly regarded French insurance broker, Dexia-Sofaxis, and later Amadeus Group, as a Database Administrator, an invaluable experience which taught Vincent the fundamentals of working in the corporate world: “This experience has been key for me because handling data is being at the heart of the company. You must have a global understanding of all the IT domains - infra, operations, development, security - and of course business processes to ensure data is well structured, that access to it is quick, always available and more than everything, that this is well secured and protected.

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After 6 years in Dexia-Sofaxis, I moved to the south of France where I worked as a contractor for the Amadeus group, still as a Database Administrator. Working for this multinational group in a multicultural environment was a very rich experience that gave me then the opportunity to move to Switzerland where I joined Cotecna 14 years ago.”

After working his way up through the ranks in various positions, such as Database Team Manager, Regional IT Manager, and Global IT Director, Vincent was finally awarded the CIO role, in which he has consolidated his reputation as a visionary strategist with a strong can-do attitude and a willingness to take bold actions.

Over the course of his tenure as COTECNA’s Head of IT, Vincent has reshaped the IT function several times over to create a better, more nimble organization that is not only able to achieve internal excellence but also proactive in providing solutions to clients – one, which Vincent proudly said, has succeeded in gaining some really important victories on the field with the business:

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Technology Feature “I was in our Dubai office with the country manager. We were discussing the role of Digital and its impact on our business. He mentioned an opportunity he had in Abu Dhabi where his client wanted to have a modern smart application with QR code that could track movement of goods at a port. We didn’t have this product in our catalogue at the time. I was with my Head of IT Operations, and we said ‘Yeah, we don’t have that, but we are not that far from developing it’. So, we decided to meet the clients to understand their requirements and pain points. We committed to the client that we could deliver this software product in 2 months. We then formed a small team to deliver this next-gen mobile app successfully. We won the tender for Cotecna and this win changed the perception of our firm in the eyes of the client.

Now, our clients know that Cotecna can provide technical solutions to their problems and move quickly.

That is one of the many examples since then where the external perception of the IT team has moved from being a technical supplier to a business enabler. This change has been definitely the biggest achievement in my past five years.”

Vincent’s efforts to level-up IT have been far-reaching. He integrated the product team which previously reported to business management - into IT and utilized them to transform the IT division into a more customer-centric organization, focused on products and value-add, not just technology.

This has been a gruelling, and at times emotional journey that has seen Vincent and his people say goodbye to friends and colleagues as the necessary changes were made to improve and streamline the division, but as Vincent observed, the transformation was possible because of the commitment of every member of the team to this change - everyone understood and shared the same vision that, while tough, the changes that were underway were for the greater good.

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Definitely that’s been the biggest achievement in my past five years ... to move from being a technical supplier to a business enabler

Cotecna

“With Cotecna being part of a new customer engagement program at SAP, we have fundamentally reset the relationship in 2021 and are now working closely together to define strategies and roadmaps to address the challenges and potentials of the digital transformation, especially in finance, at Cotecna. I am looking forward to an exciting collaboration.”

Lukas Dumhard

Account Executive, SAP Switzerland

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Cotecna As the IT division’s good standing today shows, such sacrifices were a necessary measure: “Under my leadership, we accelerated the digital transformation of the group. We launched internal tools to dramatically increase our collaboration, and customer facing digital products to support our goal to double revenue in 5 years. Our internal digital workplace, launched in 2019, played a key role enabling remote working and collaboration during the pandemic, making the transition to the “new world” extremely fast and efficient across the group.

At the same time, our internal software development centre in Barcelona has grown to become a centre of excellence promoting agility and having a dedicated team of engineers working on innovation initiatives for the group. This creates new business opportunities.

In parallel, two years ago we launched a new competence centre in India to develop IT solutions for our Food Safety business. We are now expanding our footprint so we can efficiently manage all the maintenance and support for other products.

Recognizing that the world today is more connected and more online, I hired a new Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) in 2020 to streamline security processes within the organization.

We have enriched our set of tools, implemented a 24/7 Security Operations Center and launched many awareness campaigns to train our employees.”

It has been an incredible, fast-paced professional journey for Vincent that would have not been possible also with the unconditional support of his family. Married for more than 20 years with 3 grown-up children, they have been the building block of his personal growth and the first ones to believe in his capacity to do more. As he reflects, he admits he never aspired to become a C-suite executive at any stage – it all happened organically with hard work and dedication. The question is what next? Having

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already earned a seat at the top table, and being in his element at his home in Geneva – a paradise location for any avid snowboarder and mountaineer like him – does Vincent have any thoughts of moving on from here? Not according to Vincent. Going forward, Vincent sees new challenges and opportunities to further optimize the role of Digital at the group. He concluded, “The group is on a wonderful growth journey where, of course, IT products and innovation will play a key role as the pace and adoption of technology accelerates in our industry. So, our ambition is to dream big and be more adaptable, more resilient, and more creative every day! We are growing organically but also through mergers and acquisitions. For me, the ambition is to be the CIO of the future COTECNA Group which will be twice, three times - or even more! - larger.

On a personal level, being a permanent member of the executive committee will be a key factor.

I value collaboration and teamwork in a respectful environment more than anything else.

Selecting the right profile to build your team is essential, but not enough. Once you have your champions, you need to trust them, hold them accountable, and do everything possible to ensure that they can achieve their goals - both on a corporate and personal level. On top of that, give them a clear and transparent vision of the fact that together we can achieve something much bigger than any of our individual roles and you will get an over-performing team. We need to continue to look over the horizon and question what the future is going to look like for our customers, and what will be our role in it.”

I am part of this new generation of leaders who value collaboration and teamwork in a respectful environment more than anything else

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SHARE NOW

Driv The fu 46

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Digital Feature

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Annalect:

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Annalect is Omnicom’s global data, technology, and analytics division. Our team is growing rapidly with people based in over 80 countries around the globe. We support our agency partners and clients in driving greater efficiencies and value in marketing through our expertise in media, data, creative and technology for global brands.

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PROJECT DIRECTED BY

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Malvern Kandemwa

Jay Benmehidi

Morten Jakobsen Managing Director, Share Now Denmark Photo: David Engstrøm

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Digital Feature

T

here have been many remarkable developments so far in the 21st century, but undoubtedly one of the most disruptive and fascinating of these must surely be the emergence, and mass acceptance of the sharing economy – a socio-economic shift that is turning long-held views pertaining to ownership on their head.

As we collectively strive to build greener, more environmentally sustainable economies, it is only natural that being more resource efficient and getting more bang for our buck is at the top of the agenda for both consumers and businesses. The rise of the sharing economy – a flexible community-based system that allows participants to offer and receive goods and services via B2C or P2P platforms – fits hand in glove with this new world view, and its effect on traditional business models has, to say the least, been transformative. Certainly, the emergence of Airbnb and Uber, for example, have changed the rules of the game in their respective industries, arguably to the benefit of the consumer if not hoteliers and taxi drivers.

In a similar vein, the rising popularity of free-floating car share services, offered by companies like SHARE NOW, is having a similarly disruptive impact on our relationships with our cars, and indeed our entire attitude towards mobility as a whole. And for it is easy to see why for budgetary reasons alone: aside from taking on a mortgage, for most of us, buying a car is the most expensive purchase we will make in our lifetimes. Cars are expensive to buy initially, and once we’ve bought one the costs keep adding up. For those of us living in major cities, a car invariably sits idle on our driveways 95% of the time, and yet we still have to pay road tax and we have to keep it insured; we have to regularly service and maintain it. And on the rare occasion we do take our cars out for a drive, the cost of filling up the tank or keeping it charged on a long enough journey can be eye-watering.

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SHARE NOW: Your Partner for Flexible Car Sharing As Europe’s market leader and inventor of free-floating car sharing, SHARE NOW spent a decade building a global network of local shared mobility solutions. Whether you need a car for two minutes or two weeks, you can get going with just one app. With over three million customers and 11,000 vehicles, including 2,900 electric vehicles, the joint venture of the BMW Group and Daimler AG is represented in 16 major European cities.

SHARE NOW operates two successful franchise locations, including one with its partner Arriva Danmark, and is committed to finding more allies to spread the forward-thinking idea of sharing instead of owning. SHARE NOW offers flexible, adaptive technology and a sustainable business investment in the future of urban mobility. As a car sharing operator with a 100 percent in-house developed tech ecosystem, the company combines both: the operations and the technology of shared mobility. The industry leader tested the app, fleet management and flexible telematic solutions in 30+ cities worldwide. Next to building up a global community, SHARE NOW became a strong brand with an outstanding customer base.

Car sharing plays a defining role in the urban mobility of tomorrow and is proven in supporting cities to reduce parking pressure and emissions. With the overall goal to increase the rate of shared vehicles, SHARE NOW wants to make cities more liveable and provide sustainable mobility on a local level. Join the global network and make a difference in your city today!

SHARE NOW

FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO GO NEW WAYS BUT NOT ON FOOT.

FRANCHISE NOW: Join the SHARE NOW community and launch a franchise in your city. With SHARE NOW - Europe’s largest free-floating car sharing provider. Learn more on share-now.com/franchise YOU NOW. SHARE NOW.

SHARE NOW And then there’s the environmental impact to consider: each of the millions of cars that are on the road day in, day out, emit noxious emissions that are harmful to both the planet and our own health, and contribute to the ever increasing congestion in our towns and cities.

The transport sector is ripe for positive disruptive change, and as Morten Jakobsen, Managing Director of SHARE NOW Denmark, has observed in Copenhagen, people are coming round to the idea of car sharing to the extent that even the metaphorical Mr and Mrs Hansen is increasingly amongst his customer portfolio: “Transportation might be the one of the last places to get there, but what I would call the streaming mindset – where people don’t want to go and buy a CD or an album, they just want to play the song that they like, when and where they like it – we’re starting to get there now in the transport industry. We are selling kilometres on demand more and more. This is a turning point, though it probably differs from country to country whether you are in front or after the chasm.

But anyhow, we are standing with the majority of the market behind us, definitely,” he explained.

SHARE NOW fleet vehicle Photo: David Engstrøm

In terms of customers ... you can see we have a relatively big chunk of Copenhagen in our customer portfolio.

“Today our fleet is double the number in Copenhagen compared to when we first started SHARE NOW. In terms of customers, I think we have just over 160,000 sign ups and if you compare that to the size of Copenhagen, which has a population of around one million inhabitants, you can see we have a relatively big chunk of Copenhagen in our customer portfolio.”

In the Danish capital, as in many major cities across the developed world, the adoption of free-floating car sharing has exploded in popularity in recent years. As Morten acknowledges, car sharing is an industry still very much in its infancy, however the 50% year-on-year growth rates that SHARE NOW Denmark has achieved since it first opened its doors for business show clearly that it is an industry on the rise. Even Morten has been somewhat taken aback by the

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SHARE NOW fleet vehicle Photo: David Engstrøm

Digital Feature Continental reduces downtime for Share Now thanks to data-driven predictive tire diagnostics.

The premium tire manufacturer and service provider Continental enables Share Now Denmark to monitor their fleet tires in real time. So far, over 600 vehicles, including a growing number of electric cars, have been equipped, in cooperation with Traffilog, a global leading expert for fleet-specific telematics and predictive diagnostics solutions, with sensors and on-board units that send data to the cloud.

This data is then processed by Continental proprietary algorithms to provide actionable insights on tire health information such as pressure, temperature, and tread depth.

Continental can predict tire tread depth of the Share Now fleet in real time with an accuracy of below one millimeter.

By connecting their tires to the cloud, Share Now gains additional benefits from efficient fleet operations and minimized downtime through just in time, need-based tire servicing.

Furthermore, with knowledge about tire health and data-driven informed decision making, our customers ensure greater safety and reduce their overall cost due to the optimal utilization of tires.

Continental leverages both its tire expertise and its in-house know-how about sensor and vehicle architecture, provided by Continental’s automotive technologies business. Continentals smart tire solutions are designed to serve a broad range of vehicles and applications, tailored to customer needs for passenger and commercial use.

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We have the solution for a broad range of vehicles and applications, tailored to the customer's specific needs.

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Find out more information:

www.continental-digital-solutions.com

info@conticonnect.com

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Digital Feature change in attitudes toward car sharing in recent years, and the pace at which they have changed: “When we started out, nobody thought of car sharing. Car sharing was a new thing in Copenhagen, in Denmark in general. It had started to become a trend throughout Europe, of course, but at that point of time SHARE NOW was simply a very small, niche business and we needed to explain to customers why car sharing is a good thing, and are we actually reducing congestion with this, how we can add value et cetera. However, nowadays we don’t need to explain to customers what we do and why we’re here - we just need to make sure that whenever a customer is in need of a car, we can make sure that a car is available and accessible at an affordable price, and that there is choice in what car they use.

There’s been a total change in mindset.”

As the leading car sharing brand in Europe, SHARE NOW – the product of a merger between DriveNow and car2go – is at the vanguard of this mobility revolution that is underway across the continent. With an 11,000-strong fleet of vehicles across eight countries, 500 of which make up Morten’s all-electric fleet in Denmark, SHARE NOW has made it simple, easy and affordable for customers in cities ranging from Copenhagen to Madrid; Paris to Milan, Vienna and Amsterdam to get from A to B at the touch of a smartphone, easily and affordably.

For any business to succeed, it’s all about getting the fundamentals right, and for SHARE NOW this means creating a service offering which is effortlessly convenient and reliable for customers, so as to ensure that whenever they need a vehicle, it is there. Humans are creatures of comfort and habit, there are few things in life more habitual and comfortable than driving our own cars to get from A to B. For all their expense and for all the harm they cause the environment, our cars are also ever present and available – something that SHARE NOW must strive to match.

To minimise customer churn and ensure that SHARE NOW is able to offer users seamless

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availability and an optimal customer experience, Morten has worked to build a highly digitalised operation so complex that cars can provide data key information such as when a door is unlocked and how much power a battery has left – they even provide information on the wear and tear of tires, and how much air pressure they have remaining. In effect, each of SHARE NOW’s vehicles acts a mobile Internet of Things (IOT) device on wheels, equipped with an array of sensors that allow the company to better track, maintain, and manage their cars, wherever they might be So, the question is what next for car sharing and, by extension, SHARE NOW? It is clear beyond all reasonable doubt that free-floating care sharing is not only here to stay, but it will continue to grow in scale and capability over the years to come, in the view of Morten: “Looking into the future, it is held that within the next 10 years in some European cities, up to 50% of all cars running around will be cars that are not owned by private owners. This will be made up of either car sharing fleets, or perhaps autonomous vehicles, etc, but certainly there is going to be a much larger number of those cars running around.”

In light of the pace of adoption over the past five years, this is an entirely imaginable future for the industry. And whilst new entrants will undoubtedly enter the market with new disruptive ideas that will see car sharing even further, it would be safe to assume that SHARE NOW will continue to be there at the top of the market, doing what it does: making cars available to its customers, reliably, conveniently and affordably.

SHARE NOW SHARE NOW fleet vehicle Photo: David Engstrøm

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Glencore

Compania Miner

Moder copper

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Mining Feature

ra Lomas Bayas:

rnising mining

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PROJECT DIRECTED BY

WRITTEN BY

Gary Smith

Jay Benmehidi

H

idden away beneath the dry earth of Chile’s Atacama Desert there is treasure waiting to be found by those with the know-how and dogged determination to find it.

Situated within the Andes and the eastern portion of the Ring of Fire—a geological fault line encircling the Pacific Ocean that contains large and varied deposits of all kinds – the Atacama is as renowned for its mineral wealth as for the breath-taking natural beauty of its foothills, deep canyons and salt flats, Rich as it is with gold, silver, iron, lithium and most notably, copper, the province has drawn a lot of investment interest from the big beasts of the mining world, amongst them the Swiss mining giant, Glencore – owner of the Collahuasi and Compañía Minera Lomas Bayas projects.

Located in the Cristobal mountains, 120km north-east of Antofagasta, the Lomas Bayas site

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is one of a number of world-class copper projects that are to be found in Chile’s stark and splendid northern wilderness. Comprised of the primary mine site, Lomas Bayas I, and the adjacent Fortuna de Cobre open pit, known as Lomas II, which lies 3km from the original mine and infrastructure, the project’s operations are expansive if not vast, producing approximately 75,000 tons of copper per annum and employing up to 460 people at peak production.

The presence of deposits such as that of Lomas Bayas in a copper-porphyry rich environment like the Atacama is to be expected, however certain geological quirks have combined to create an orebody that is somewhat out of the ordinary: “Lomas Bayas’ copper reserves are hosted by upper cretaceous volcanic-arc rocks and associated back-arc sediments, which are intruded by an upper cretaceous-paleocene composite granodi-

Glencore orite batholith – a geological cocktail which has created an orebody that is oxidised with zones of mixed oxide-sulphide, resulting in copper mineralisation that occurs in an irregular concentric zone around a low-grade centre.

Due to this, Lomas Bayas I proven reserves totalled 72.7mt grading 0.36% copper and 0.21% soluble copper, whilst measured resources added up to 98mt at 0.22% copper and 0.15% soluble copper. Inferred resources were 2.6mt at 0.23% copper and 0.12% soluble copper. At Lomas II, there is a proven reserve base of 256mt at 0.3% copper and 0.22% soluble copper, with measured resources stood at 273mt at 0.31% copper and 0.22% soluble copper.”

Owing to the area’s unique geology, Lomas Bayas holds the curious distinction of being one of the world’s lowest grade mining operations – certainly below the 0.62% global average copper ore grade.

Such low-grade deposits might at first glance appear less profitable and undesirable, but this is a misconception; projects such as Lomas Bayas are hugely important sources of copper in a world where mines with higher ore grades are becoming exhausted and demand for copper is outstripping supply.

Copper has long been a vital metal that man has harnessed since prehistory, and it continues to be an indispensable ingredient of the global economy, today. As an example of the importance of the copper value chain to the modern world, consider this: one ton of copper can be used to manufacture 40 cars, build 400 computers, power 60,000 mobile phones or supply electricity to 30 homes. No matter where we are or what we do, copper materials are all around us to the extent it helps form the backbone of the modern world, and our reliance on it is set to grow substantially as the world increasingly transitions to a new EV and renewables-centric green economy.

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Glencore

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Mining Feature Against this backdrop of rising demand, falling copper production – a dilemma made worse by the COVID-19 outbreak – is threatening to create a significant copper supply gap by the mid-2020s of up to 5.9million mt. Granted, new projects are already being developed to plug the hole, but it is clear to the smart miners that copper prices are set to soar in the short to medium-term – for Glencore, regardless of its grade, ownership of Lomas Bayas means the company is sitting on top of a metaphorical gold mine.

Naturally, the strategic value of Lomas Bayas means that Glencore is continuing to invest in new technologies and equipment at the site, in-line with its objectives to reduce operational costs and increase productivity, as well as expand further on safety and sustainability schemes.

As such, Lomas Bayas’ leadership team recently implemented its new Ultra Class Project; an initiative centred around updating the mine’s loading and transportation process through the acquisition of a new fleet of Komatsu 930E-5 304 T class haul trucks which are set to be used alongside its existing Komatsu P&H 4100XPC shovels.

Following the delivery of the first two new high-tonnage trucks, numbers 58 and 59 in the fleet, which arrived at the mine in 2020, a further 25 trucks are due to arrive onsite by the end of 2021: “The arrival of this new fleet implies a profound change in the safety and productivity of the operation. Going from small-scale equipment to about KMS 930E-5, which has a nominal capacity of 304 t, is a challenge and an excellent opportunity for Lomas Bayas and Glencore,” explains Marcelo Zuniga, Mine Operations Superintendent at Lomas Bayas, who points out that the goal of 262,000 t/d movement is being achieved through good mining practices on the part of all Lomas Bayas operators.

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Mining Feature STN Mining Division Comprehensive, tailor-made solutions for the operation of Electric Power Systems.

Innovation, Excellence, and Reliability for Sustainable Mining Operations. serviciosmineria@saesa.cl www.gruposaesa.cl/stn Antofagasta, Chile.

A strategic partner for mining Comprehensive solutions for the operation of electric power systems. serviciosmineria@saesa.cl - www.gruposaesa.cl/stn 610 Manuel Orella, Suite 1603 - Floor 16, Antofagasta STN.indd 17

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Glencore Measuring 9.6 m wide from mirror to mirror, the truck’s greater size than those currently in use is projected to have a transformative effect on the sites transport and loading capability.

Already, site upgrades, such as new 38 m wide ramps 38 m have been made to accommodate the larger dimensions and characteristics of this new equipment so as to ensure the new trucks can be deployed seamlessly.

Zuniga further on the impact the new fleet will have at Lomas Bayas, stating: “The integration and change of the transport fleet intrinsically brings a different way of mining in Compañía Minera Lomas Bayas. The arrival of the 930E-5

trucks has started an operational transformation, which includes Komatsu 4100 shovels, with 77 cubic yard buckets and trucks with the capacity to transport up to 313 t on average.

How have we prepared for this challenge? The process begins with training oriented in good practices and operational standards according to the new technologies that these teams bring. Our goal is to work based on the sustainability of the business, always prioritising safety and also productivity. With this innovation, we will undoubtedly contribute to better performance, to the fulfilment of the goals set at the Mine Operations level, of our company and of all of Glencore.”

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Glencore In addition to the deployment of the new Komatsu truck fleet, the utilisation of a new cutting-edge fatigue management technology, Caterpillar’s Smartband, is also set to help bring Lomas Bayas’ operational efficiency and safety to the next level. The Cat Smartband, an actigraphy watch powered by Fatigue Science technology, will help users understand the connection between operator sleep, fatigue and accident risk on and off the job site: “Smartband is a proactive device that prevents fatigue events that is optimally complemented by the current DSS fatigue event detection system installed in the CAEX [haulage] fleet and Mine Operations tanker trucks,” said Mining Manager, Felipe Bunout.

“Our Superintendents of Mine Operations, in conjunction with our Dispatch and Technology teams, have developed a pilot program with a group of operators in training from the Mujeres a la Carga program. With this Caterpillar technology, in the form of a wristwatch that is equipped with an accelerometer, plus a telephone application, our operators will know how much they slept and what was the quality of their rest. In this way, they will be able to quantitatively determine whether or not they are in a position to operate.”

The adoption of such exciting technologies is but one example of the winds of change that are sweeping through modern mining. Lomas Bayas has a bright future ahead which will see the project continue to maintain its standing as a world-class copper producing site for some time, and continue to deliver on its social, environmental, and economic commitments to the many who benefit from its continued success and enormous capacity for wealth generation.

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Mining Feature

Lomas Bayas has a bright future ahead which will see the project continue to maintain its standing as a world-class copper producing site

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Ok Tedi Mining

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Malvern Kandemwa

Jack Parker

Mr Musje M Werror, Independent Non-Executive Director

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Ok Tedi Mining

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s the key pillar of Papua New Guinea’s economic growth, mining accounts for around 26% of the national GDP and almost 90% of all export revenue, the vast majority of which comes from gold and copper exports to the tune of over US$3billion annually. Alongside gold and copper, Papua New Guinea is also known for its extraction of silver, nickel and cobalt, and an increasing number of largescale mining operations have spread around the country to tap PNGs mineral riches. Of these, the largest and wealthiest of these operations is the Ok Tedi mine.

Located near the source of the Ok Tedi river in the Star Mountains of Papua New Guinea’s Western province, the Ok Tedi mine is a large-scale open pit operation focused on the extraction of

both gold and copper. Under the astute ownership of Ok Tedi Mining Limited, (OTML) which has overseen operations and the continual development of the project since it was nationalised in 1981, the mine has become an engine of wealth creation for Papua New Guinea and a catalyst for social development for the thousands of people who live in neighbouring communities surrounding the site.

Much as is to be expected of an asset of such vast strategic national importance, Ok Tedi – which is majority owned by the PNG Sustainable Development Program Limited (PNGSDP) out of its headquarters in Tabubil, a town constructed in order to serve the mining operations in the area - remains a proudly 100% PNG-owned venture to this day.

Aerial view of Ok Tepi mining site

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Ok Tedi Mining The mining operation at Ok Tedi

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Mining Feature The Ok Tedi mine is located 18km from the border of the Indonesian province of Irian Jaya, adjacent to the southern tip of the heavily forested Star Mountains and Tabubil - a town of 10,000 founded to serve the mine, which has grown to become the largest town by population in Papua New Guinea’s Western province.

As a result of the construction of both the mine and Tabubil, the local population has benefitted greatly, owing to an increase in employment and education opportunities, significant falls in infant mortality, and improved access to medical care and medicines. The mine itself sits 2000m above sea level on the slopes of Mt Fubilan, with its associated processing plant (Folomian) less than 2km away. The vast majority of access to the mining operation is heavily reliant on river transport, with the port of Kiunga serving as a hub for the transport of supplies and key equipment to the mine. The only roads in the area came as a direct result of the mine’s construction, and serve as transport routes to areas inaccessible by river.

The foundation for the Ok Tedi Mine was laid in 1970 following extensive exploratory drilling into Mount Fubilan by Kennecott Copper Corporation, which resulted in the discovery of a gold rich cap sitting above a copper and gold deposit estimated at around 113 million tonnes and graded at 0.8% Cu and 1.1g/t Au. Following a US$2 billion, three step development programme, the mine commenced operations, using cyanide extraction procedures to mine only the copper poor, gold rich oxidised cap in 1984 while under the management of BHP, who entered into a partnership with the Papua New Guinea government, Amoco Corporation and Inmet Mining Corporation. Between its start date in 1984 and 1990 the mine was responsible for the production of approximately 50 tonnes of gold bullion.

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Mining Feature Per annum, the mine extracts roughly 60 million tonnes of rock of which half is associated waste. The mineral concentrate output is close to 600,000 tonnes. The concentrate is piped the 137km to the Fly River port of Kiunga where it is dried in preparation for export to markets in Europe and Asia, where it is sold primarily to smelting operators in Germany, India, The Philippines and Japan.

This initiative has had a transformational effect on quality of life ... whilst infant mortality rates have dropped from 33% to less than 3%.

From the mines inception in 1970, local interests were regarded as the highest priority by all involved parties. In-line with this strategy to invest in local communities, the Kennecott mining company built schools and training facilities where aspiring talent could train through programs and scholarships to gain the skills needed to work at Ok Tedi. Following on from the change in mine ownership in 1976, the government of Papua New Guinea signed the ‘PNG Mining (Ok Tedi Agreement)’ which required preference of employment to be given to local people, and to provide development initiatives to local businesses involved in infrastructure construction, local services and supply of food to the area.

In addition to the positive economic impacts, there have been many social benefits as a result of the mines construction. OTML established numerous medical centres where they treat over 10,000 patients monthly and test for common respiratory diseases such as tuberculosis. This initiative has had a transformational effect on quality of life to the extent that life expectancy in the area has risen significantly whilst infant mortality rates have dropped from 33% to less than 3%.

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OK Tedi Mining employee surveys the mine from above

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Ok Tedi Mining Despite these clear positive impacts, the mine faced many challenges in its initial phase of construction, not least of which saw the collapse of the US$70 million tailings dam due to heavy seismic activity in the area of operation. Extremely heavy rainfall of more than 10,000mm annually, making it one of the world’s wettest areas, combined with the threat of earthquakes makes it a difficult area in which to operate, and has meant that OTML have had to dedicate extensive time and resources into ensuring the safety of employees as well as mitigating the environmental impacts associated with open cut mining.

Whilst closure was initially scheduled to take place in 2010, further exploratory study of the area resulted in the discovery of vast deposits of additional mineral resource that has given Ok Tedi a new lease of life. With the support of a business-friendly government that is committed to improving prosperity in PNG, and of course their motivated and committed workforce, the company has the right people, the right skills and the right backing to respond to the challenges of today and continue building the future.

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Ionic Rare Earths

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Jay Benmehidi

Tim Harrison, CEO of Ionic Rare Earths

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Ionic Rare Earths The global race to secure a plentiful supply of rare earth metals, a grouping of 17 somewhat peculiar elements that are crucial to the manufacture of all manner of hi-tech products, is at the heart of geopolitical strategy for the world’s major powers, and for good reason – our goal to build a prosperous sustainable economy of the future depends on it.

Take neodymium and dysprosium, for example: the key metals that are used in the manufacture of permanent magnets. A wind turbine with a power output of one megawatt requires one ton of permanent magnets to operate, whilst an EV (electric vehicle) typically uses over 10 kilograms of neodymium and other rare earth elements for its engine and rechargeable batteries.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg – rare earths are used to manufacture iPods, home appliances, solar panels and energy-saving lightbulbs in a civilian capacity, and are also essential in the manufacture of key defence technologies. Suffice to say their nickname ‘green gold’ is wellearned: “A lot of governments globally want to be carbon neutral by 2050, and they’re going to need these elements for their offshore wind turbines.

There are many, many very high-end applications that realistically you can’t develop without rare earths: if countries don’t build up stocks, they may have difficulties meeting their needs.” explained Tim Harrison, CEO of Ionic Rare Earths.

He continued: “At this point in time the heavy rare earths sector is controlled by China, which basically produces around 95 to 98% of the world’s supply. They have a substantial monopoly over the market and wield immense control.

And I think the events of the last 18 months regarding COVID-19 has probably indicated the fragility of the global supply chain, which has probably pushed a lot of countries towards seeking independence in supply chain.”

Unlike other key metals such as copper, iron, gold, and zinc, rare earth elements (REEs) rarely

occur in sufficient enough concentrations to justify the expense of extracting them, but contrary to their name, rare earth elements are not actually rare per se, as recent geological have shown.

However, whilst rare earth deposits that are suitable for development might be plentiful enough on paper, at present, it is virtually impossible to source rare earths outside of China – a state of affairs that is causing quite the headache for an increasingly resource-hungry world.

Demand for rare earths has outstripped supply in recent years, and with the green energy revolution underway this gap supply-demand gap is only going to increase. Moreover, it is a tragic reality that strained relations between China and many of the world’s other leading nations is contributing to anxiety in some capitals regarding the long-term viability of the current

Australia’s Leading Engineering & EPC Contractor Proud to provide service and support to Ionic Rare Earths in advancing the Makuutu Rare Earths project.

+61 4195 26025 www.mincore.com.au

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Ionic Rare Earths rare earths market status quo. In the face of such challenges, efforts to diversify rare earth supplies by building production capacity has become a geopolitical imperative, and as a result an ever-increasing number of REEs projects are coming on stream across the world.

It is well-known that a growing number of rare earth mines have entered production in Japan, Australia, Greenland, Finland, the US, and South Africa in recent years, but today all eyes are on the development of Ionic Rare Earth’s flagship Makuutu project in Uganda, a site of extraordinary promise that holds significant quantities of ionic adsorption clay – an astonishingly rare and resource rich type of rare earth deposit that is seldom found outside of the East/South-East Asia region: “I’ve seen the type of adsorption clay mineralisation we’ve got at Makuutu be called the holy grail of rare earth projects before because they’re so highly sought after, but so very difficult to find.

Ionic adsorption clays or are very rare outside of southern China - there’s less than a handful of these deposits known globally. And when it comes to ionic absorption clay deposits the size of Makuutu, there’s ourselves, there’s another one in Brazil, there’s a small one in Chile, and potentially a few popping up here in Australia.

And so when the company came across the asset back in 2019, they moved very quickly to secure an option over it. That decision back in 2019 has now placed Ionic Rare Earth in a fantastic position to develop what is one of less than a handful of true ionic adoption clays outside of southern China and South-East Asia. It’s a tremendously good position to be in. The rare earths we’re going to produce will be increasingly more difficult to find in the future, and we’re going to be in a position where we’re driving the development of that asset.

It stands apart from a lot of the projects being evaluated globally. It supplies the full mix of rare earths that are required. So as a long-term option

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Mining Feature to help the world find those rare earths that it’s going to need to be able to move towards carbon neutrality, yeah, Makuutu ticks all the boxes.”

Located 120km east of the Ugandan capital, Kampala, Makuutu hosts a resource of around 315 million tons that has been identified over a 20km length. With a projected operating life of more than 30 years, the project is believed to have the potential to generate a high margin product, and is also prospective for a low-cost Scandium co-product.

Ionic RE is advancing the Makuutu Rare Earths Project with the aim of becoming a world-leading supplier of critical and heavy rare earths, to support growing global demand as the world transitions to cleaner renewable energy and transportation. The number of light rare earth projects that have come on stream around the

Drilling underway

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world in recent years is impressive, but there are still only a handful of critical heavy rare earths producers outside of China: this is where Makuutu’s basket of REEs, which includes significant quantities of heavy and critical rare earth elements, sets Ionic RE apart from most other rare earths miners.

The company is in an enviable position, as Tim admits, when he elaborated further on how Ionic came to acquire Makuutu and the status of its development: “Ionic RE, back in August of 2019, acquired a 20% interest in the Makuutu project. We as Ionic are earning into the project we’re funding the development, all of the technical work programme, the studies, all of the work that’s required for the tenements to be converted from exploration tenements to ultimately a mining lease, and then a mining operation.

Ionic Rare Earths Over the past 18 months, since I’ve been involved, the company has been solely focused on advancing the project, getting the work programme completed to de-risk the project, and move to the next level of investment.

At present, development of the Makuutu project is still very much in its infancy. It is anticipated that a feasibility study should be completed for November 2022, and initial projections expect that Makuutu will be ready to enter production for 2024 which could see the project produce 800–1,000 mt/year of rare earths oxide.”

Going forward, whilst there is much work to do to ensure that Makuutu is able to fulfil its enormous potential and begin production in 2024, Tim is understandably upbeat about the future of Ionic RE and what the coming year holds for the company. He concluded: “We have got a very, very valuable product, we’ve got a very large deposit. We’ve got a lot of it. And because of that, it’s a tremendously strategic project. It’ll be very interesting to see how the project unfolds over the next 12 months.

Currently, we’re talking to lots of groups around the world. We have got a non-binding employee with the Chinese group - they did 12 months of due diligence on the project to try and get comfortable and understand its potential. I think it’s only a matter of time before other groups globally join the dots, too, which means that ultimately we’ve got an even more valuable project once other groups become more aware of the importance of Makuutu.”

Atacama Consulting is a leading environmental and social advisory firm based in Kampala, Uganda. We pride in ensuring that the services offered and the associated processes thereof benchmark with requirements stipulated in the national environmental and social legislation, financing institutions such as the International Finance Corporation’s Performance Standards on Environment and Social Sustainability and the Equator Principles and good international industry practices.

Having provided similar services in the East African region over the last fifteen years, we are glad to partner with Ionic RE on its one-of-a-kind large scale mining project, the first of its kind in Uganda to provide social advisory services, starting with the development of a Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP) that spans the entire project lifecycle, right from the project planning stage. The SEP is a ‘living’ document that will be updated as and when required based on changes in scope, legislation and stakeholders identified, among other reasons.

Guided by the SEP and commencing with the post scoping phase, the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) engagements at both national and local levels were undertaken successfully. These particular engagements presented a unique experience, though, due to Covid-19.

Atacama has had to modify its approach to stakeholder engagement to ensure the highest standards of health and safety not only for our teams but also for all stakeholders and the communities within which we work. Virtual/ online meetings were embraced for high-level meetings, while radio shows were particularly resourceful for local community engagements. Cognisant of the limitations of access to information that the communities may face, we remain hopeful that a time will come when we shall be able to engage with communities in a physical manner, as was the case prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Covid-19 notwithstanding, Atacama continued to support Ionic RE to collect socio-economic baseline data, which will inform the ESIA. The rather extensive activity involved administering a questionnaire to over 450 potentially affected households as well as collecting qualitative data relating to cultural heritage and archaeology, public health, energy, infrastructure and logistics to provide an understanding of the reasons behind social trends, demographic changes, settlement patterns or changes in the Makuutu Rare Earth Project area.

We remain committed to supporting Ionic RE in all its environmental and social management endeavours in Uganda.

www.atacama.co.ug

Driling begins at Ionic RE’s new site

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Boart Longyear

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Jay Benmehidi

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n business as in life, silver linings can come from the unlikeliest of places. Take the mining sector, for example: after eight years of labouring through the most gruelling and prolonged global downturn in generations, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic last year saw the industry reach its lowest ebb as mining and exploration, and consequently drilling, all-but ground to a halt.

However, far from being a coup de grâce to the then embattled industry, instead the pandemic proved to be the catalyst for its revival.

As restrictions have been gradually lifted over the course of 2021, like a coiled spring, the global economy has rebounded powerfully, and in doing so brought down the curtain on the downturn that so blighted mining since 2012.

Demand for commodities from a newly unshackled, resource-hungry world is ravenous and

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growing, and the resulting boom in prices and mining activity appears promisingly reminiscent of the famed 2004-2012 industry supercycle.

Needless to say there is much optimism, and more than a little relief within the mining community at this turn of events.

“The industry is coming back to life in a big way.

Mining has performed strongly in 2021, and we’re seeing a very strong and rapid resurgence within our own business,” observed Boart Longyear’s CEO, Jeffrey Olsen.

As the market leading global provider of drilling services for the mining industry, Boart Longyear is a name that requires little introduction.

From drilling for core samples in mineral exploration to dewatering for groundwater control, water well drilling for municipal and industrial applications, and even its role in supplying drill equipment for moon exploration, Boart Long-

Boart Longyear year has become a byword for drilling excellence – much as you’d expect of a company with an illustrious pedigree stretching back to its beginnings in the late 19th century: “Boart Longyear was established in 1890 so we’ve been around a long time. Quite simply, we’re the world leader in drilling services for the mining industry today - we’ve got more surface and underground rigs than any of our competitors, we also have a more expansive geographic spread than any of our competitors, and we offer a broader portfolio of drilling services than anyone else out there.

And then there’s our new technology division which we call geological data services or GDS. Growing this segment organically has been a real challenge but we’ve seen very, very strong growth in this area. We’ve created some pretty remarkable industry-changing technologies that can create real value- add for our customers. An example of this is TruScan which provides highly accurate geochemical and structural information to make real-time exploration decisions, quality sample photos both wet and dry, and auto lithological and structural logging. This technology dramatically improves accuracy, speed, and cost, streamlining the exploration process.”

We are a full-service integrated provider of drilling services, which accounts for around 70% of our revenue, and we also offer a wide portfolio of drilling equipment and performance tooling for mining and mineral drilling companies; these are manufactured out of six sites in the US and Canada, Germany, Poland and China.

With a highly trained and dedicated 5,500-strong workforce and a global footprint stretching from established jurisdictions such as Australia to frontier nations like Tanzania, a who’s who customer list that includes many of the most prestigious names in mining, and a strong balance sheet, Boart Longyear is strong-

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Boart Longyear ly positioned to ride the wave of the emerging mining boom. However, the company’s rude health and stable fundamentals today are a far cry from the existential difficulties Boart Longyear faced seven years ago when a debt crisis pushed the company to the brink – a challenging period indeed that coincided with Olsen joining the business as CFO after leaving Rio Tinto in 2014.

“In this industry it shouldn’t come as a surprise that there are cycles, we have to be prepared for them. However, nobody anticipated that the last downturn would last so long and unfortunately Boart Longyear went into the downturn with way too much debt When I joined the company, I knew it was a company in distress albeit one with an incredible brand and industry recognition. The balance sheet had to be addressed and so we brought in some new investors as the first step, then we committed to transforming Boart Longyear into a much more efficient, streamlined business. I’ll give you an example - when I joined in 2014 our general and administrative expenses were around US$312 million dollars. Last year we were just in the mid-US$80 million range.

So, we’ve taken a lot of costs out of the business, improved the efficiency of our operations, and now as the market has come back in 2021 in a strong way, we’re very well positioned to take advantage of that. Boart Longyear has a good, strong cost base and a group of people that are very motivated and ready to take it to the next growth phase. We’re very well positioned now.”

The foundations upon which such root-andbranch reform could be achieved were already in place, of course – for all the difficulties the company faced in balancing the books, both in 2014 and during the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic last year between March and May when business dropped off a cliff, Boart Longyear remained the leader in its field. It’s ability to attract new business from clients was unharmed

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Resources Feature by the financial side of business because, as far as competitive advantage goes, Boart Longyear is without rival, particularly when it comes to its people in the view of Olsen.

For a company like Boart Longyear, it is the people that drive success. That isn’t to say people aren’t important in a mining company, of course, but the assets available at a project will always take precedence.

“Do you have an orebody that has the potential to be in the lowest cost quartile? That’s the kind of key asset that’s most important for a mining company. We don’t have those kinds of assets. Everything we have can be duplicated. In fact, our products are sold we sell to our biggest competitors. This being so, our most important competitive advantage is our people – to have great people and great leaders – and we believe it’s important to invest in them. We want people to feel part of something bigger than themselves and also understand how important it is to think globally as a business.

We spend a tremendous amount of effort, attention and resources on training our people to make them the best in the industry. We have a few programmes that we have initiated, one being the Boart Longyear Academy through which we educate our employees about Boart Longyear itself.

What company do you work for? When you’ve got 5,500 employees but you work in as many countries as we do, not everybody easily knows what happens in other areas of the business.

And then there’s our leadership programs, such as the Foundational Leadership Program and the Advanced Leadership Program, through which we partner with the University of Utah and their executive MBA program. This ensures our are people are exposed to fundamentally sound leadership principles.”

And then there’s safety – a primary focus for any top-tier miner in the world today. On this front, yet again, the company is in pole position to the extent that simply by hiring Boart Longyear, which in terms of its lagging indicators has the best safety statistics in its industry, client companies are improving their safety score straight off the bat.

We spend a tremendous amount of effort, attention and resources on training our people to make them the best in the industry.

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Resources Feature So the question is, what next for Boart Longyear? Following the recapitalisation of the business this year, which has greatly deleveraged the company, the company is in a strong financial position to capitalise on the commodities bull market and grow with the market. Additionally, Boart Longyear has also announced its intention to redomicile the business as part of a strategy to explore a dual listing that will see Boart Longyear listed on both the Australian exchange and the Canadian exchange.

When asked what the strategy is behind this decision, Olsen explained: “The reason for this is two-fold - one, most of our shareholders are North America-based. Two, our headquarters is North America-based, and most importantly the move will open up a bigger pool of investors for Boart Longyear.”

All-in-all there is justifiable optimism at what the future holds for the business going forward.

On this, Olsen concluded: “The market has turned and is now in growth mode and we’ve done our internal work to make ourselves more efficient from an operating perspective and from a capital structure perspective.

We’re now very well placed to take advantage of the opportunities ahead and I think that’s something I’m very excited about. I think that that excites pretty much everybody here, in fact.

It excites our customers because they see growth and they really want a strong Boart Longyear to help them achieve growth as well. It’s a win for our shareholders and for everybody else who is part of Boart Longyear.”

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Ascot Resources

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PROJECT DIRECTED BY

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Gary Smith

Jay Benmehidi

Derek White, CEO of Ascot Resources

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Ascot Resources Hidden away deep in the snow-laden, rugged terrain of northwestern British Columbia, the Golden Triangle – once a hub for hardened prospectors and pioneers in search of gold and glory – is one of the richest areas of mining real estate in North America. Billions of dollars of gold, silver and copper lie beneath its rocky earth, which after many decades is now ready to finally be tapped.

As the first major mine to enter operation in the region, the aptly named Premier Gold Mine, which was described as “one of the greatest silver and gold mines in the world” by the Christian Science Monitor in the early 1920s, is a prestigious project with a mining heritage stretching back to 1918. Few projects come more storied than Premier, and it is therefore a story in itself that this historic mine is expected to pour gold once more around this time next year:

“Premier gold mine has 100 years of history behind it, and at one time was owned by the Guggenheim family from New York. It was once the largest gold mine in North America. It was bought out eventually by a Swedish company, Boliden, who then effectively sold it to us,” explained Derek White, CEO of Ascot Resources.

The majority of our focus is on restarting the gold mine, which we expect to happen later in 2022. Obviously at these gold prices we can generate very, very good cash flows, and we’ll be doing it at a fraction of the normal cost. Typically to build a mine in this part of the world, you’re looking at about a billion dollars - we’re hoping to do it for 200 million or less. The reason for that is because a lot of the infrastructure is already there.”

Premier Mine, near Stewart, British Columbia

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Ascot Resources

Typically to build a mine in this part of the world, you’re looking at about a billion dollars - we’re hoping to do it for 200 million or less. The reason for that is because a lot of the infrastructure is already there.”

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Mining Feature All the major infrastructure – the mill, access roads, grid power access, tailings storage area, and underground workings – are in place at Premier, and its close proximity to the nearby town of Stewart is equally invaluable.

Stewart, a historic mining hub that boasts first-rate infrastructure including a paved highway to major transportation routes, an ice-free deep-water port, extensive hydroelectric power facilities and a concentrate loading facility, the acquisition of Premier has proven to be an inspired piece of business on the part of Ascot and White, who is well-known in the industry for his experience of restoring past-producing brownfield projects to their former glory.

Alongside the Red Mountain Project, which is located 23km southeast in an adjacent valley, the Premier project and its processing plant will prove to be highly lucrative assets for Ascot which could very well prove to be the catalyst for further growth and acquisitions. The numbers speak for themselves: a feasibility study completed in 2020 envisions four mines in the Stewart area – Premier, Silver Coin, Big Missouri, and Red Mountain – all of which will provide ore to the existing mill at Premier. Upon completion, this 2,500 -tonne-per-day operation is expected to produce roughly 1.1 million ounces of gold and 3 million oz of silver over an initial eightyear mine life.

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Mining Feature Whilst the company’s redevelopment of its flagship Premier mine has captured the lion’s share of attention in recent times, it is not the only string to Ascot Resource’s bow. Alongside Premier, the Vancouver-based junior has acquired a number of other highly promising projects, such as the aforementioned Red Mountain project, Mt. Margaret – a porphyry copper-molybdenum-gold-silver deposit located in Washington state, and Swamp Point – an aggregate/ sand and gravel deposit situated along the Alaskan border on the east side of the Portland Canal: “We’re hoping to partner with somebody to put our gravel mine, which is in care and maintenance, back into operation. It largely produces sand and gravel to make cement and there’s a very large market for that in California, and a

growing market for that in British Columbia. And then there’s our copper deposit in Washington state that we own, which is very large. As you’re aware, copper is used for electrification and is crucial in the manufacture of electric cars. It is an important part of the green economy and crucial in transitioning the power grid towards renewable sources. We’ve built and operated a lot of copper mines, so we know a lot about that. Once we get the gold mine going, I think this is going to be our next area of focus.”

When asked what timescales he was looking at in terms of bringing these projects online, White told us: “I would say to restart the gravel mine would only take about a year but right now, with COVID-19, the market for the US is closed.

We really need to find a long term off taker before focusing on a restart. And then on the cop-

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Ascot Resources per to project, that’s several years away – we still need to go through a lot of permitting and additional drilling. You’re probably talking five to seven years from now.”

Bearing in mind that before Derek and his team joined Ascot in late 2017, there was no pathway to production at Premier, it is extraordinary that only four years later the company has initial production within its sights. Few people outside the industry understand mining cycles and the length of time it can take to bring a project to production, which as Derek explains, can be a long and laborious process: “Your normal mining cycle to bring a resource into production is probably 10 to 15 years. Typically, it takes five years to find a deposit and then it takes you another five years to permit it. Then you have to take another five years to get all the money and build it, and usually it takes three years just to build a project. So you’re talking about a 15+ year period, and yet Ascot has basically gone and done this in less than five years.”

Understandably, the rapid progress in bringing its flagship project to the brink of production is a point of pride for Derek and the Ascot team, and certainly such readiness couldn’t come at a better time. After an unparalleled decade-long downturn that blighted the industry throughout most of the 2010s, the powerful global economic recovery of 2021 has triggered a commodities boom that has buoyed miners. Whilst Derek suspects that competition from cryptocurrencies and tech stocks have dampened mining investment, equally, this is a very good time to be ready to bring a lucrative gold project online, in spite of ongoing problems that are being caused by labour shortages, shipping and logistics issues.

A key reason as to why Ascot has been insulated from some of the problems that are buffeting the wider industry can be traced back to the incredibly strong partnership that exists between the company and the Nisga’a Nation,

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which has recently been strengthened further following the signing of an updated benefits agreement designed to expand ties and build mutual respect.

“Unfortunately, a lot of companies do a lot of what I would call ‘paper sustainability.’ They have surveys and they have all these regulatory frameworks; they talk about how they’re going to monitor how much carbon they burn or how much water they use or whatever. That’s probably, I think, the whole ESG framework.

But real sustainability, from our perspective, it’s mostly focused on the communities that we impact, namely the towns of Hyder and Stewart and the regional Nisga’a Nation communities the First Nation on whose traditional lands Ascot operates. Our focus is to try and make a difference for those communities. You’ve got to listen to them, and you’ve got to develop your sustainability plans around that, which is what we have been doing.

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Ascot Resources At Priority Steel Erectors our experienced team is an all-in-one construction solution to assist in getting your mine to operational phase. We work cooperatively while bringing a solution focused attitude to keep projects moving forward – on time and on budget.

We offer a range of services including: design, supply, crane services, steel erecting/installation, structural modifications and repairs, and all the miscellaneous pieces in between to get the project completed.

We value our team and pride ourselves on maintaining the highest standards of safety in our industry; our people and safety record are paramount to our ongoing reputation and success.

Local businesses are also pivotal to the ongoing operational success of the mine; our team strives to establish and maintain relationships with local businesses within the communities we operate – long after our work is completed.

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Mining Feature The mill site at Premier Mine

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Mining Feature Our partnership with the Nisga’a Nation has been absolutely key to us, and we’ve worked hard to gain their trust and make sure that we’re doing the right thing from a First Nations perspective.

They supply a lot of our people, our labour in these remote areas, but importantly, they supply the regulatory and political clout that’s necessary for a mining company to go forward. If you don’t have a strong First Nations relationship and partnership where it’s built on trust in mining, you’re not going to be going forward at all.”

Going forward, Derek and the Ascot team are justifiably optimistic regarding what the future holds for the company. The sector-leading pace Ascot Resources has set in going from maiden resource to feasibility study, through the permitting phase and, as it is presently, making preparations to enter into full-scale construction ahead of production next year, places the company well ahead of many potential rivals.

Ascot Resources is an emerging producer to watch in the Canadian gold mining space, and it would be a safe bet to assume that the coming 18-months should be regarded as a serious statement of intent on the part of the company.

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