The lack of infrastructure in Africa makes it a challenging environment for the safe implementation of mining projects, as vast levels of infrastructure are needed to construct and sustain new operating mining facilities, says mining and metals industry engineering, procurement, construction and management services provider Fluor.

“Ore reserves are often located in inacces-sible and remote areas, far from civilisation. The logistical challenges are immense when roads, tunnels and bridges are needed to reach prospective mining sites. This time- consuming and costly requirement of estab-lishing infrastructure is often underestimated when a structured project management approach is not followed,” says Fluor tech-nical manager Etienne Bredell.

Fluor’s approach to project development is based on a model that delivers cost certainty to its clients. “Accuracy of project estimates is of high importance to mining houses and shareholders, as it offers realistic financial and cash flow planning,” he says, adding that these estimates become more important when commodity prices are under pressure and operational expenditures are difficult to contain.

Bredell notes that Fluor’s project devel-opment approach differs from the approach followed by many engineering firms, which traditionally focus on the study phase of mining projects.

“Understanding construction and commis-sioning aspects early in the study phase of a project is an essential component that contributes to the development of accurate estimates. Technical designs often need to be modified to accommodate site-specific construction requirements and this is best done in the early stages of the design phase. As such, Fluor’s model for project certainty requires early involvement from key construction personnel, as well as a strong alignment with the engineering and procure-ment teams,” Bredell notes.

This approach ensures that practical designs are developed and can be delivered according to a realistic implementation schedule, which is another governing factor contributing to the accuracy of a project’s cost and timeline estimates, he says.

Further, Fluor’s project development model incorporates a list of formalised value-improvement workshops, which cover topics, such as energy efficiency, process simpli-fication, value engineering and optimising the layout of facilities. “There are a total of 26 value improvement practices (VIPs) that Fluor uses, depending on the study phase and type of project. These are considered global best practice in the mining industry and have proven to deliver significant value to projects in the early development phase,” Bredell explains.

He highlights two specific VIPs, namely constructability and modularisation that contribute to early construction involvement.

Bredell explains that modularisation offers mining companies an attractive option to develop “complex, quality-focused facilities, where a lack of skills or poor site conditions may impact on the ability to deliver facilities on schedule”. This helps improve the level of control during a project’s implementation phase, which is a key element of its success, he notes.

“Modular plants have evolved from small, prefabricated units to macro units, where up to 90% of a facility can be preassembled and commissioned before being transported to site,” says Bredell. This allows for smaller teams to be on site and reduces construction time by up to 30%, which, in turn, improves schedule certainty if selected early in the study phase.

“Constructability and modu- larisation principles are used extensively to direct engineering efforts towards more favourable construction requirements, which have proved to be indispensable to Fluor, owing to the early analysis and focus on physical construction needs. The inclusion of these VIPs provides a strategy that ensures early alignment of engineering, contracting and construction planning efforts,” Bredell explains.

Fluor recently completed the construction of two projects in Botswana, involving brownfield upgrades of a colliery, which supplies coal for power generation and processing facilities for a diamond mine. Both projects were implemented using the company’s execution model and were delivered on schedule and within the approved budget.

Another project, involving the development of a concentrator in Limpopo province, was sus- pended during the construction phase, owing to low commodity prices.

He says that the three latest projects were well managed and achieved 9.7-million combined lost-time injury-free hours, highlighting the level of control exercised during a project’s con- struction phase using Fluor’s execution model.

“Further, a practical approach to safety plays a vital role in achieving the desired results on a mining site,” he says, highlighting the safety measures implemented at a project, in Guinea, West Africa.

The project employees were under a significant threat of contracting malaria during the early activities of the infrastructure phase. Owing to this threat, malaria kits consisting of self-diagnostic and curative packs were issued to the teams on site to allow for early identification and instant treatment against the virus.

“One of the measures of successful project delivery is completion without incident or injury. Fluor can maintain a good balance between robust safety governance and practical imple- mentation of safe work procedures on site by implementing a broad communication strategy in employees’ native language to unify and inform them,” explains Bredell. This strategy, he adds, includes visual illustrations and industrial theatre roadshows to promote safe working practices.

He says Africa is a continent that holds the key for the future commodity needs of the world. “It is of great importance to ensure that future projects are well defined with supporting risk mitigation measures in place. A robust and accurate business framework is an essential requirement for any financial investment in projects.”

Training
Bredell notes that projects in Africa often find it difficult to find skilled labour from the local workforce, a challenge exacerbated by language barriers and cultural differences. To address this challenge, Fluor has established several development and training programmes to support the safe and competent delivery of projects. One such project is the Fluor Training Centre, in Secunda, Mpumalanga, which was opened in the late 1980s and at which more than 35 000 unemployed, unskilled indivi-duals have received training to date.

Bredell says the facility provides skills gap analyses, and training for and trade testing of artisans and craft personnel to upskill labourers for recruitment at mining projects in sub- Saharan Africa. The centre also provides a support base for various global mining projects to overcome skills shortages.

“Training not only supports projects but also legacy initiatives, such as an initiative in Botswana where six local train- ers were identified for further development. “A skills gap analysis was used to identify the training requirements, after which the individuals received the necessary development exposure and assisted Fluor in establishing training facilities for the local workforce to meet current and future project needs.

“In addition to this, five trainees were selected for career development in the health, safety and environmental (HSE) management field. “The Botswana trainees were enrolled at Fluor’s training facilities where they received HSE professional certification, which enabled them to support the HSE management needs of the projects they worked on,” he notes.

For its employees, Fluor has developed 27 corporate training and learning centres worldwide, offering 200 instructor-led courses and more than 1 000 online programmes to develop employees and expose them to global best practice.