Consultants plot a new course
February 9 - 15, 2010
THE big names in the billion-dollar-a-year business of giving mining companies high-level technical advice are the same. But specialist mining consultants haven’t been through 10 years of change like the decade just ended, a period which seriously bruised some firms and delivered unprecedented opportunities for others.
There's movement at (beneath) the stations
February 9 - 15, 2010
THE scramble to secure people – the “right people” – to position mining consulting firms to not only handle higher volumes of work, but to complete it to the high standards they’ve traditionally set for themselves, is on again.
Beck builds team for new mining age
February 23 - March 1, 2010
BECK Arndt Engineering, a specialist in high-end rock mechanics simulation, has maintained its recent growth momentum, appointing former OZ Minerals senior mining engineer Dr Charles Lilley as general manager of its new Melbourne office.
Firms bullish on underground market
February 16 - 22, 2010
ONE-TIME block caving guru Geoff Bull is one person who comes to mind as news continues to emerge of moves by engineering firms to build, or expand, their market presence in the underground mining technical consulting arena.
Great Scott, the English are coming
February 9 - 15, 2010
WE’RE growing fast and we’re heading to Australasia. That’s the message from managing director of Scott Wilson’s dynamic mining arm, Graham Clow, who is setting out to bolster the division’s presence in Asia and Australia backed by the handsome purse of the wider Scott Wilson group.
Mining consulting leaders 2010
February 9 - 15, 2010
LEADING specialised mining and geological consulting firms operating in the Australasian market are a mix of older, established global heavyweights in the consulting arena, and some fast-growing newcomers. Consolidation activity, which has produced some significant deals in the past decade, could be about to take a new turn.
Golder out to fill empty spaces
February 2 - 8, 2010
SITTING in an abandoned office atop ‘Golder Central’ in West Perth, Western Australia, speaking with the company’s Australasian mining client sector leader, John Battista, it was easy to think of a calm-before-the-storm analogy as he expressed his belief that we might be on the cusp of a mining boom “even bigger than the last one”.
Staying grounded a real plus
February 2 - 8, 2010
ONE of the emerging mining consultancies pushing up through the ranks of boutique firms in Australia to that of respected technical and financial advisors is determined to sell mine-site labour hire arrangements as a plus for its high-end consulting business. It literally keeps the team “grounded in reality”, according to joint founder, Ben Auld.
CSA looks to improve use of XRF
February 2 - 8, 2010
THE Perth-based mining consultancy CSA Global will look to improve the level and consistency of reporting of exploration results from portable X-Ray Fluorescence “point and shoot” analytical instruments after taking on distribution of the Innov-X XRF products.
After downer, Snowden on the rise
January 19 - 25, 2010
ANYONE who doubts Snowden’s capacity to rebound from the staff upheaval of 18 months ago hasn’t taken stock of the consulting firm’s recent recruitment activities, or had a close look at CEO Craig Morley’s blueprint for growth over the next five years.
Key personnel changes at SRK, Snowden and Coffey Mining
January 19 - 25, 2010
LONG-SERVING SRK Australia managing director Dr Peter Williams is taking a back seat and handing over the reins to 59-year-old South African Brian Middleton. Veteran geologist Williams will continue working with the company, with Middleton due to relocate from the group’s Johannesburg office in March.
Snowden progeny find their feet
December 7 - 13, 2009
WHAT did Snowden lose when two groups of its leading consultants walked out the door in 2008? The answer can be found in the expanding offices of Xstract Mining Consultants in Brisbane, and Optiro in Perth, with both firms seeing positive portents for 2010.
SRK Australia turns 15
October 26 - November 1, 2009
LEADING multi-disciplinary consulting firm SRK Australia is recruiting again after a hiatus in the first half of 2009. If the past 15 years is anything to go by, the new arrivals can expect to see plenty of the world if they stick around.
Mining the data
July 20 - 26, 2009
“SCIENTIA potentia est” – loosely, knowledge is power – said English philosopher Francis Bacon in the late 16th century. A Queensland mining engineer has his own modern version: “Knowledge is a mine’s most valuable strategic resource. Using knowledge to add value is the mine’s most valuable strategic ability.”
Grounds for optimism
June 15 - 21, 2009
COFFEY International chief Roger Olds presented a generally positive view of the outlook for the diversified consulting engineering firm this week, though the update contained only a cursory mention of Australia’s largest mining consultancy, Coffey Mining.
Whittle firm targets big opening
May 11 - 17, 2009
GERALD Whittle, whose father Jeff had a paternal hand in development of popular modern mine optimisation techniques, has found a way into more of the world’s mining boardrooms through an alliance with Australian engineering group Ausenco.
Buying time
February 23 - March 1, 2009
PETER McCarthy has worked in the mining industry for nearly four decades and even he became convinced before the global financial meltdown that ‘things were different this time’. Not any more though.
Runge aims to lift sites
August 25 - 31, 2008
RUNGE chief executive Tony Kinnane maintains the company has a natural buffer from resource-sector volatility – which nevertheless tends to pummel mining service companies’ share prices – and remains aggressively in the hunt for acquisitions after it exceeded prospectus forecasts with its 2008 fiscal year financial results.
CSA goes Global
August 11 - 17, 2008
AN AUSTRALIAN mining consulting firm that has tripled in size in the past three years has adopted a more cautious approach to predicting growth next year, but doesn’t necessarily see that as a bad thing.
Kinnane sets Runge on domination course
May 26 - June 1, 2008
NEW ASX-listing Runge has highlighted the growing maturity of Australia’s mining technology and services sector by weathering recent equity market volatility to get a $A125 million float away, and start its new life as a public company after 30 years in private hands, on the back of a sound business model.
Runge targets strong growth
April 28 - May 4, 2008
AN ASX-listed Runge expects to grow revenues by a third and double net profit over the next 12 months after raising $A50 million via an IPO due to close later this month. The Brisbane-based mining consulting and technology firm is looking to achieve a market capitalisation of $A124 million at its IPO price of $A1 a share.
Common ground yields early results
November 19 - 25, 2007
EARLY signs from deeper exploration of Brazil’s cratonic shield geology have been good. To Rick Yeates, parallels with the heavily laterised terrains of Africa and Australia are evident: the comparatively lightly explored potential in Brazil vast. It’s early days too for Coffey Mining’s foray into Brazil’s geological consulting sector, with portents similarly strong, according to Yeates.
Runge on new growth plane
October 29 - November 4, 2007
RUNGE has positioned itself to exceed $A50 million of revenue and $A10 million of pre-tax profit in the current financial year, fiscal flashpoints managing director Tony Kinnane has identified as catalysts for external investor interest in companies operating in the mining services sector.
Consultants report: no growth slowdown next year
October 15 - 21, 2007
PUBLICLY owned consulting firms were once seen to be potentially compromised by the need to put shareholder returns ahead of client interests. Now it seems they can deliver on both fronts. Coffey International is a good example of this – others might be about to head down the public ownership path.
Going to extremes
October 8 - 14, 2007
ONE OF the engineering experts regularly called on by the major miners to help solve “extreme mining” challenges has agreed to become part of the Coffey Mining fold, with the expanding Australian consulting group viewing the engagement as a coup.
Coffey targets new regional hub
September 24 - 30, 2007
COFFEY Mining, the mining consulting arm of Australian Securities Exchange (ASX)-listed Coffey International Ltd, expects new work in Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and several neighbouring states to become a significant adjunct to its fast-growing southern and west African consulting streams.
