The mining industry has never been short of opportunities. Significant mineral resources continue to be identified around the world, across commodities ranging from copper and gold to critical minerals essential for the energy transition.

What remains in short supply is successful project delivery.

Industry studies consistently show that only a small fraction of exploration projects ever realise their goal of becoming a fully operational mine. Even among projects that overcome geological, regulatory and early funding hurdles to reach advanced stages of development, it remains common to experience delays, cost overruns, financing constraints and operational underperformance. In many cases, technically sound projects fail because risks were poorly understood, inadequately communicated or insufficiently managed.

This reality is reshaping how capital is allocated across the mining sector.

The Rise Of Technical Assurance

As capital becomes more selective, investors and lenders are placing increasing emphasis on independent technical validation before committing funds.

Questions that once focused primarily on resource size and commodity price forecasts now extend much further. For financiers, these questions have become critical because the cost of getting them wrong is substantial.

The result is growing demand for independent technical specialists capable of providing objective assessments that bridge the gap between project developers and capital providers.

Wicus du Preez, Managing Director of technical service and advisory consulting firm Tabono Consult, emphasises that investment confidence relies heavily on independence.

“The most successful projects are often those where risks are identified early, quantified accurately and addressed before they become obstacles to financing or execution.”

An MBA graduate, Du Preez has built his career around large technical mining projects and operational management – a combination that places him equally at home underground, in the boardroom and in front of financiers – and has seen these obstacles at the coal face.

De-Risking 

Technical assurance is often associated with project financing, but the same principles increasingly apply throughout a mine’s lifecycle.

Across the industry, operators are facing pressure to improve productivity, reduce costs and maximise returns from existing assets. In many cases, value is lost not through a single major failure but through the accumulation of smaller inefficiencies across geology, mine planning, geotechnical management and operational execution.

Independent operational reviews have therefore become an important tool for identifying hidden risks and uncovering opportunities for improvement.

Rather than focusing solely on compliance or reporting requirements, these reviews aim to answer more fundamental questions: where is value leaking from the operation, and how can it be recovered?

As commodity markets become more volatile and capital discipline tightens, the ability to unlock incremental improvements may prove just as important as developing new projects.

A Changing Advisory Model

The growing complexity of mining projects is also influencing expectations of technical advisers.

Historically, consulting assignments were often delivered through large multidisciplinary teams. Increasingly, however, clients are seeking direct access to senior specialists with practical operational experience and the ability to engage effectively with both technical teams and financial stakeholders.

This shift reflects the reality that mining decisions are rarely purely either technical or financial. Rather, they tend to sit at the intersection of geology, engineering, operations, risk management and investment strategy. It is within this environment that boutique advisory firms such as Tabono Consult are positioning themselves.

A division of the Tabono Group, and led by mining and geoscience specialist Du Preez, Tabono Consult focuses on independent technical reviews, investment assurance, operational optimisation and risk mitigation across mining projects. Its model centres on senior-led engagements aimed at helping clients strengthen investment cases, improve operational performance and reduce project risk.

Tabono CEO Reon Barnard asserts that “this approach reflects broader changes occurring across the industry.” He notes the trend that “projects attracting capital today are increasingly those that can demonstrate both technical credibility and operational discipline”.