Today’s podcast is with a very special guest: Owen Hegarty, a well renowned mining legend of the industry with over 40 years industry experience, who has managed and been involved with many mining companies and operations in Australia and Asia during his career. 

Owen is Executive Chairman of EMR Capital who are a specialist resources private equity company with over 300 years combined mining operational and investment experience. They own and operate 9 mining operations and projects in 7 countries globally, across 4 core commodities, with a proven track record in the three dimensions critical to achieving superior investment returns.

In this episode we talk about his early days with Rio Tinto, how he then branched out on his own and what challenges he faced from a corporate role to the start of his entrepreneur journey. We also discuss how EMR Capital has developed as a company and what their future plans are. This is an interesting, informal and enjoyable podcast in the company of Owen, a man who has achieved much in the industry, and which is well worth a listen.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Owen’s experience in the industry has stretched north of forty years. He joined Rio Tinto after leaving university, during a time in which graduates were highly sought after.
• Owen helped to grow the Mighty Ox from a few million dollars to a few billion dollars. It was an “overnight success” that took fifteen years. 
• If you are confident in your experience, and if you have faith in the team you have assembled, then you will be able to grow your business and scale effectively. Owen states that initial choices of focus are key.
• The key areas in which to focus your attention when scaling are: 
  • Your team
  • Your chosen commodities
  • Project selection
  • Investors
• The mining industry needs to remember that we are all guests in someone else’s land, and we should treat them with the according respect. 
• EMR are very proud of their portfolio of projects, and are the result of extensive preparation and ongoing successful relationships built over many years.
• Potential projects need to be acceptable on several different criteria:
  • They must have the potential scale
  • Grade - The quality
  • Conventional process - The project must not require operational advancements in order to make it work
  • Low cost, long life and lots of upside benefits
  • The regime must be stable and secure
  • There must be a clear exit plan for the future

.BEST MOMENTS

‘I was really very lucky to be involved in all commodities and all countries’

‘I went from the big end of town to the small end of town’

‘Choose your people well. Choose your commodities well. Choose your projects well. Choose your investors well. And then get on with it as though your life depends on it’

‘You’re testing yourself all the time’

‘We need to work with them and engender trust’

‘It must have the scale and it must have the grade'

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Dig Deep – The Mining Podcast on iTunes

EMR Capital - https://www.emrcapital.com/en-us

Owen Hegarty - https://www.owenhegarty.com

ABOUT THE HOST

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

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

CONTACT METHOD

rob@mining-international.org

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