Implementing its own project management software solutions, project management software and consulting company SSG Consulting has helped Australia-based mineral sands company Mineral Commodities Limited (MRC) link vital mining project documentation across three offices over a distance of more than 8 000 km.

After MRC appointed South Africa-based project management company Obsideo in 2012 to manage the miner’s South Africa-based Tormin mineral sands project, Obsideo appointed SSG as its local subcontractor, tasking SSG with implementing its KEY360 software solutions to manage certain aspects of the Tormin project during the implementation phase.

SSG’s KEY360 software solutions were used to control the project as a whole: manage work schedules, costs, procurement and contracts as well as control of documents.

SSG project consultant Werner Kruger tells Mining Weekly that SSG was tasked with looking after the total project controls portfolio for the Tormin project. “We were also responsible for interface management and project control management for the bulk of the engineering effort, which was conducted from Australia,” he says.

Working in the Cloud
SSG’s cloud-based project management solution, Key360, enabled the mining company to control every aspect of the Tormin project from its head offices in Australia, giving the company immediate access to documents, schedules, and, in turn, control of the project.

SSG GM Mark Shoesmith says KEY360 provided a central data platform, which connected the mine owner’s team in Perth to engineering contractor MSP Engineering, also in Perth, the project management team, in Gauteng, the commercial team, in Cape Town, and the mine-site team, in Lutzville, on the West Coast of South Africa. “This provided project personnel with immediate access to the latest project drawings, information, status, costs and time frames,” he says.

“While I was running the project controls, I never needed to set foot on the actual project site,” says Kruger.

Further, the issue of working in different time zones – which is usually a nightmare when it comes to intercontinental project management – was tackled with ease, owing to SSG’s ability to update data in real time.

A project control leader, assisted by two consultants, spearheaded the SSG team working on the Tormin project from SSG’s offices in Centurion. “SSG personnel were never required to go to the mine site, as the entire management of the project could be conducted remotely through our software solutions,” he says, adding that the project was completed on time and within budget in February 2013.

SSG’s system was also installed and initiated by MRC with no physical assistance from SSG. “We conducted a conference call with technicians at MRC’s Australia office and they were able to install our system as a result of its user-friendly interface,” says Shoesmith.

Meanwhile, SSG was also tasked by Obsideo to procure mechanical equipment – valued at over R32-million – for the Tormin mine project, on behalf of Obsideo.

The equipment included slurry pumps, water pumps, belt filters, generators, vibrating screens, spirals, electric overhead travelling cranes, wet high-intensity electromagnetic separators, wet low-intensity drum separators, hydrocyclones and a bagging unit.

“Initially the procurement of equipment for the mine was not part of SSG’s scope of work, but we embraced the opportunity to further showcase our business flexibility,” says Kruger, adding that SSG tendered for the acquisition of the equipment, with commercial adjudication from Obsideo.

“We issued our recommendations to MRC, which subsequently did the technical adjudications and paid the bills for the equipment,” adds Shoesmith.

“Our KEY360 document control and transmittal system was used for the issuing of data sheets and enquiry documentation,” he says, adding that Tormin’s mine management is still using SSG’s KEY360 system for document control.

SSG CEO Steven Golding notes that the success of the project must also be attributed to the vision and foresight of Obsideo CEO Cobus Robertson for selecting KEY360 and applying exceptional project management methodologies.

SSG plans to attend the Africa Down Under conference, which will take place in Perth from September 3 to 5. “We are going to use this MRC project to showcase the capabilities of our KEY360 management system to the Australian mining industry,” concludes Shoesmith.