Mining Weekly

Multidisciplinary professional services firm Hatch this year aims to enhance its service offering to its customers through the provision of Gateway Logistics.

This system is a response to the changing needs of clients and helps businesses adapt to unstable markets by launching a “new era of positive change”, of which the provision of better ideas and services for industry forms a big part.

Hatch notes that, owing to its clients facing a myriad of challenges, such as climate change, rapid urbanisation, financial volatility and new stakeholder needs, many are changing their staffing models and business approach. Hence, a significant number of clients have decided against capital investment, currently focusing instead on increasing operational efficiency and productivity.

Gateway Logistics encompasses the entire mining supply chain, from the mine to the bulk export terminal, including the rail transport corridor.

Hatch logistics global discipline director Francois du Toit points out that the Gateway Logistics concept includes the international sourcing and procurement of equipment of the best quality at the lowest cost.

For example, some case studies conducted by Hatch have pointed out that it is sometimes better to source steel from South Africa for projects in Africa than from China, as the Asian country is “no longer necessarily seen as the preferred source of steel in terms of pricing and fabrication rates”.

Du Toit points out that the success of Gateway Logistics, to date, is largely due to the criti- cal interface between logistics and bulk materials handling.

This is achieved by employing simulation models that deal with the complexity of this interface by capturing dynamic interactions, such as real-life operations where equipment failure, environmental constraints, such as weather and tides, and resourcing requirements, need to be considered.

He maintains that a simulation model assists decision-makers and stakeholders in clearly understanding the implications of decisions before they are made, as it accelerates the process of evaluating numerous options and the rigorous analysis of outcomes.

Using a simulation model enables Hatch to identify bottlenecks, test the risks and understand a system’s performance. Most importantly, the company can develop a narrative supported by a simulation model’s outcome and study the results, so as to facilitate a common understanding among the many role-players in the logistics supply chain.

Hatch notes that critical to the success of a company is its ability to translate business objectives into design and operating requirements, and to understand the drivers that impact on capacity, cost and value across the entire logistics chain.

One such driver is infrastructure, which, Hatch adds, is closely linked to the advancement and sustainability of a country’s economy, as it is required to effectively develop a country’s available resources, which, in turn, drives its economic development.

The infrastructure projects required to unlock this value are highly capital intensive and operationally complex and form a significant part of the mining supply chain.

“Numerous gaps and opportunities can be identified when managing the interfaces between the different disciplines within a supply chain. These are generally areas where such supply chains have shortcomings,” notes Du Toit.

A way of managing such shortcomings is through the support of Hatch’s Dynamic Simu- lation Group (DSG), says Hatch DSG leader Anneri Robinson, highlighting that such support in addition to the rest of the “highly developed solutions offered by Hatch” will help a client boost its operations.

“There are many industry experts offering modelling services to the mining industry, but what differentiates Hatch is that we really understand our clients’ core businesses,” says Robinson.

Key to this understanding is an awareness of the extraordinary pressures under which the global mining industry is operating. “Resources are more remote and difficult to access, which often means new infrastructure has to be put in place from mine sites to rail links and ports,” she notes.

In 2014, Hatch completed a technical engineering study for South African mining and consulting company Pan African Minerals (PAM), analysing the technical and economic feasibility of developing the Tambao manganese resources, in northern Burkina Faso.

The project included resource geology, min-ing, processing, metallurgy, product marketing, pricing and value in use, road and rail transport, railway infrastructure, port facilities and legal requirements, as well as environmental and social considerations, besides others.

PAM also commissioned Hatch to conduct a Phase Zero study of the Burkina Faso project to complete key activities to initiate the timely implementation of Phase 1. The project consists of a mine site and a railway line longer than 1 400 km, which stretches across the border to the Abidjan port, in Côte d’Ivoire.