On Aon Podcast: Resilience in Mining and Natural Resources

On Aon Podcast: Resilience in Mining and Natural Resources
March 3, 2026 12 mins

On Aon Podcast: Resilience in Mining and Natural Resources

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In the first Industry Insight episode of On Aon, we explore why mining and natural resources are becoming more critical than ever before.

Key Takeaways
  1. Natural resources underpin the modern economy, from electrification and decarbonization to data center growth — placing mining at the heart of global growth and resilience.
  2. End to end visibility across the mining value chain — from extraction and processing to transport and infrastructure — is increasingly essential as demand for metals such as copper, gold and critical minerals accelerates.
  3. Talent and technology are becoming sources of competitive advantage. Mining companies that embrace automation, AI and differentiated employee value propositions will be better positioned to secure future skills and sustain long term performance.

Intro: 
Hello and welcome to this, the latest episode of On Aon. 

On Aon is Aon’s global podcast that explores the top issues affecting businesses around the world with each week dedicated to either a Risk Capital, Human Capital, Industry or Global topic.

This week it’s our Industry Insight, which this time focuses on the Natural Resources sector, which covers mining, oil and gas, power generation and renewables. And we’ve got two great Aon experts with us to discuss the big issues affecting the industry — which include access to new capital and talent and the exponential growth in data centers around the world. 

And our experts are: 

  • Charles Philpott — Aon’s Global Natural Resources Leader, Enterprise Client Group
  • Paul Pryor — Global Industry Specialty Leader for Mining  here at Aon

Charles Philpott 
Hello there and welcome to this Industry Insight episode of the On Aon podcast. I'm Charles Philpott, global natural resources leader of our Enterprise Client Group here at Aon. 

Today, we'll be taking a deep dive into the mining sector of natural resources, which sits at the center of almost every major global priority from electrification to national security. 

Few industries are under as much pressure and opportunity as mining right now. That's happening against a backdrop of tougher regulation, competition for critical minerals, and mounting geopolitical and supply chain risk. 

I'm really pleased to say that I have a great Aon expert with me today to help tackle some of these issues. Joining us from South Africa, Paul Pryor, who serves as Aon's global industry leader for mining. 

Welcome to our call, Paul. Paul, as a point of clarification, you're based in Melbourne, but today you're in South Africa. Do I have that right?

Paul Pryor 
Thank you, Charles. Yes, and hello. You're right. You're right. I'm normally based in Melbourne, Australia, but I'm currently in Johannesburg, South Africa, and I'm attending a mining insurance and risk association conference here in Johannesburg.

Charles Philpott 
Well, we have the right person at the right time, don't we? And those two countries, Australia, South Africa, they're two cornerstone countries in global mining, but they play different roles today.

Paul Pryor 
Yeah, that's right, Charles. Both countries, you say, are heavily dominated by mining in their GDP. South Africa has been largely grown off the back of the gold industry and still today is a major gold producer. So too is Australia a major gold producer, but a lot more diverse in terms of commodities in Australia and very important for both the countries and indeed for the world, both these countries.

Charles Philpott 
That's great backdrop. Why don't we go ahead and get started? It's really hard to believe we're in February, but as we consider 2026, what are the big issues you think natural resources companies are facing today?

Paul Pryor 
Firstly, may I quickly just define what we mean by natural resources? In our world, in the Aon world, natural resources means mining, energy, which is oil and gas, power generation and renewables. So four industry sectors there, all wrapped up into one called natural resources. 

Now, if you think about it, everything in the world today that we use, that we see, has either been grown or mined. And in my mind, the biggest issue facing natural resources companies today is trying to satisfy the world's insatiable  demand to improve the quality of life. After all, that's what we want. We just want to improve our life. Some of us are living in first worlds and we have got a great life, but a large part of the world are really trying to improve the quality of life. 

So let's look at those challenges associated with this. Firstly, this means more energy requirements. And that's not just any energy. There is a huge pressure to support the energy transition to more sustainable energy sources. The question is, how can this be achieved and financed without abandoning fossil fuels overnight? 

Then there's a community expectations in terms of ESG, environmental, social and governance, and having the correct license to operate — a huge risk in the mining industry.

Add to this the commodity price volatility, which directly impacts the availability of capital. In natural resources and, in particular mining, a huge amount of capital is required to maintain production as well as expand existing production. 

So, a lot of money is required. Another risk is, and very pertinent today, is geopolitical uncertainty, which in turn impacts international trade and supply chains. Just look at the impact that tariffs are having on the whole world at the moment. 

So as the natural resources industry transforms and makes more use of autonomous vehicles and autonomous operations, so too are they exposed to greater technology and cyber risks. 

Other risks that they face are workforce skill shortages, especially for new technologies and attracting and retaining the right workforce. 

Another one is reputation, activism, stakeholder fragmentation. This is all on the increase. Even though the world is dependent, as I said, on the products that the natural resources industry produces, there are some activists that often protest against this industry, especially in the oil and gas, mining and power industries associated with the mining and burning of fossil fuels. 

And lastly, maybe another one, tougher competition to secure critical minerals. The word critical minerals we heard a lot of in the world in the last couple of years. Currently there's a lot of money being made available to secure supply of critical minerals, particularly related to the huge increase in demand for renewable energy and the defense industry.

So Charles, there is eight or 10 sort of key issues in the mining industry at the moment.

Charles Philpott 
Yeah, it's a whole basket of challenges and thus we still see the opportunity. 

But I also think about extraction is getting more difficult. The new deposits are deeper and complex geologies. 

And at the same time, the demand for minerals, as I understand it, will increase about 6x through about 2040. 

So, it seems that the mining industry is facing constraints. If I hear what you said in two key areas needed for success, and that's capital and talent. 

Maybe if we could dig a little deeper, starting with capital, how can businesses in this sector unlock new forms of capital to help provide more supply?

Paul Pryor 
Sure. So, companies in the natural resources industry historically have been pretty good at making use of vehicles to find additional capital. If we think about it, vehicles such as captives, cell captives, reinsurance markets —this is in addition to the insurance markets that are typically out there and they access — and other instruments such as insurance link securities and parametric solutions. All these instruments and solutions have been widely used and are currently widely used in the natural resources space.

Other ways to unlock capital would be to make use of insurance surety and credit solutions to free up balance sheets, enabling more growth-related capex which is sorely needed.As I said before, you need a lot of capital to expand mines these days.

Charles Philpott 
No doubt all these are very important vehicles as I always think about economic comparative advantage when you're competing in such a tough industry and certainly relevant as we consider we may be entering another super cycle of demand. 

So, you touched on it earlier mining companies are facing an aging workforce and severe shortages of skilled and unskilled labor. What are they doing to recruit and retain this new generation of workers?

Paul Pryor 
Yeah, absolutely Charles. As I mentioned earlier, attracting and retaining talent is a significant risk to the natural resources companies today. Particularly due to skills, new skills that are required for the new technology that's coming out, the automation that I mentioned before, and of course, AI. AI's across all industries and mining and natural resources is no exception there. 

And young talent, at the moment, doesn't really consider the mining and metal industry to be such an attractive option for them. I'll give you an example. The number of mining and metallurgical graduates in Australia, where I come from, has declined by 75% in the 10 years between 2011 and 2021. 75%. You can see there's becoming less and less specialized people available to fill these roles. 

So, as a result, companies are having to come up with innovative packages to attract young talent, particularly in remote and offshore locations where mining companies typically operate. 

And also, if companies can get this right, they see this as a major competitive advantage against in the industry. So very important for them to get this attraction and retention of talent.

Charles Philpott 
And it's such an exciting developing industry, but no doubt mining companies will need a compelling employee value proposition to overcome this tightening labor market. 

So, I want to switch our focus to a topic that is in every headline today, and that is data centers. In addition to complex construction, power supply issues, data centers hinge on the supply of critical metals and minerals.

Paul, could you tell us a bit more about the importance that the mining industry plays in the growth of data centers?

Paul Pryor 
Sure, Charles. I said before, Charles, everything we see, everything we touch in the world today largely comes from mining and the data center is no different to that. 

So let's just think about all the materials that are required for data centers that come from the mining industry. Firstly, there's the construction materials that are required to build these things. So for example, steel, concrete, aggregate, these are all materials that come from the ground. 

Then there's the metals used in data centers, example, copper, gold, silver for the circuit boards. You need aluminum for the trays and racks and overhead transmission lines. You need cobalt, nickel, manganese, vanadium, lithium for the backup power supply batteries. Very important for backup. And so those battery metals are extremely important there. 

Then there's also copper, aluminum, and stainless steel piping that's needed for the massive amount of cooling that's required. Data centers use a massive amount of electricity and from using massive amounts of electricity comes a lot of heat. So, a lot of a massive amounts of cooling is required. you need all these, this piping required to cool them with their equipment. 

And all these minerals, they're indispensable in the manufacturing of components that power data centers, also areas such as fiber optic and copper cables, solar panels, satellites, and advanced communication devices. 

There's a very good example. Data centers is a very good example of the point I made earlier, Charles, about how important mining is. We use it every single day. In fact, this podcast is based on lots of material that has come from a mine.

Charles Philpott 
I think you covered about half the periodic table there. I'll have to go back and do a refresher course there, but there's also the aspect of processing and refining too that stands behind all that. And I'm sure that's a key challenge in your world as well.

Paul Pryor 
Absolutely. In our world, when we talk about mining, we talk about a quite a long processing line, if you like. Mining is not just digging it out the ground. Of course, its has to get out of the ground, that is digging out and mining it out the ground. Then of course it has to come to the surface. It has to be ground, ground up, it to be crushed. It has to be processed, it has to be filtered. Has to be in large many cases, it has to be concentrated, put into furnaces. And even goes into further refinement. For example, gold goes all the way to refinery to make it 99.99 % pure. 

And not only that, it doesn't finish there either. For example, it has to get to the customer. So it has to go through a logistical route. That could be a rail line. It could be a port. It could be an airplane, a helicopter, whatever. When we talk about mining, it's mining, metals, processing, and all the logistics that go with it.

Charles Philpott 
Well, that's our show for today. Thank you all for listening. Thank you, Paul. In the coming months, we'll have more industry insights, including on the construction and insurance industries. If you're interested in finding out more about Aon's natural resources solutions and expertise, just like our world global expert, Paul here, or speak to an Aon colleague about how we can help your business, head to Aon.com. 

Until next time, thank you.

Outro:
Thanks for tuning into the latest episode of On Aon. If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and be sure to visit Aon.com to learn more about Aon. 

We’ll be back next week with another episode — our Global Insight — where we’ll be discussing the latest geopolitical, economic and regulatory developments impacting businesses around the world. 

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