Mining industry is preparing for a major transformation globally. For the companies that are not ready for it, a challenging period is on the way. Mining Trends 2017 Report published by Deloitte indicates the 10 top issues of the industry’s agenda and the related recommendations of the industry specialists from Deloitte on these critical issues.

Mining industry requires control of the complex processes all over the world. In the ever changing market environment of today, strategies leading to success become vital. Today, discussing the mining industry as a homogenous unity is not possible anymore… That also explains why many companies follow so much different strategies. But, despite having different approaches towards the future, the common question of all miners is the same: where should we play and how can we win, while moving further? In essence, these questions also constitute the back bone of the Deloitte’s Mining Trends 2017 Report. Will the two upcoming years be wasted times for companies without learning from their faults or the years that miners missed opportunities? What should the companies do to transform themselves and build a sustainable industry? Starting from these, Deloitte’s Mining Trends 2017 Report offers a strategy consisted of 10 statements for the companies in this field. The report functions as a road map for companies operating both in Turkey and worldwide.

1 - MINERS SHOULD MAINTAIN A BALANCE BETWEEN MONETARY DISCIPLINE AND GROWTH! Continuously changing market conditions in the mining industry force the companies to be more cautious on monetary discipline. In the given market conditions, a balance should be kept between increasing the shareholders’ interest and growing sustainably. The requirements of sustainable growth are; maintaining high growth, extending the margins, being more agile and promoting long-term investments by changing the rules of the game.

2 - MAINTAINING THE EFFICIENCY Improving the efficiency stays as a crucial priority for the mining companies but, improving efficiency requires transformation. For this transformation, technology gets into the companies’ lives inevitably. The companies explore the benefits of the opportunities to acquire 3rd party services on full automation, artificial intelligence, 3D printing, and so on.

3 - WORKING IN AN ECOSYSTEM AND EXTRAORDINARY PARTNERSHIPS BETWEEN COMPANIES WILL IMPROVE THE INDUSTRY Mining industry must acknowledge the challenges of operating in an ecosystem in order to achieve major leaps. Operating in an ecosystem means collaborations with the competitors and building extended partnerships. In this regard, the major companies, tech start-ups, corporations, industry leaders, governments, and scholars should stay in collaboration.

4 - DIGITAL REVOLUTION Mining companies started to explore the merits of digitalization in order to improve their operations. Embracing the digitalization is comprised of much more than executing and creating solutions. Thus, the companies should identify the supporting digital architecture and start building a clear digital strategy in order to initiate the digital revolution.

5 - CONTROL THE THREATS The whole world is trying to deal with the cyber security threats. One of the biggest share of that belongs to the mining industry… In recent years, most of the major mining companies faced attacks and the online threats will grow even more in the future. As the risk of cyber threats grows, the mining companies need to undertake a stricter cyber security approach. Therefore, they must strengthen their security controls, be more alert and improve flexibility.

6 - DEVELOP A SHARED VISION FOR THE INDUSTRY! There has been a very tense period between the governments and the mining companies worldwide. Governments sought new ways and built funds in order to support the development of the industry and the local economies, and to attract investors. By the means of these supports, the investments in mining industry is expected to grow in the upcoming period. Effective partnerships and productive dialogues are keys to a good collaboration with the governments. In this point, the best practice is building a shared vision for all the stake holders. Henceforward, the things to do are; creating long-term solutions, by the social outcomes from these, achieving commercial success and teaming up with the governments…

7 - FOCUS ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY AND ENERGY MANAGEMENT! The Mining Industry, due to the recent disastrous accidents which created environmental damages and the pollution caused by the greenhouse gas emission, is having trouble in fostering social support in their public relations. In order to restore the social support for their companies, the mining companies should sharpen their vision on environmental issues such as energy management, water management, and climate change adaptation.

8 - SUPPORTING STRATEGIC PRIORITIES The mining companies in recent years tend to transform their operation models. Thus, they maintain alternative approaches in many domains such as operation models and so on. These transformations are viewed as inevitable in order to continue the growth. Miners should focus on five critical aspects of the operation model as a part of the operational excellence strategy: organizational structures, processes, technology, culture, and people.

9 - GATHERING A HEALTHY AND INCLUSIVE WORKFORCE Promoting a healthy workforce and an inclusive workplace constitute the essence of productivity improvements. Mining companies should develop a proactive approach in improving the workforce health and content in order to build frontier teams that can encourage an innovative culture and create the necessary breakthrough for the industry,

10 - MORE CLARITY AND TRANSPARENCY Just like in any given sectors worldwide, the transparency demands emerge in the mining industry as well. Therefore, the mining companies, governments and regulating bodies should be much more transparent in each domain including the financial reporting. Meanwhile, investor groups expect the companies go beyond merely fitting the procedures and report on a wide range of activities including the non-financial fields. With these growing transparency expectations, the mining companies should be more rigorous on reporting and undertake this as an integrated task.