Mr Beament also boasted Develop was “the only resources company on the ASX not whinging about people” as labour shortages continue to squeeze the sector.
The former Northern Star Resources boss earlier this year told The West Australian he had not had to advertise for a single position for Develop’s recent recruitment campaign, which saw a number of senior mining specialists join the company’s ranks over the December quarter.
Speaking in the Gold Coast on Tuesday, Mr Beament said demand for underground skills was “going ballistic” and that his company has “no people attraction or retention issues”.
Develop acquired the shuttered Woodlawn copper-zinc project in NSW last year for $30 million and holds the Sulphur Springs copper project in the Pilbara. It also provides underground services to Bellevue Gold for its WA mine.
“We don’t even discuss turnover — it’s not even been mentioned once in senior management or at a board level,” Mr Beament told the Resources Rising Stars conference, hosted by Read Corporate.
“We basically employed the sergeants, the lieutenants, the colonels, the generals from the underground industry and they’ve literally bought the first wave of army into our Bellevue and Woodlawn operations, and the second and third wave are well and truly lined up.
“That is our competitive advantage as a company, because we’ve got to build our own assets and we’re going to help others build theirs.”
Mr Beament said he felt sorry for some of the underground mines in the country “because we’re ripping their 5 per cent best talent out and they’re joining us”.
The comments came as Develop announced drilling at Woodlawn had intercepted “exceptionally thick, high-grade copper and zinc mineralisation” outside the underground resource, sending its shares surging 7.36 per cent.
