Mining Industry Faces New Threat: Labour Shortages

Evolution Mining's (ASX:EVN) recent full-year results revealed a breakdown of its cost drivers, which showed that diesel costs only account for 3% of its expense base.

The chart highlights the significant impact of labour costs on the company's finances, with contract and employee labour together making up nearly 50% of its cost base.

This issue could have a more profound effect on the mining industry than previous concerns about diesel supply, which were largely driven by the Iran conflict in March that caused oil prices to surge.

Australia is experiencing a significant buildout of data centres, with an estimated investment pipeline exceeding $155 billion, as reported by Westpac Banking (ASX:WBC) in May.

The construction of these large-scale facilities will draw heavily from the same pool of skilled labour and tradespeople needed for other industries, including home building and mining.