There’s a lot of talk about speeding up mining projects, and policies are being introduced to support that. Is this actually happening on the ground?
Jean L’Heureux: We’re seeing concrete measures, particularly in financing and government support. These help reassure investors and facilitate progress on certain projects. However, external structural constraints often prevent projects from fully benefitting from these acceleration efforts.
Benoit Richard: There’s a clear intent to move faster. However, not every “fast-tracked” project is genuinely accelerated. In some cases, we try to move projects faster because early-stage work was poorly defined or insufficiently prepared in advance, which caused delays; these are more like “catch-up” projects. These are two very different dynamics.
Jean L’Heureux: Exactly. True project acceleration requires clearly defined objectives, well-established priorities, an appropriate governance structure and, above all, early consideration of external project constraints. Without these, trying to speed up could actually increase project risk.
What’s really holding back the ability to accelerate mining projects today, and why is it still so difficult to achieve in practice?
Jean L’Heureux: Many constraints fall outside the project team’s control. Permitting times, inter-agency coordination and social acceptability issues all operate at their own pace, which is independent of the developer’s schedule and difficult to accelerate. The impact can therefore be significant if these factors aren’t addressed early. Stakeholders generally don’t respond well to being “fast-tracked” by a project developer. In many cases, it isn’t the technical complexity that slows projects down but the ability of existing structures to process them.
Benoit Richard: This is where we see a gap between policy intent and operational reality. We talk about acceleration, but processes aren’t always set up to support it and resources are often limited. A project may be ready, well structured and fully financed, but it may stall because of administrative reasons.
Jean L’Heureux: There are also intrinsic limits within the project development itself. Pre-construction phases such as technical and environmental studies simply take time. Trying to streamline them often leads to weaker decisions that may need to be revised later, with consequences. It always comes back to the fundamental schedule-cost-risk trade-off. Accelerating a project inevitably involves compromises. Time gains in one area typically result in higher costs and/or greater uncertainty elsewhere.
Benoit Richard: Perhaps the real question is different. Instead of trying to speed everything up, we should focus on structuring everything properly from the very beginning. This is what, in practice, leads to greater efficiency and, in practice, saves time.
In this context, how can projects move forward effectively without compromising quality?
Benoit Richard: There’s no silver bullet. What makes the difference is attention to detail right from the start. The best way to speed up a project is to do it right the first time. This inevitably requires experience: knowing which steps are critical, which decisions need to be made early and how to structure the project properly. It’s about minimizing improvisation as much as possible along the way.
Jean L’Heureux: This is especially true for permitting and social acceptability. When a project is clear, well structured and unambiguous, and when the developer is transparent and listens to the host communities and addresses their concerns, it significantly facilitates regulatory review and helps reduce the risk of further delays. Ultimately, the ability to accelerate a project is often the result of several years of preparation.
Benoit Richard: We’re also seeing emerging approaches that improve efficiency. For example, early contractor involvement (ECI) brings key partners, such as major equipment suppliers and contractors, on board as early as the engineering phases. This helps better align technical decisions early on. We’re also starting to see forms of collaboration within the industry, for example between mining companies that may even be competitors, agreeing to share certain infrastructure or resources to respond more quickly to demand. These models remain highly context-specific, but they show that there are possible, alternative ways of developing projects.
Jean L’Heureux: Establishing clear decision-making processes, with the right stakeholders at the table, also helps identify key issues quickly to ensure efficiency.
Benoit Richard: And we shouldn’t overlook artificial intelligence, which will clearly play an increasing role. It’ll help speed up certain early phases, particularly studies and design, by leveraging existing data to support faster decision-making. However, it shouldn’t fully replace the experience, intuition and innovation of those developing these projects. The optimal approach will likely be a combination of human and artificial intelligence.
Jean L’Heureux: Absolutely! But some phases will continue to set their own pace, especially those tied to external constraints that may not adopt AI as quickly as the industry. Despite this progress, a realistic approach, strong upfront preparation and the ability to make decisions at the right time are what ultimately will enable projects to be delivered as quickly as possible.
