I recently worked on a fairly unusual request, through my previous employer AFRY. At very short notice, and within a 1 week turnaround, we were asked to comment on a draft minerals strategy for a government department. Well, regulation and policy aren’t usually my thing, but on reviewing the draft strategy we were able to add significant value to the client, just by bringing some structure and comparative analysis to their thinking. Key inputs were:

1. A typical national mining strategy comprises several key elements

2. Countries needs different types of strategy - there are 4 main types of country, differentiated by the degree to which they import minerals, and the degree to which they export them

The categories are ‘Export Giants’, ‘Import Giants’, ‘Mining Neutrals’ and ‘Two-Way Traders’

3. Each type of country appears to need an different archetype of national minerals strategy, with the most comprehensive being adopted by ‘two-way traders’

What did I learn?

A little bit of structure goes a long way! By figuring out what kind of country our client represented, and what a good practice minerals strategy looks like for that kind of country, we gave them a framework they could use effectively to review and improve their draft, and a guide on where to look overseas for inspiration and ideas.