Rob talks to Murray MacNab, the COO of United Mining Services (UMS) and James Keir, the Group Executive Manager for Engineering Technical Services at UMS Group Of Companies.

UMS is an internationally recognised group of companies offering technical, advisory and contracting services to the mining industry, specialising in shaft-sinking and underground mining.

James and Murray join Rob on this episode to offer their insights into what has made UMS such a success.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Both Murray and James have extensive experience in the mining industry, and are currently part of a tour-de-force operation at UMS, lending their considerable knowledge to improving and expanding its specialised operations.
• UMS was founded in response to a growing need for a single source of accountability, or as James puts it a “one stop shop” for mining services. As such, UMS is divided into three divisions: processing, mining and shaft-sinking.
• UMS are looking to expand globally, with focus on the East, the Americas, and a wider expansion into Africa, which UMS considers its “backyard”.
• UMS continues to grow and evolve as it stakes new claims in new territories. by partnering with local operations, as well as breaking ground on new project types, UMS continues to grow its own skill-sets and partner relations.
• Murray identifies positive and negative changes in the art of shaft-sinking over the past few decades. Safety has improved exponentially. Productivity has dropped drastically, though, mainly due to the added safety measures. 
• Remote control and robotics are the technologies that Murray and James identify as being the next big advances in shaft-sinking. Thirty years ago Murray was involved with a crew of 600 people in order to sink a shaft, but due to technological advances, can now sink shafts with a crew of just 50.
• With limited competition in the sector, UMS are looking to expand their technological capabilities so as to remain on the cutting edge, and to partner with more companies in order to stimulate growth. Talent acquisition is also of paramount importance so as to ensure the future of mining as an industry.

BEST MOMENTS

“With our three divisions, we can offer a concept-to-closure value chain with single-point accountability to mining clients” 

“We’re more than happy to go into partnerships, as we see them as adding huge value to our company” 

“Safety has become the number one driving issue these days” 

“Shaft-sinking is not considered to be a sexy industry”

 “It’s all about looking at the system as a whole”

 “Wherever there are minerals that people want, there will always be mining”

VALUABLE RESOURCES 

Dig Deep – The Mining Podcast on iTunes
UMS Mining
Murray MacNab – LinkedIn
James Keir - LinkedIn

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 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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