With a global reputation for helping clients create and sustain profitable mines, SRK Consulting (SA) is urging the mining sector to initiate new pro-ject or expansion plans well in advance of the anticipated commodity price recovery.

“Our clients appreciate the value we deliver through our 360° mining perspective – supported by a broad range of technical solutions and mining-related services,” said SRK (SA) managing director Vis Reddy. “However, the value of time – to fully explore all risks and opportunities – is often under-estimated; rushing any aspect of the planning and implementation process raises the possibility of sub-optimal results.”

Reddy highlighted the importance of giving adequate time to issues such as strategic project planning, stakeholder engagement, and authorisation and permitting – while ensuring that detailed scientific studies feed decisions within the planning process with the necessary data.

“A mineral resource can only be converted into a reserve after all relevant ‘modifying factors’ have been addressed,” he said. “Our solutions are based on a risk management approach that explores these factors in depth, and leads to the appropriate design.”

Planning for productivity
Its global network of over 45 offices and 1,400 professionals – developed over more than 40 years of experience – provides SRK with an ever-evolving range of services in mining and minerals. Working in integrated teams of specialists, the group offers solutions in related fields vital to the success of mining projects: environment, social and governance; water and waste; energy; and civils and infrastructure.

According to SRK (SA) partner and principal engineer Andrew van Zyl, the output, productivity and sustainability achieved by a mine when it finally starts operating is a process that begins on day one of the planning.

“The real test of a mine’s success is whether it can operate within the lowest cost quartile of producers in that sector – to maximise the operating margin given the physical characteristics of the deposit,” said Van Zyl. “Its ability to do this is in turn determined by the planning decisions made much earlier in the life-cycle.”

Early advice
It was for this reason that SRK encouraged clients to start engaging as early in their projects as possible, he said, even before the formal technical studies were initiated.

“Benefits from early consultation in the exploration phase, for instance, could relate to the extraction, sampling and storage of drill cores in a way that allows for further testing and checking of results at a later stage,” he said. “Considerable value can be released by gaining early insights into potentially challenging areas, and by considering how the latest technologies can improve the quality of key decisions.”

Van Zyl said that ‘upfront consulting’ with experts could also help avoid costly mistakes down the line, and clear the way for the most appropriate strategy for achieving lowest-quartile production costs. It allowed developers and investors to “find out what they don’t know” and gain the assurance that technical and financial studies are optimally conducted the first time round.

Falling productivity in mining globally – with levels now 25-30% lower than they were a decade ago – is a particular challenge in driving down production costs, said SRK (SA) corporate consultant Roger Dixon.

Technology tools
“An important way forward is through creating value by applying fast-developing technology across all elements of mining operations,” said Dixon. “Digital innovations allow mines to monitor and control various activities much more efficiently – and also more safely; remote control functions mean that fewer people are required to work in high-energy zones at the working face.”

The performance of the engineering disciplines in mines is being constantly enhanced by computer capacity and related technology, he said.

An example of this is the integration of skills and experience that can be achieved with sophisticated modelling of the ore body, structural geology, geohydrology, geotechnical engineering, and mine planning and scheduling,” he said. “These advances are now able to significantly improve mine efficiencies and reduce risk.”

The SRK ‘team approach’ to mining studies further enhances this technological edge, helping clients to integrate the various technical aspects of their plans to best effect. Marcin Wertz, partner and principal mining engineer at SRK (SA), highlighted how each member of the SRK team was alive to the impact of their decisions on other disciplines in the project.

“We pursue the concept of one sophisticated model comprising elements of all the relevant disciplines, as this optimises the mine plan, secures better efficiencies, and reduces project risk,” said Wertz. “For instance, costly mistakes can be avoided at implementation stage if sufficient orebody knowledge is developed early on.”

Social licence
In response to the growing risk of social, environmental and governance issues, SRK has over the past decade or more extended its market-leading expertise into this field – receiving awards for its pioneering work in this arena.

“Recent disruptions on mine sites globally indicate that social licence is becoming more tenuous and difficult to maintain,”
said Van Zyl. “SRK works with clients to move beyond just legal compliance to fully integrating environmental and social management into their business philosophy and practice.”

He emphasised the shared-value approach, which aims to create profitable mines that can provide the seed for sustainable communities.

Water scarcity
Competition for scarce resources like water and energy are also addressed by SRK’s 360° mining perspective, as these can
become the source of project-threatening conflict with stakeholders.

“Most prospective mining areas in Africa are water-scarce – and it is no simple matter to secure long-term access to affordable water,” he said. “Even after such access is found, channels of communication and
negotiation with other users must be closely managed, while on-site usage strategies must prioritise conservation and strict
environmental compliance.”

Water-related technical services offered by SRK include groundwater modelling, groundwater reserve determinations and groundwater supply and resource utilisation, as well as hydrology assessment and integrated mine water management.

Energy planning
Energy constraints in much of Africa and rising electricity prices in countries like South Africa mean that today’s mine energy
designs must address higher risks, better efficiencies and smarter application.

“Energy planning needs to include altering production plans to meet the needs of load balancing, exploring energy recovery systems and installing more secure power sources on-site,” said SRK (SA) principal mining engineer (Coal) Norman McGeorge. “This process requires a detailed understanding of load requirements for each production process on a mine, so that management can estimate variability over time and incorporate these variations in its designs.”

He said design innovations are best made where energy usage is highest, such as in the fuel consumed in open pit operations: about 70% of the diesel used isconsumed in elevating waste material to be dumped – so designs that reduce the amount or position of waste can help cut the diesel bill.

McGeorge emphasised the need for innovative solutions, as most of the 15% energy savings so far achieved by South African mines – when Eskom required the mining sector to limit its usage – were focused on lighter consumption areas such as water heating and lighting.