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Sustainable growth programme a highlight at Mining Indaba

7th March 2014

By: Ilan Solomons

Creamer Media Staff Writer

  

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Engineering, project delivery and advisory services group Aurecon’s Partnering for Sustainable Growth programme provided conference delegates who attended the programme at this year’s Investing in African Mining Indaba with a holistic approach to mine development, said Africa and Middle East mining industry leader Mark Berger, who spoke to Mining Weekly on the sidelines of the conference.

Berger explained that the programme, developed by Aurecon using the lens of the Six Capitals approach developed by the global integrated reporting coalition the International Integrated Reporting Council, measured six capital models for sustainable growth, and included financial or manufactured capital, and physical, intellectual, human, social and natural capital.

“A holistic approach to mine development considers all six capital sustainable growth models, which thereby assess the best possible approach to a project,” he said, adding that Aurecon created value for its clients by considering the difference it could make to the communities in which it operated.

Berger pointed out that the increased focus on sustainable mining practices in Africa in recent years provided Aurecon with significant opportunities to expand its service offering to the mining sector, as mine rehabilitation had been poorly handled in the past.

“Unrehabilitated mine sites have caused hardships for the local communities who have had to deal with land that could not be used for any constructive purpose, in addition to the toxic contaminants that were not properly disposed of by mining companies once the mine had ceased operations. This has negatively impacted on the air and water quality of the surrounding communities,” he stated.

Meanwhile, Aurecon mining industry director Garth Higgo told Mining Weekly at the Mining Indaba that the company promoted an ethos of “safe and certain delivery”, with a commitment to health and safety protocols.

“We believe every incident and injury is preventable – from our CEO to individual employees working on site, we strive for continuous improvement in our health and safety management systems.”

Moreover, Higgo added that having a social licence to operate, creating sustainable mining operations and increasing project value beyond the consideration of financial objectives alone were among the key challenges facing the global mining industry.

“In the last three years, Aurecon has evolved its service offering. We are no longer purely a consulting engineering company, we now also offer project management services,” stated Berger.

“The company has realised that more mining operations are aiming to work with engineering companies that offer a complete cradle-to-grave offering, from the early conceptual phase of a project to eventual final decommissioning of the mine and the rehabilitation of the site.”

Projects in Progress

Berger pointed out that the company was building a water treatment plant for a major mining house at one of its mines in eMalahleni, Mpumalanga, which was scheduled for completion by the middle of this year.

Meanwhile, Higgo told Mining Weekly that Aurecon would probably undertake more work in Mozambique in the next five to ten years, owing to the country’s rapidly growing oil and gas and traditional mining sectors.

He added that the company was focused on winning contracts to assist mining project development in West and East Africa.

“We have 26 offices in South Africa and an additional 13 in other African countries, namely, Angola, Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Lesotho, Libya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Swaziland, Tanzania and Uganda.

“Aurecon strongly believes that the continent will continue to register growth in new project developments and expansions of existing ones,” Berger asserted.

Higgo added that about 80% of Aurecon’s current African work was in South Africa, but the company expects this figure to decrease as it continued to expand its footprint into the rest of Africa.

Indaba Importance

Berger stressed that the Mining Indaba remained “a critically important event to attend”, owing to the presence of so many major industry players at the conference.

“We would normally have to arrange several meetings in various countries worldwide over several months, if not years, to engage with all the company representatives who attend this event; but for these few days, we have the opportunity to make new contacts and network with them – all in one location,” he noted.

Edited by Samantha Herbst
Creamer Media Deputy Editor

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