Johannesburg-based project management and engineering firm Senet will exhibit its mineral-processing products and services at this year’s Investing in African Mining Indaba and will celebrate its twenty-fifth anniversary with clients at the event.

Senet business development director Darren Naylor tells Mining Weekly that there will be several events throughout the year to mark this milestone, as the company’s success in gold and copper projects continues to take centre stage.

“As we celebrate 25 years in the industry, all promotional efforts for the year will be used to laud the company’s fantastic achievements. During the indaba, networking functions are being planned for the evenings of February 9 and 10 to celebrate with business partners,” he details.

This year marks the third year that Senet will be exhibiting at the Mining Indaba, which will take place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre from February 9 to 12. The company has attended the event since 2005 and started exhibiting in 2013.

“Our reputation and success underpin the company’s marketing efforts. The indaba provides a complementary platform to laud such successes and meet up with current and new business partners,” highlights Naylor.
He says the indaba provides a marketing platform for greater exposure to new clients, as well as the opportunity to reinforce the success of the company. He adds that Senet has outlined targeted client visits as part of the process and will use the opportunity to engage with multiple mining clients.

He advises first-time attendees to have and adhere to an event schedule. “The show is well run, but there are many events that take place around the exhibition centre, and these networking opportunities should be leveraged.

“One needs to be focused and have clear objectives. You can waste a lot of time if you do not have targeted meetings and clients to see. Exposure is good, but you need to come away with a list of vetted prospects,” he emphasises.

Naylor adds that Senet is looking forward to the project-specific discussions given by mining houses, as they enable the company’s sales team to understand the current status of particular projects and to prioritise the marketing efforts of the business.

He also highlights the macro and industry discussions as informative and says they help with strategic planning.

Project Portfolio
Naylor tells Mining Weekly that the company has several projects in the pipeline for this year. These include several gold projects in East and West Africa, including a one-million-tonne-a-year carbon-in-leach plant in Mali and a four-million-tonne-a-year heap leach plant in Burkina Faso, that is due for commissioning in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Further, a new solvent extraction and electrowinning (SX-EW) copper plant, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and numerous feasibility studies form part of the scope of work for 2015.

Naylor explains that the upcoming projects are the result of the company’s success over the past 25 years. In 2014, Senet continued to expand its process engineering and construction capabilities in gold and copper projects in Africa.

This includes the on-time commissioning of copper miner Tiger Resources’ DRC-based Kipoi copper plant. The SX-EW plant now produces 25 000 t/y. The plant was designed and constructed in 16 months, with first copper production being achieved in May 2014 and a ramp-up to nameplate capacity achieved in record time.

“Senet remains well positioned as a leader in the process plant design and construction industry, and is part of a very elite group of truly South African engineering, procurement and construction management project houses,” adds Naylor.

Senet sells complex and tailor-made engineering and implementation solutions to mining companies operating in Africa.