Xstrata Process Support

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IRJ has had the privilege of working with the Xstrata global mining group more than once—profiling Xstrata’s Kidd Mine operations last year and then the Perseverance operations in Matagami, Quebec in early 2009. We were again extremely gratified when the management team of Xstrata Process Support (XPS) agreed to an interview with IRJ to help us create our third Xstrata story.

Frank McGlynn, Director of XPS was gracious enough to tell IRJ how XPS came to be one of the many successful business units of Xstrata. McGlynn explained to IRJ that the change XPS went through to become a separate business unit was the right move for this technology unit. When Xstrata took over Falconbridge Ltd. in 2006, XPS was the corporate technology group of Falconbridge. Xstrata wanted to retain a strong technology effort in Canada, deciding to separate the group from the corporate model for business purposes and so formed Xstrata Technology Services. This technology group includes both XPS and Xstrata Technology (which is headquartered in Brisbane, Australia with an office in Vancouver; XPS is located in Sudbury, Ontario).  

XPS develops and supports technologies for mineral processing and the metals smelting and refining industries, and is a separate, independent metallurgical service provider. As such, XPS can focus on providing technical expertise for: operational support, growth initiatives and strategic development, to a multitude of clients both under the Xstrata corporate umbrella and outside.

Expertise and experience
Providing sound expertise in metallurgical services is the primary business mandate of XPS. The XPS technical team understands plant operations and has a sound grasp of milling and metallurgical technologies. “Our group has over 50 engineers and technicians allowing XPS to cover many areas in the minerals industry: from mineral processing to pyro and hydro metallurgy, along with process control and materials engineering—we provide a very broad range of expertise” McGlynn says.

The XPS team has learned to be adaptable in changing markets, which is something that will help position them for when commodities are stronger and XPS services are even more in demand. “We remained robust through what has been a very tough year throughout the industry, and are ready for when things turn around” McGlynn assures.

McGlynn has high regard for his technical team. A professional work culture is something that is very much evident day-to-day at XPS, and the employees, according to McGlynn, take pride in what they do. “We’re very much customer-oriented and entrepreneurial. We pride ourselves on being leaders in our technology fields. We provide high quality work and meet schedules and deliverables we promise” McGlynn says. “We depend on the high level of performance of our people for our success, and we structure career development, training, work opportunities and other aspects of our working environment accordingly” he adds.

Because XPS projects vary over a range of sizes, complexity and timeframes the team has to have strong project management skills and also be flexible in approach. “If you are designing experiments to determine how you are going to arrive at solving a totally new problem or designing a totally new process that has never been tackled before, and we do this on an ongoing basis, then you need people who can’t be boxed in to ‘this is the way we have always done it’”. XPS services in many cases are fundamental to the successful development of ore bodies with widely varying properties and timeframes—so the team needs to be prepared to be flexible.

On board with sustainable operations
XPS is an independentbusiness unit in its own right—as are the Xstrata commodity business units. “We are free to provide our technology services to any other company that would like to do business with us—we do not get any grant or unearned corporate support” McGlynn explains, but adds that operating as a separate unit doesn’t mean XPS operates outside of Xstrata business mandates and sustainability initiatives. “We adhere to all of Xstrata’s policies in the area of sustainability—and our safety, environmental, and community relations performance is something we are proud of and strive hard to maintain and continually improve.”

Mining and metals projects require thorough attention to environmental and sustainability concerns. “The work that we do is vital to the full consideration of environmental aspects of mining projects” McGlynn explains. “We design processes and produce flow sheets for new ore bodies, smelters, etc. and a key part of the consideration for these processes will be energy efficiency and emissions. Attention to environmental concerns starts at the beginning when we design those processes and continues all the way through to completion of the project.”

With operations that span the globe, Xstrata is well known for its safety processes— and McGlynn echoes that commitment: “health and safety are our highest priorities”.

Working with local and national partners
Xstrata Process Support is supportive of its community in Northern Ontario. It has provided expertise for initiatives managed by the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI) and also liaises with local universities. “We have strong links with our community partners, and they know the level of expertise we have available” McGlynn says. His team also manages an 'Engineer in Training' programme, and works closely with Laurentian University and Cambrian College when recruiting engineers and technologists. XPS is currently a member of Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Service Association and is considered in the community to be a high tech resource that adds to the technical strength of the region—it is known to employ highly qualified people.

Overall, XPS continues its commitment to community, sustainability, and the business objectives of its parent company. The enterprise is poised to be successful in 2010 and beyond. “Many projects have been deferred, delayed or cancelled in the last year, and it will be a major boost for everyone when things start to improve again. A turn around in the commodity markets is very important to us as all of our business is in providing services to commodity producers. But I believe we are very well-positioned with a strong and experienced team to deal with the demand for services that will come with the recovery” McGlynn concludes.

With certain commodities already making a global comeback the signs are good for a metallurgical service provider such as XPS. IRJ can see that this technology business is certainly ready for the next boom. For more information on XPS, visit www.xstrataprocesssupport.com.

Xstrata Process Support
Xstrata Process Support (XPS) is a metallurgical service and testwork provider based in Sudbury (Ontario) Canada and at various operating sites around the world. We are available to provide quality technical expertise and laboratory testwork for orebody characterisation, operational support, growth initiatives, and project development in the following commodity areas:

• Nickel
• Copper
• Zinc
• Gold
• PGMs
• Industrial Minerals

We have available a diverse mix of disciplinary expertise, plant operating skills, and knowledge of milling and metallurgical operations. We operate four specialist groups:

• Process Mineralogy – mineral processing, mineralogy, sampling and applied statistics.
• Extractive Metallurgy – hydrometallurgical and pyrometallurgical testing, process modeling, and on-site support.
• Process Control – process control and automation technologies, and engineering solutions.
• Materials Technology – materials engineering for the selection and testing of materials of construction, failure analysis and equipment monitoring.

Our methods and experience has been proven to add value and reduce risk.