The International Resource Journal: AMEC MINPROC

AMEC MINPROC
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admin on 25 March, 2010 12:51:00
 
When AMEC plc., the UK-based natural resources consultancy, engineering and
project management services giant, acquired Minproc, of Australia, it was truly
a perfect match. Established in Australia in 1978 to provide engineering
services to the gold mining industry, Minproc brought over 30 years of
experience to the table.
“Over that 30 year period (Minproc) has expanded its horizons to develop
gold and other mineral projects around the world, we’ve worked in 35
countries,” Colin Kubank, Managing Director in Africa of AMEC Minproc
says.
“After we kicked off in gold we expanded our expertise to cover copper and
uranium and other base metals and platinum group metals around the world, and
more recently in Africa. The company became part of the GRD group in 2000 which
was an Australian-listed company. GRD was purchased by AMEC last year in
November and the Minproc part of the business was acquired, then we formed part
of the AMEC group as AMEC Minproc.”
With AMEC’s global reach and broad range of services covered throughout
the mining industry, and Minproc’s wealth of experience and expertise in
mineral processing, this new company is certainly a force to be reckoned with.
“A lot of our competitors were able to provide mineral processing
expertise in a similar vein, but because we’re now part of AMEC we have a
broader range of services that we can offer, including geology and resource
definition, mining engineering, mineral processing technology selection and
design, tailings disposal expertise, infrastructure development and
environmental studies, plus robust study and project management skills backed
with proven project controls systems” Kubank explains.
“Generally clients might have come to us, plus two or three or four
sub-consulters to do aspects of a mine development. Now they can come to Minproc
as part of AMEC and get the whole suite of services from one company.”
IRJ spoke with Kubank about Minproc’s ideal position and assets within
AMEC, the company’s continued focus on iron ore in Australia and Africa,
continuing on in uranium, copper and gold, and its focus on projects in Namibia.
Fitting into AMEC
Kubank explains that there are two main divisions which make up the wider AMEC
group. “The first division is Natural Resources; this covers things like
oil and gas, mining and metals, power and process including power generation and
transmission, and things like cement manufacturing, pulp and paper and so
forth,” he says.
“The other division is Earth and Environmental; which covers environmental
consulting services. AMEC Minproc falls into Natural Resources in the mining and
metals division, and the company is a little odd in structure in that most of
this division is centred in North and South America.”
Consequently, one of the reasons AMEC acquired Minproc was to provide
geographical coverage to other parts of the world. Prior to acquisition, Minproc
had already proved strong in Australia, South-East Asia and Africa, and offered
new exposure in mining and metals when AMEC appeared. “Also the technical
services which Minproc provides in terms of mineral processing expertise
dovetails quite nicely into what AMEC has in the America’s in its mining
and metals division,” Kubank adds. “It’s been a good fit from
both a geographical and technical services perspective.”
Today, AMEC Minproc provides an all-encompassing suite of services in project
management and study management capabilities for new mining projects. Kubank
explains that the company has a strong process engineering and technical
database background stemming from its 30 years in industry, much of which is
centred on the design and development of mineral processing plants or projects
covering gold, uranium, nickel, cobalt, copper, platinum, iron ore and mineral
sands.
“We provide a one-stop service for mineral processing from the initial
technology selection up through feasibility study work and into project
execution, generally through an EPCM approach,” he says. “Project
management services, construction management capability, procurement services,
technical capability; all those things related to successfully delivering a
client’s mineral processing project. On top of that because AMEC is very
strong in mining and geological capability, we’re now able to provide
services across the full mining value chain.”
The possibilities are endless now, as the existing Minproc mineral processing
services has been bolstered by mining aspects, geology, environmental studies
and more making up, “the full gamut of what is required to get a
client’s mining project up and running,” as Kubank explains.
AMEC Minproc worldwide today
Recent project successes exemplify the perfect fit of AMEC Minproc today,
beginning with the large amount of iron ore work in Australia that the company
is currently involved in. “Here at this office in Johannesburg we’ve
just recently completed the Tenke Fungurume copper/cobalt project for Freeport
McMoRan in the Congo which is a US$1.8 billion mining project,” Kubank
says.
“Our portion of the scope was about one billion dollars. That project was
successfully delivered last year and is now running at nameplate capacity to
produce copper and cobalt.” AMEC Minproc has also recently completed a
platinum project in South Africa for an Australian-listed junior miner Platinum
Australia.
“That was a platinum concentrator that we finished on the eastern limb of
the Bushveld Complex in South Africa,” Kubank explains. “We’ve
also done some uranium work in Namibia, and more recently we’re working on
the definitive feasibility study for the Rossing South uranium project for
Extract Resources (of Perth, Western Australia) in Namibia.”
Kubank explains that AMEC’s global reach and capabilities enable the
company to offer all of the services that a mining project may require and
quickly work with a client to look at the initial resource and understand what
the requirements are for developing that project.
“Basically, it’s early-entry into a client’s project, looking
at optimising that project early on, providing expertise to develop a clients
mining project in the most effective manner,” he explains.
“A lot of these mining projects are in difficult to get to locations. One
of our strengths is to be able to work out a logistics plan early on. If
we’re trying to get heavy equipment into a remote site, then we have a lot
of experience and expertise in doing that, be it by road or air or whatever
needs to be done to access the site, open it up and get the development running
smoothly.”
AMEC Minproc: towards further success
Kubank says that AMEC Minproc plans to grow. In light of the global financial
crisis and the hit funding for mining projects took a couple of years ago, the
company has shrunk to suit the drop in demand and done so successfully. Today,
AMEC Minproc is back on the growth track with its reputation for excellence and
potential for future company development intact.
“Just in the last six months we’ve seen a significant improvement in
the number of enquiries coming from clients looking to develop mining projects.
Money is now becoming available and commodity prices are generally on the up,
particularly in things like gold, uranium and copper,” Kubank says.
“We’re seeing a lot of interest in those areas. We’re looking
to grow our business again in those commodities, and coal and iron ore which are
looking to improve (in the markets). We’re spending a lot of our focus on
iron ore projects in Africa and in particular coal in South Africa.”
AMEC Minproc’s proven success across a diverse range of commodities, its
worldwide experience, capability, and successfully completed projects in current
focus regions such as Namibia, provide an enviable footing for the company. The
support structure, experience and commercial ability are all in place. Having
the right people in the right places has created great potential.
www.minproc.com