IMARC 2025 NextGen Leader Renzo Ocampo on reshaping mining’s future

Inaugural IMARC NextGen Leaders Award winner Renzo Ocampo is excited about the skills and ideas a new generation of professionals can bring to the mining industry. He is concerned, on the back of personal experience, about what they don’t know at the start. As a geologist, he’s naturally optimistic about the future.

Ocampo was heading to the backblocks of South Australia this week to rejoin a Gawler Craton exploration drilling team.

It might be a less mentally taxing period for the Barton Gold junior geo after he took part in IMARC sessions involving about 70 university students and young professionals, 60 high school students and then a keynote conference panel set up to explore the industry views of Ocampo and several of his contemporaries.

“I had just come off a three-week stint in remote central South Australia and flew directly from Adelaide to Sydney for IMARC, which was meant to be my downtime,” he said from Sydney airport.

“It turned out to be quite the opposite.”

Not that he is complaining.

In his short time in the industry Ocampo has leapt at professional development and networking opportunities and chances to be involved in industry outreach to schools. Asked about his goals for the next five or 10 years, he didn’t hesitate: “I see myself advancing in mineral exploration and mining — contributing to new discoveries, leading multidisciplinary teams and helping drive innovation in how we explore and develop resources. I also hope to take on greater leadership responsibilities where I can mentor and empower the next generation of geoscientists, just as others have supported me.”

The son of a Filipino heavy equipment mechanic who has worked in the Australian mining industry for the past 20 years and brought his family to central Queensland in 2013, Ocampo said he was encouraged by his parents to pursue a career in geology. By the time he started university in Adelaide, he was “set on pursuing a career in mining”.

“My passion was strengthened through programs like the National Exploration Undercover School [NExUS] and the Australian Society of Exploration Geophysicists’ Camp for Applied Geophysics Excellence, both of which I attended as a scholarship recipient.

“Those experiences gave me hands-on exposure to exploration and deepened my appreciation for the science and teamwork behind resource discovery.”

Ocampo hopes a new generation of mining professionals can help redefine mining, “creating an industry built on sustainability, collaboration, inclusivity, transparency, innovation and responsibility”.

“We’re entering the workforce with a new mindset that sees mining as part of a broader sustainability ecosystem, where success is measured not by how much we extract but by how well and how responsibly we do it.

“This generation is inherently interdisciplinary, bridging geology, engineering, data science and automation to drive smarter, cleaner and more connected operations across the mining value chain.

“We’re also reshaping the culture of mining, championing openness, diversity and mental wellbeing and ensuring every voice is heard. Together, we’re proving that mining’s future will be defined by purpose, people and progress.”

Ocampo agreed with a comment by fellow NextGen Insights panellist, University of New South Wales student Celine Gironda, that the industry needed to help cultivate and then employ bigger university graduate teams, rather than (typically) individual hires. Gironda was asked what fundamental shift she would like to see in the industry by 2040.

“Building peer support and collaboration early makes the transition from university to industry far less isolating,” Ocampo said.

“However, before that can happen on a larger scale we need to shift perceptions about mining itself. I’ve seen first-hand how deeply entrenched misconceptions continue to shape how my peers and the public view this industry and this is evident in the steady decline in enrolments across mining-relevant STEM disciplines.

“Without a reliable pipeline of skilled graduates in geoscience, engineering and other critical fields, the sector risks facing a severe skills shortage.

“Shifting perception requires targeted outreach, honest dialogue and visible young leaders demonstrating mining's role in sustainability.”

In his IMARC NextGen Leaders submission paper, Ocampo wrote: “Mining has a vital role in enabling renewable energy transitions, partnering with communities and driving technological and environmental innovation. To ensure the next generation recognises this potential, we must reframe our industry’s narrative, dismantle entrenched barriers and lead with transparency and inclusivity.”

Ocampo’s response to the 2040 question was also to zero in on a change he hopes comes sooner.

“The first thing that came to mind was the industry’s boom-and-bust mindset,” he said.

“That short-term thinking that cuts people and innovation first whenever markets tighten.

“My answer comes from personal experience.

“I went through my first redundancy last year, about four months after being promoted to a new role.

“It was a tough period. I’d spent over two-and-a-half years with a team who were incredibly supportive, so it hit hard emotionally. I isolated myself for about a week before realising I needed to reach out. I’m grateful for the mentors, former colleagues, family and friends who reminded me that redundancy isn’t a reflection of anyone's capability or worth, it’s just part of the natural ebb and flow of the industry.

“That experience taught me a lot about resilience but it also highlighted something missing in how we prepare early-career professionals and those who are about to enter the industry.

“We don’t often talk about the cyclical nature of mining in university.

“When students ask me now what I wish I’d known before entering the industry, I tell them, I wish I’d known about the reality of mining’s boom-and-bust cycle. We know mining and exploration are inherently cyclical industries. Project funding, commodity prices and global events can significantly impact employment. Knowing this beforehand doesn’t discourage anyone from pursuing a career here but it’s a chance to prepare.

“Building a strong professional network and maintaining relationships across companies and projects is invaluable. It can help you navigate uncertain times more confidently.

“But look, the tendency to treat exploration and innovation as costs to be cut — rather than as long-term investments — creates instability that ripples through people, suppliers and communities.

“Every cycle we lose talent, disrupt learning and slow momentum. If we could shift the mindset to treat people, data and technology as core capital — assets that retain value across cycles — we’d maintain continuity, capability and trust.

“If anything, downturns are when we should innovate smarter, not smaller.”