He was one of the leading mining executives interviewed for the "Mining Journal Global Leadership Report: Preparing for transformation" which will be published later this month.

Kerr, 47, said technology could create new employment opportunities and that presented new challenges.

"We need to think about talent management in the digital age, as the nature of work is set to change dramatically," he told Mining Journal.

"Our people can be retrained to use technology or we can redesign jobs to leverage skills and experience."

Kerr also referred to the technology roadmap the company was developing and how it managed change.

South32 was spun out of BHP three years ago. Its shares rose to an all-time high just over A$4 last month.

This is based on an interview with South32 CEO Graham Kerr as part of the ‘Mining Journal Global Leadership Report: Preparing for transformation', which will be published in late June. The report features around 20 in-depth interviews with the industry's leading mining executives and the results of our industry-wide survey focused on transformational influences (technology, stakeholder engagement etc) and the readiness of mining leaders to meet these challenges.