Local mining consultancy The MSA Group provides exploration, geology, mineral resource, mining and environmental consulting solutions to a client base that includes some of the world’s largest multinational mining companies, as well as private equity and sovereign wealth funds, banks, governments and mining juniors listed globally.

Since its establishment in 1983, MSA has been ISO 9001- certified for quality, OHSAS 18001-certified for health and safety and SANAS ISO/IEC accredited for its diamond exploration laboratory.

On average, MSA undertakes 150 to 200 projects a year and routinely reports on all the major mining stock exchanges. This year, the group was awarded multiple contracts by mining companies throughout Africa and the Middle East in a range of commodities, including, but not limited to, base metals, coal, tin, zinc, gold, iron-ore, phosphate, graphite, limestone, diamonds and manganese.

Some of these contracts include geotechnical consulting on various projects in Southern Africa and the Middle East, providing mine optimisation and other services to mines in Iran, and the provision of gold and base metals exploration as well as health, safety and environmental services for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s State-owned mining company, Ma’aden.

Contracts for several due diligence studies and valuations for mergers and acquisitions have also been secured by the company, as have several mineral resource estimates and competent-/qualified-person reports, which include consulting on some of the world’s highest-grade deposits.

Further, the company has been contracted for leading scoping and prefeasibility studies, and as consultant to both the oil and gas as well as the mining sectors for a wide range of environmental services including EIA’s, advising on the new financial provisioning regulations and pipeline route screening.

MSA is progressing well on the commissioning of a new caustic fusion processing laboratory to process kimberlite samples to assess their microdiamond content. The facility, the only one in Africa, is being set up in collaboration with mineral and mining equipment supplier Min-Met Equipment and will be operational by August.

MSA is a Level 6 broad-based black economic-empowerment company, which is majority-owned by Mining Oil & Gas Services, a 100%-owned Royal Bafokeng Holdings company.

MSA’s head office is in Craighall Park, Johannesburg. It has a permanent staff complement of 60 and more than 30 associates.