The wellspring of one of the world’s largest mining-focused professional practices – SRK Consulting South Africa – is preparing itself for an expo- nential increase in demand from the continent of Africa, where it has operated highly successfully for the past 38 years.

The South African practice – which employs 380 of the group’s total complement of 1 400 staff in 45 offices in 21 countries – has a distinguished record on African soil for a wide range of blue-chip mining majors and public-sector clients.

The global group of consulting engineers and scientists, which was founded in South Africa in 1974, provides independent technical advice and solutions to the natural resource industries, mainly in the fields of exploration, mining, tailings and waste, water, environmental and social, and geotechnical, civil and structural engineering.

It also provides audits, competent persons reports and due diligence, which are generally linked to project financing, stock exchange listings, mergers, acquisitions and disposals of mining assets.

Currently presenting the South African practice with significant new opportunities are the mining-linked infrastructural requirements of the burgeoning African continent.

That is the view of SRK South Africa chairperson and corporate consultant Roger Dixon, which was expressed to Mining Weekly in an interview that was enhanced by the presence of the ‘S’ in SRK, the pioneering Oskar Steffen.

It was Steffen, together with the entrepreneurially gifted Andy Robertson and the technically astute Hendrik Kirsten, who laid an exceedingly firm foundation for this globally revered consultancy, which today has established practices in Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe and North and South America.

Water, road and railway infrastructural projects on the African continent are expected to feature increasingly in the order book of SRK South Africa going forward.

The pioneering South African practice’s largest current project is a R600-million eleven-month geotechnical investigation in West Africa, SRK South Africa MD Peter Labrum reports.

Many of SRK’s disciplines are also being exercised at the Tenke Fungurume copper operation, in Katanga province, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where mine owners find it considerably more cost effective to engage consultants from com- panies like SRK, which have long-established locally staffed African bases.

SRK compiled the environmental impact assessment for Botswana’s Boseto copper project, where groundwater was a particularly sensitive aspect, and facilitated a study tour to the Lesotho Highlands Water Project for 17 parliamentarians from Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan, which was organised to foster transboundary water cooperation.

“We have local consultants who are proud to be associated with project delivery on the fast-growing African continent,” says Dixon.

A huge factor in SRK’s success is that, wherever it is, it staffs its practices with local people and not expatriates.

It is also implementing a strategy to ensure the sustainability of its group businesses for generations to come.

Each practice within this independent, international organisation is locally controlled to levels as high as 70%.

For example, 193 SRK employees own 65.48% of the South African practice, a staff trust another 4.52%, and SRK Global the remaining 30%.

In South Africa, SRK has offices in Cape Town, Durban, East London, Johannesburg, Kimberley, Pietermaritzburg, Port Elizabeth, Pretoria and Rustenburg.

SRK South Africa is quality-certified in terms of the ISO 9001:2008 standard, which commits it to a planned and organised quality management programme.

In Africa, the company’s offices in Ghana, the DRC, Zimbabwe and Angola are being led towards North American-type self-sufficiency.

The Australian practice is also separately active in Africa for its Australian clients.

Annual turnover of the SRK group – headed by CEO Andy Barrett (see also page 30) – is likely to exceed previous years, and the nine-office South African practice is projecting a similar increase in its turnover for the 2012 financial year.

Broadly based ownership has withstood several “eye-popping” purchase offers made by larger engineering corporations over time, says Barrett (as reported on page 30)

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Meeting Clients’ Needs

Renowned for retaining clients and securing repeat business, SRK continues to serve at the Nchanga copper mine, where co- founder Steffen began his mining career nearly a half-century ago.

“We’re still doing lots of work on the Nchanga deposit, both underground and in the openpit,” Dixon points out.

The consultancy also has an ongoing association with South Africa’s largest water utility, Rand Water, which was one of the early clients of the ‘K’ in SRK.

The company has a track record of con-tinually evolving to meet the changing requirements of both its private-sector clients – which include banks and financial institu- tions – and also its many public-sector clients, involving many tiers of government.

SRK is strictly a consultancy, and accepts no equity in any of its clients’ projects, which is crucial in the due diligence and feasibility study assignments that form a large part of the activities of SRK’s consultants.

Dixon believes that it is integrity that sets the consultancy apart.

“There’s a line we will not cross,” Dixon adds.

The consultancy reports into stock exchanges the world over, which rely on strict compliance with global reporting codes in determining the value of mineral deposits.

Business Philosophy

SRK believes that, in order to succeed, it must contribute to the success of its clients.

It believes further that its performance and abilities are only as good as the staff it is able to attract, develop and retain.

A cornerstone of SRK’s philosophy is to develop and embrace new technologies and methodologies.

The company encourages group cooperation in order to optimise client advantage.

It lays down that its own growth must be in response to the requirements of its clients.

In running its consulting business and advising clients, the organisation is committed to seeking solutions that minimise impacts on the biophysical and social environments.

It strives to conserve resources and preserve the environment in the course of its business.

It places great store on safety and commits its staff to ensuring that all work is con- ducted in a safe manner.

Prevention of workplace injuries, illnesses and incidents is a priority goal.

Exploration and Mining

Experienced specialist exploration geologists and mining engineers undertake investigative and project work for the mining of all metals and minerals by both opencast and underground methods.

Exploration planning, integrated feasibility studies and economic evaluations to detailed mine design, mine layouts, production scheduling, equipment selection, contract documentation and contract administration services are part of its stock in trade.

Rock engineers provide stability and stress investigations for rock slopes, rock support systems and stabilisation works for shallow undermining.

Civil and geotechnical engineers and environmental experts provide pollution control measures for the management of waste disposal operations, along with instru- mentation installation and monitoring. Experienced teams also provide planning services for mine closure and rehabilitation.

Groundwater services include site monitoring and contaminant plume modelling, and surface water services embrace stormwater management, water resource development and flood studies.

Environmental offerings range from assessment to the social aspects while geotechnical services include evaluation of materials, geotechnical site investigations and geotechnical designs.
The civil and structural services embrace project management, design, drawing, contract documentation, administration and site inspection.

Designated project managers choose teams that interact with the client while retaining overall design responsibility.

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