JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The Competition Commission has approved Geneva-based inspection, verification, testing and certification company SGS’s acquisition of South African company Time Mining, SGS reported on Wednesday.
In January, SGS CEO Chris Kirk said the acquisition would strengthen the expertise of SGS’s Minerals Services team, expanding its footprint in Africa and delivering on the company's plans to offer clients a comprehensive technical service.
Trading as SGS Time Mining, the group would offer comprehensive analytical services for precious and base metals; design and process engineering for due diligence, feasibility and trade-off studies; process plant design, engineering, procurement, construction supervision, project management and commissioning for small and midtier projects; and plant upgrades, audits and optimisation analysis.
“With several locations throughout Africa, SGS Time Mining facilities are ideally situated to support the exploration and mining industry across the African continent and around the world,” the company stated.
It added that the acquisition expanded SGS’s existing global network of more than 150 commercial, on-site and mobile laboratories, 12 metallurgical facilities and five mineralogy facilities.
Of these sites, five labs – located in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile and South Africa – are fully integrated geochemistry, environmental, metallurgy and mineralogy labs and two – in Peru and Russia – provide integrated geochemistry-metallurgy services.