Episode Details

‘Being honest throughout your career is the best thing you can do, and is respected throughout the industry’ 

Tim Livesey shares his fascinating career journey from his first role in South Africa to his present role as CEO of Oriole Resources Plc. As someone who has worked for both smaller and larger companies, he has extensive experience in the mining industry across different levels and projects. Listen in now to hear his advice for those who are beginning their own journey in the industry today. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS 

• Beginning my career in South Africa was an opportunity to work in exploration and get mining experience very early on in my career. It confirmed that I didn’t really like working underground but also gave me a really good understanding of production,   of sampling, blasting safety communication and management. 
• South Africa is very different from other places but at a project level there isn’t a great deal of difference, the people who you interact with have the same aspirations. 
• Working in Africa provided me with the opportunity to move upwards more quickly. If there was an opportunity to learn something new I would take it, and this helped broaden my skill set. 

• Working remotely with small teams gives you a great deal of autonomy and when you are working in this way you really get to know the people you are working with. If you have the right mixture of empathy and people skills you can develop positively as a good leader. 
• Stratex International 
• The company had some assets and licences and had tried to get into more advanced projects but the skills in the company were more suited to early exploration. 
• It was about refocusing what was being brought to the investors. 
• The company refocused on the early generation marketplace. The rebranding marked the change of direction and the company then acquired some licences in Cameroon which provided new targets to chase. 

• At the management and strategic level, the company has been refreshed and is moving in a direct direction 
• We’ve tightened the cost structure and have a good understanding of where we want the company to go and what exit strategies look like. 
• I know what people are looking for and as a team, we have a good technical reputation along with strong compliance and administrative teams. 
• We do things properly and invest a lot of time in building social licence and doing the right thing in projects that we run. 
• We have skills in our teams that are pertinent to West Africa geology, so the African, European time zone is where we are best suited. 

• You increase your chances of success by going into good areas with good prospects, good teams and working well with the local government and the local people. 
• If you can align those things then you maximise your chances for success. 

BEST MOMENTS 

‘You don’t measure your social performance by how much you have spent on it’ 

‘As a company, we’ve undergone a massive change’ 

It was a really good apprenticeship for a graduate’ 

You either adapt or you don’t’ 

Everything is linked to mining and responsible mining is a positive’ 

As an industry, we are getting better at promoting the positive effects of what we do but we need to do more to work collectively’ 

Adaptability is one of the key traits of those who work in the mining industry’ 

You don’t measure your social performance by how much you have spent on it’ 

It’s a broad church the mining business and everyone adds something to it’ 

VALUABLE RESOURCES 

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