Visualizing Multivariate Data with UMAP: A Geometallurgical Approach to Sample Representativity

Five Key Levers to Improve Margins and Beat the Cost-Price Squeeze

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 09:49:19 GMT

Five Key Levers to Improve Margins and Beat the Cost-Price Squeeze

Andrew Hall FAusIMM(CP), VP and Head of Mine Smarter, AMC Consultants (part of AFRY)

The energy and industrial transition is driving a sustained period of elevated metal prices and global growth in minerals production. This has exacerbated structural scarcities in critical inputs, such as experienced and skilled labour, placing persistent upward pressure on costs across the minerals industry.

Compounding this, geopolitical instability including armed conflict has disrupted supply chains and constrained energy and commodity markets, while a broader inflationary environment is driving up the cost of materials, equipment, and services.

Most mineral prices, while remaining high in historical terms, have plateaued or retreated from their recent peaks. The convergence of rising costs and easing prices is compressing margins across the sector, presenting operators and developers with an increasingly challenging economic environment.

Five Key Levers

I’ve been in the mining industry for over 25 years, and this certainly isn’t the first time in my tenure that similar challenges have arisen. What we see time and again is that the use of blunt instruments, such as cost-cutting and intensive productivity improvement programs, barely scratch the surface. They may deliver some short-term gains, but these are rarely sustained. The big opportunities are typically found by digging a little bit deeper into the key levers of performance to uncover the hidden value by mining smarter.

These opportunities typically don’t require big investment but do require a more sophisticated approach. The five key levers that can drive sustainable performance improvement address both sides of the cash flow equation—that is, costs and revenues. Miners can improve cash margins and reduce business risk by:

Employing good cost management and control, rather than cost cutting . This will typically result in significant savings that can be sustained. The difference being that a deeper understanding of cost drivers can quickly identify and eliminate wastage and inefficiency without compromising quality or sustainability.
Getting the most out of the available data. This provides a substantial opportunity to improve productivity and performance. But to do this, it’s essential to set the right KPIs to get data working for you.
Developing a robust geometallurgical model. This is results in more predicable ore and enables higher recoveries and reduced cost.
Reviewing the cut-off grade policy and moving away from a break-even grades typically results in higher cash margins in the short-term and maximizes value over the long-term, thereby de-risking the mine.
Good mine planning ensures you have a sound strategy and that you are achieving your business goals.

These five key levers are relatively low-cost to implement but will typically drive a significant uplift to the bottom line. And while this is particularly important when margins are under pressure, any time is a good time to initiate them.

1. Cost management and control

There is always temptation to cut costs fast and hard when under margin pressure. While short-term cost reductions are often achieved, they are rarely sustained. This is because most costs are associated with having and maintaining capability and capacity, and typical cost-cutting approaches reduces one, or both, of these critical performance enablers. So-called “lazy” cost-cutting tends to identify and target longer-term activities such as waste development and overburden removal, which aren’t essential to short-term production, but eliminating them will affect the mine’s future ability to achieve its targets.

Consequently, we see that cost-cutting measures are generally not effective and have to be reversed over time. But costs have been increasing alarmingly and something needs to be done. AMC’s SmartData™ shows that, on average, underground mining costs have been rising by over $1.50 per ore tonne per annum above inflation for the past decade. Similarly, open pit costs have been increasing by $1 per tonne mined per annum above inflation in recent years.

The overall impact is that unit mining costs at many mines have doubled in the last five years. While some of the cost increase can be explained by mines getting deeper, the increase is mostly is due to mines paying the price for expanded production to increase metal output, as well as rising input costs, which look likely to continue for a while yet.

More than 20 years of experience in cost estimation and undertaking benchmarking studies at mines all around the world has led me to the observation that most mines don’t have a deep understanding of their cost drivers. And not enough emphasis is placed on management accounting, with too many costs being allocated too early within accounting systems, which reduces transparency and understanding and often leads to the type of flawed short-term decisions described earlier. Fixing this isn’t hard, but it needs to be done correctly and requires a thorough understanding of how a mine works.

Understanding costs enables better control. Budgets should be prepared as bottom-up, direct-costed, first-principles estimates. Cost elements are used to build up activity costs, and then the activity costs are integrated with the relevant cost driver to estimate total costs. This needs to be done at a detailed level so the costs are accurate for each activity i.e. different development profiles.

Once the budget estimates are accurate, the next step is to ensure the chart of accounts is structured to accurately capture costs at the equipment or functional level before allocations are made to relevant activities. Unfortunately, most accounting systems are set up for financial accounting rather than management accounting so changes to the chart of accounts may be necessary. But even if you can’t change the chart of accounts, with a little bit of work and mining nous, the costs can be exported at an elemental level and restructured appropriately. This is precisely what AMC does in every benchmarking study we undertake.

Once complete, more accurate budget estimates can be calibrated to actuals and thorough auditing and reconciliation can be undertaken. This enables the quick identification of cost variances and the root cause of wastage and inefficiency. Good cost management and control is a far better approach, both in the short and longer term, rather than the blunt instrument of cost cutting, and it enables wastage and inefficiency to be targeted with precision.

2. Getting the most out of your data

New technologies allow us to continuously measure operations to ever-increasing levels of accuracy and gather massive amounts of data in real time. But if the data isn’t used to support good decision making and improve what we are doing, then, at best, it becomes a distraction and, at worst, it leads to incorrect and flawed decisions.

When AMC first started benchmarking mines over 25 years ago, the available data was limited, and the quality was often poor. Now nearly all mines have real-time data gathering, providing accurate “live” records of where equipment is and what it is doing, continuously flooding onto the mine’s servers.

But does this lead to a better understanding of how the operation is performing? And does it lead to better performance? Evidence suggests not.

AMC’s Smartdata™

Over the past two decades, AMC’s Smartdata™ shows that the main driver of increased productivity and production has been bigger and more powerful equipment. But equipment operating hours and non-productive time have not materially changed in open pit or underground mines in the past 20 years. In underground mines, on average, the non-productive time for jumbos and long-hole drills is 60 per cent of total calendar hours. For LHDs and trucks, 35 per cent of total calendar hours is non-productive. In open pit mines the average non-productive time for production drills is 30 per cent, while the non-productive time for trucks and loaders is approximately 25 per cent of total calendar hours. So, despite the shift to the “digital mine”, the information is not being used effectively to reduce non-productive time in the mining cycle.

Why? Well, it comes down to having the right KPIs. To effectively monitor mine performance, KPIs need to be holistic and link each activity to the overall performance of the mine. At present, most mines use too many simplistic KPIs that don’t adequately link the different activities in the mining cycle. The data too often becomes the KPI and trying to optimise individual activities in short time increments is driving poor decisions. The result is that non-productive time hasn’t improved.

So what are the right KPIs? In my opinion the most important is compliance with the plan—but I will talk more about that later. The critical KPIs that are often not adequately measured are leading indicators such as ore stocks levels. Maintaining adequate stocks such as drilled, broken, ROM, and exposed ore, as well as the long-term stock levels, such as capital developed stocks, buffer interdependent activities and increase the ability of equipment to work.

High-performing mines consistently and predictably achieve their targets. And they do this by evaluating the performance of the whole mine by focusing on the right leading and lagging KPIs and understanding the links between the different activities that will enable them to reduce variance, be more productive, and achieve their targets.

Using the right KPIs shifts focus onto doing the right things to deliver the desired overall performance. This in turn enables an operating environment that supports high performance. Data and metrics are useful, but they must be used to inform the right KPIs and not become KPIs themselves.

3. Geometallurgy

Everything that happens in a mine depends on the orebody. And yet, many mines still lack a deep understanding about the mineralisation prior to extraction. By leveraging the right data, orebody knowledge can be used to improve everything from grade control to metal production.

Predictive geometallurgy is a proven process that leverages geology, metallurgy, data science and machine learning to produce a 3D block model of the orebody that captures the response of ore to mineral processing. While the natural variability of the orebody can’t be changed, geometallurgy enables the most thorough understanding of the orebody. This is low-hanging fruit, as most operating mines already collect the data needed to better understand and manage this critical issue. In doing so, they gain practical insights into orebody variability to increase recoveries, reduce operating costs, improve stability through more reliable mine planning, and ultimately improve cash flow.

Simplistically, orebody uncertainty in a mining operation costs money in two ways. Firstly, it leads to incorrect decisions, from short-term tactical decisions to long-term strategy. For example, consider a truck load of ore. If the estimated characteristics of the ore are exactly the same as the actual characteristics, the correct decision about where to send the truck is made every time. But uncertainty in the estimates means predicted and actual are rarely identical, so even in a “digital mine”, many trucks are sent to the wrong destination. This means that ore that should go to the heap leach is sent to flotation or to the waste dump. The losses are not recoverable.

Secondly, uncertainty in the orebody leads to mismatches between plant operating settings and the characteristics of the ore feed. Correct settings continuously lag the presentation of the ore. Again, the losses are not recoverable. Inadequate geometallurgy is increasing cost and reducing metal production at mines every hour.

AMC SmartData™ indicates that nearly two-thirds of mines fail to achieve budgeted metallurgical recoveries, and that those that underperform typically do so by 2 to 3 per cent. Just achieving budget targets by uplifting recoveries would significantly improve to the bottom line.

4. Cut-off Grade and Strategy Optimization

AMC Hill of Value ® Strategy Optimization work conducted by AMC over the past 20 years has shown that by changing the cut-off grade policy mines can typically improve cash margins and overall project NPV by 30%. Sounds too good to be true? But the evidence doesn’t lie. So why aren’t more mines looking at strategy optimization? The simple reason is that break-even grades are so entrenched in the industry that there is great resistance to think differently. Nearly every mining course, and most of the textbooks we read, present a break-even formula as the way to calculate cut-off grade. A typical break-even formula is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Break-even grade formula

So what’s wrong with a break-even cut-off? Break-evens are based on the economic theory that when marginal revenue and the marginal cost of production are equal, profit is maximised at that level of output. The problem is, for a typical mine, there are simply too many dependent variables that are linked to the cut-off grade, and the other key inputs can be highly variable.

A simple example in an underground mine is how cut-off grade influences the mining shapes, which in turn impact the production rate, which affects the operating and capital costs. So, when you change your cut-off, you also change your production rate and costs. Over the last five years, mines have experienced wide variations in prices, exchange rates and input costs. And when you combine this cost-price variability with the inherent variability in orebodies discussed earlier, it is clear that all the inputs to the equation are either highly variable, are out of our control, or are dependent. These are factors miners have no control over. The inescapable conclusion is that break-even is broken!

So what’s the answer? Understanding that you can’t calculate an optimal cut-off grade is the first step. And once that realisation is made, a whole range of opportunities open up. Without getting into all the theory, optimal cut-off grade is more related to capacity and the grade distribution of the mineralisation than it is to metal prices or costs. And that’s good news because we typically can’t control prices and we have limited control over costs, but we can control what we mine and at what capacity.

Determining the optimal cut-off grade requires the development of value curves for each different option. The example in Figure 2 shows a HoV evaluation for an actual open pit mine. NPV is charted on the vertical axis, and ore processing rate and total rock mining rate on the horizontal axis, at a constant cut-off grade. For this operating mine increasing the processing rate by 30% and doubling the mining rate, will substantially increase NPV and cashflow, at the particular price assumption used.

Figure 2. Typical Hill-of-Value evaluation for an open pit mine

But understanding the shape of the curves is much more important than where the peak of the hill is. If we review the same options at a lower price scenario, the shape of the hill changes dramatically as does the position of the peak. If we selected the options that maximised NPV at more aggressive prices it barely makes money. But if we selected the safe option, that is the option that maximizes NPV at conservative prices, we still make good margins at the lower price, and we realise nearly all of the upside during higher prices. The HoV approach not only helps to maximize margins, but it enables the selection of a strategy that de-risks the mine.

HoV saves time and money by reducing the manual mine planning effort, and, because all the potential options are considered and evaluated for all scenarios, there is no rework or further investigation required at the back-end of the study.

Getting the cut-off grade policy right is a significant lever in improving margins throughout the price cycle and de-risking the mine over the long-term.

5. Mine planning

Good performance is about achieving a plan that delivers the corporate strategy day-in and day-out.

Mine planning, when functioning well, pulls everything together. Strategy optimisation can provide the right strategic direction, but good mine planning materialises this in practice through practical and achievable mine plans that identify risks so they can be effectively managed, and opportunities for improvement incorporated. The mine plan should be broken down to the appropriate level, where activities can be executed by operations and aligned with all key stakeholders. And finally, good mine planning involves routine reconciliation and monitoring of compliance to ensure the operations stays on track.

In my opinion, the most important KPI is spatial compliance to plan, as nothing adds more value than close alignment between strategy and operations. But the opposite is also true. The biggest risk to most mines is misalignment between strategic intent and what is happening at the face. Unfortunately, this is all too common, driven by simplistic analysis and short-term thinking.

Good mine planning is essential to high performance as it balances the needs of ensuring future targets can be achieved with delivering on targets today. For example, we typically see significantly more excavator moves in open pit mines than planned moves due to a lack of orebody knowledge and grade control issues. Greater priority is placed on chasing metal, and the plan is ignored. This type of short-term thinking results in increased non-productive time and lost production that can never be recovered. A similar example in underground mining is congestion being a major impediment to productivity. The root cause is often a lack of timely waste development resulting in a smaller number of working areas and too many activities happening in one place at one time creating a bottleneck to production.

Simply preparing and adhering to a good mine plan addresses most of the common operational issues and inefficiencies and facilitates high performance. So, making sure that mine planning is functioning well should be a priority for all mines.

Concluding remarks

In conclusion we, as an industry, are facing challenges and uncertainty, and this could last for some time. But there is significant opportunity to improve margins by repositioning operations and mining smarter. We need to make sure we focus on what matters instead of what is easy to implement or measure.

The five key levers where I see significant opportunities to sustainably improve margins are to avoid cost cutting and focus on cost management and control; set the right KPIs and get more out of the available production data; understand the orebody better through predictive geometallurgy; undertake strategy optimisation and review the cut-off grade policy (break-even is broken!); and get mine planning in order so what’s planned gets done.

Those five levers provide a great opportunity to improve and sustain profit margins.

Want to learn more about how AMC can help you beat the price squeeze?

Andrew Hall

FAusIMM(CP), VP and Head of Mine Smarter, AMC Consultants (part of AFRY)

AusIMM Study Processes for Resource Projects 2026

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 04:40:21 GMT

Published: 3 June 2026

AusIMM Study Processes for Resource Projects

AMC Consultants is honoured to partner with the AusIMM to offer the Study Processes for Resource Projects Online Course | Short Course for Mining Professionals , commencing 2 November 2026.

Led by AMC's Global Lead Underground Mining, Karl van Olden , a globally recognised expert in study processes, the course will run over five weeks and cover all key components essential to effective project studies.

Developed by AusIMM , the peak industry body for resource sector professionals, the course was created in collaboration with leading experts, technical specialists, and key stakeholders.

As facilitator, Karl brings over 30 years of mining experience and has played pivotal roles—including project sponsor, manager, and technical lead—on more than 500 global mining assignments. He is a trusted advisor to executives across the mining industry.

Up to 20 PD Hours

This virtual course is ideal for:

Mining engineers and geologists
Project and study managers
Technical and commercial analysts
Graduate or early-career professionals
Consultants and service providers
Operational team members contributing to study phases
Directors and boards that undertake studies
Regulators that are new to the space
Investors reviewing studies

Why attend

Tailored for professionals involved in study development and project planning, this course equips you with essential skills to navigate the journey from exploration to operations.

Here are some of the skills you will gain by attending this course:

Overview of study phases: Scoping, PFS, FS, and DFS.
Governance, risk, and evaluation principles.
Key deliverables and decision-making milestones.
Practical examples and case studies from real resource projects.

Those attending will cover the following modules:

Introduction, Environment Social and Permitting
Geology, Mining and Metallurgy
Engineering Requirements, Forward Work Plans and Study Process Controls
The Business Case

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AusIMM Report Writing for Mining 2026

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 04:37:51 GMT

Published: 3 June 2026

AusIMM REPORT WRITING FOR MINING

AMC Consultants is happy to support AusIMM who is offering the Associate Certificate Course in Report Writing for Mining commencing 28 September 2026 .

Led by AMC's Associate, Tim McAuley, with a wealth of expertise and training within the mining industry. This online course will run over five weeks and cover all key components essential to effective engagement with industry peers, leaders and stakeholders.

Developed by AusIMM , the peak industry body for resource sector professionals, the course was created in collaboration with leading experts, technical specialists, and key stakeholders.

Up to 20 PD Hours

This virtual course is designed for:

Mining and exploration geologists.
Engineers and technical professionals.
Environmental and social practitioners.
Graduate and early-career professionals.
Project managers and consultants.
Anyone responsible for contributing to or reviewing mining reports .

Why attend

This practical, mining-focused course helps professionals at all levels improve their technical writing skills to produce high-quality reports that meet industry standards and support sound decision-making.

Over 5 weeks, you’ll learn how to structure, write, and refine mining reports that are accurate, concise, and fit for purpose – through expert-led modules, examples, and real-world applications.

This course will help you master the foundations of clear, effective technical reporting through:

Best-practice report structures for mining contexts.
Clarity and conciseness in technical communication.
Strategies for tailoring content to different audiences.
Common pitfalls and how to avoid them.
Practical tips for editing and proofreading.

Career outcomes that can be achieved from this course:

Enhance your professional credibility through better communication.
Increase promotability with improved writing and communication skills.
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AusIMM Effective English Communication in Mining 2026

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 04:19:48 GMT

Published: 2 June 2026

AusIMM EFFECTIVE ENGLISH COMMUNICATION IN MINING

AMC Consultants is happy to support AusIMM who is offering the Short Course: Effective English Communication in Mining Professionals commencing 27 July 2026 .

Led by AMC's Associate, Tim McAuley, with a wealth of expertise and training within the mining industry. This online course will run over four weeks and cover all key components essential to effective engagement with industry peers, leaders and stakeholders.

Developed by AusIMM , the peak industry body for resource sector professionals, the course was created in collaboration with leading experts, technical specialists, and key stakeholders.

Up to 10 PD Hours

This virtual course is designed for:

Engineers and geologists aiming for leadership roles.
Technical specialists seeking to participate in global projects.
Organisations looking to upskill their workforce for international operations.

Why attend

This is a bridging course designed to empower professionals in the mining industry with essential English communication skills. Whether you're aiming to succeed in future AusIMM courses or elevate your career, this course introduces mining concepts in an English context and equips you with the tools to communicate confidently and effectively.

Here are some of the skills you will gain by attending this course:

Understand and respond to English-language documentation and meetings.
Write reports with clarity and accuracy in a mining context.
Present and engage confidently with peers, leaders, and stakeholders.
Navigate mining terminology and industry-specific language with ease.
Use AI tools to support learning and communication.

Career outcomes that can be achieved from this course:

Advance into senior or project management roles.
Increase confidence and visibility in English-speaking teams.
Improve operational efficiency through enhanced communication.
Boost productivity and cross-border collaboration.

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AusIMM Integrated Mine Closure 2026

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 07:54:54 GMT

Published: 3 June 2026

AusIMM INTEGRATED MINE CLOSURE

AMC Consultants is honoured to partner with the AusIMM to offer the Integrated Online Course for Mining Professionals commencing 12 October 2026.

Led by AMC's Mine Sustainability Lead, Tim Sharman, with a wealth of expertise and leadership within the mining industry. This online course will run over eight weeks and cover all key components essential to effective project studies.

Developed by AusIMM , the peak industry body for resource sector professionals, the course was created in collaboration with leading experts, technical specialists, and key stakeholders.

As facilitator, Tim's experience establishing and developing mining projects across six continents and various commodities solidify his reputation as a leader with a keen eye for innovation and operational improvement. From restructuring technical services teams to driving technological advancements, Tim consistently exhibits a commitment to driving efficiency and achieving operational excellence.

Up to 40 PD Hours

This virtual course is designed for:

Mine Closure Practitioners that would like to refresh or improve their knowledge and skills in this area.
Mid-level Managers (Coordinators and Superintendents) .

Why attend

Tailored for professionals involved in integrated closure planning throughout the Life of Mine (LOM), gain expert frameworks for holistic mine closure planning, navigate risks, obligations and stakeholder expectations.

Here are some of the skills you will gain by attending this course:

Fundamentals of integrated mine closure.
Regulatory, social, and economic considerations.
Tools and frameworks for closure planning.
Case studies from global mine sites.

Those attending will cover the following:

Deep dive into the key components of this important process and recognise the compelling business case for Integrated Mine Closure (IMC) that can realise significant value to operations.
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Learn the importance of closure integration into Life of Mine planning and multi-disciplinary ownership of IMC.

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Advance into mine closure, ESG, or sustainability leadership roles.
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Fri, 29 May 2026 09:23:50 GMT

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AusIMM’s COST FOR THE RESOURCES INDUSTRY 2026

AMC Consultants is honoured to team up with the AusIMM to offer the Cost Estimation for the Resource Industry | Associate Certificate - starting 17 August 2026.

Developed, by The AusIMM, the premier industry body for people working in the resources sector, this course was created in consultation with leading organizations in the mining industry, subject matter experts, and community leaders.

Up to 20 PD Hours

Karl van Olden, Global Lead Underground Mining and Laura Daly, Principal Mining Consultant, two of AMC's world leading experts on the subject will join the team of course facilitators.

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Project and study managers wanting to build credible cost estimates for mining projects.
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Tailored for resource industry professionals seeking essential skills in capital, operating, and business cost estimations. From initial scoping to feasibility studies, this program equips you with foundational tools and techniques crucial for the resources sector. The course leverages insights from the AusIMM Cost Estimation Handbook and real-world case studies, offering actionable strategies for achieving precise cost estimations.

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Explain the purpose, characteristics and terminology of cost estimates in expenditure decisions and project studies.
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AusIMM Business Optimization for Mining 2026

Fri, 29 May 2026 08:32:39 GMT

Published: 29 May 2026

AusIMM Business OptimiZation FOR MINING 2026

AMC Consultants has partnered with the AusIMM to deliver the Business Optimization for Mining | Associate Certificate Course for Mining Professionals (ausimm.com) starting 15 June 2025 and 9 November 2026 .

Led by Andrew Hall, Managing Director, and Derek du Preez, Chief Operating Officer, the course draws on decades of experience from two of the industry’s most respected voices. Participants will gain insight into how to maximise project value and reduce risk through strategic decision-making and high performance.

This 5-week course will cover the key drivers of value in mining projects and equip professionals with tools to better manage strategic risk—ensuring smarter, more resilient project outcomes.

Up to 20 PD Hours

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With commodity price shifts, exploration upside, squeezed margins, and other market and operational factors challenging operators, having the ability to gain actionable insights and turn them into an optimized strategy will help leaders deliver more value and reduce risks.

In this course, you will gain practical knowledge on:

Project evaluation basics, the feasibility study process and key project measures.
Good mine planning practices.
Cut-off grades and their impact on strategic parameters.
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Recent developments in new technologies and innovations.
How to conduct benchmarking and implement continuous improvements.

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AusIMM JORC Code Reporting 2026

Fri, 29 May 2026 07:45:59 GMT

Published: 29 May 2026

AusIMM’s JORC Code Reporting 2026

* PD hours recognized by AusIMM & Australian Institute of Geoscientists.

AMC Consultants is pleased to partner with the AusIMM to deliver the JORC Code Reporting Online Course | Professional Certificate for Mining Professionals commencing 1 June 2026 and 5 October 2026 .

Developed by the AusIMM - the peak body for people working in the resources sector — the course was created in collaboration with leading mining organisations, subject matter experts, and community representatives to ensure it reflects best practice and current expectations.

Joining the team of course facilitators are AMC Consultants globally recognised experts: Roderick Carlson, Technical Lead Geosciences; and Glen Williamson, Principal Mining Engineer.

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Designed for Competent Persons, aspiring Competent Persons, or Mining companies listed or looking to list on the Stock Exchange, the course aims to help participants:

Evaluate the responsibilities and duties of the Competent Person as outlined in the JORC Code.
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Distinguish between exemplary and substandard technical reporting.
Exhibit proficiency in adhering to the guidelines set forth in the JORC Code.

Note: This course does not enable a practitioner to qualify as a Competent Person. All the criteria as specified in the JORC Code must still be met.

Note: This course is allocated 40 AusIMM PD hours. It involves an estimated 40 hours of content, including live sessions, online reading, activities and a final assessment. However, everyone learns at their own pace and, to pass, some people may need to commit further time. There are also optional readings for those that would like to explore the topic further and these are not included in the 40 hours estimate.

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AMC is embarking on a new chapter as we become part of AFRY

Fri, 01 May 2026 06:45:59 GMT

AMC joins AFRY: Expanding capability across the mining lifecycle

AMC is now part of AFRY - combining AMC's mining advisory expertise with AFRY's engineering, project delivery and sustainability capabilities to better support the mining and metals sector. This integration unites AMC’s established expertise in mining consulting with AFRY’s global capabilities in engineering, project delivery, and sustainability.

Together, we deliver practical advice and proven solutions across the full mining lifecycle, from early-stage studies through to implementation and operations. By aligning strategic advisory with execution, we help clients manage technical and commercial risk, and deliver projects with greater certainty.

Why this matters for our clients

The mining industry is evolving rapidly, with increasing expectations around technical performance, sustainability, and project resilience. Meeting these demands requires closer integration between planning, engineering, and delivery.

By bringing AMC and AFRY together, clients benefit from a more connected approach. AMC’s strengths in mine planning, analytics, and strategic advisory are now complemented by AFRY’s global engineering expertise and project execution capabilities.

This enables a single view of each project from resource definition through to operations - supporting better decision-making from exploration and resource definition through to feasibility, development, and operational optimization.

Together, we help clients to:

Identify and manage risks early in the project lifecycle
Gain a clearer understanding of project potential across the value chain
Improve capital and operating efficiency through robust financial modelling
Embed practical approaches to meeting ESG and sustainability objectives
Support transitions linked to decarbonisation and evolving energy demands

From concept to delivery

From early-stage studies to large-scale implementation, our combined team provides continuity across every phase of a project. This reduces the disconnects that can occur between study, design, and execution - helping ensure that plans are realistic, aligned, and deliverable.

Greater reach, deeper expertise

Through this integration, clients gain access to a broader global network of specialists across mining engineering, geoscience, mine planning, and project management.

The combined strength of AMC and AFRY enhances our ability to deliver end-to-end services - supporting projects from initial concept through to construction, commissioning, and operational improvement. This expanded capability allows us to respond more effectively to regulatory requirements, operational challenges, and long-term sustainability goals.

A more integrated way of working

A key benefit of this partnership is the closer alignment between technical advisory and project delivery. By integrating AMC’s proprietary tools and consulting expertise with AFRY’s engineering and execution capabilities, we ensure that insights developed during studies translate into practical, implementable outcomes.

This approach helps minimize information gaps, maintain alignment with budgets and timelines, and incorporate appropriate technologies to maximize value at every stage.

What happens next

The integration of AMC and AFRY follows a clear timeline. The acquisition was announced on 16 February 2026, with the transaction officially completing on 1 May 2026. From this date, integration activities commence, bringing the two organisations closer together operationally and strategically.

Over the coming months, this will lead to a planned rebranding, reflecting our position as part of AFRY while maintaining the strong technical heritage of AMC. Throughout this transition, we are committed to keeping our clients, partners, and the broader market informed.

About AFRY

AFRY provides engineering, project management, and advisory services that enable the energy and industrial transition and strengthen resilience in society.

With 18,000 experts worldwide, AFRY combines a global reach with local insights and deep sector knowledge to make a lasting impact for generations to come.

Making Future

Get in touch

If you’d like to learn more about what this means for your projects, our team would be happy to speak with you. Whether you are at the feasibility stage or moving toward execution, we can support you in improving performance, managing risk, and delivering sustainable results.

Andrew Hall

Managing Director

ahall@amcconsultants.com

+61 3 8601 3300

Derek du Preez

Chief Operating Officer

ddupreez@amcconsultants.com

+61 8 6330 1100

GRX26

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 04:46:36 GMT

Published: 30 April 2026

grx 2026

At the upcoming Global Resources Innovation Expo (GRX26) being held at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre on 5 - 7 May 2006, AMC's Dr Kate Rubins , Principal Consultant, will be taking part in the Industry Leadership session on 7 May 2026, and presenting on "The Productivity Gap: Why Australia’s Underground Mines Are Losing Ground".

Join her to gain a clearer understanding of where productivity is being lost — and what leading operations are doing differently to stay ahead.

Presentation details

Date: Thursday, 7 May 2026

Time: 12:30 - 13:10

Session: Industry Leadership

Drawing on 25 years of longitudinal data and global benchmarking, her analysis highlights a critical trend: while Australia has historically led in underground mining practices, other jurisdictions are rapidly closing the gap by strengthening operational discipline and execution.Despite decades of technological advancement, Australia’s underground hard rock mining sector is facing a quiet but significant challenge: productivity is declining.

Over the past 25 years, the industry has made substantial gains in technical capability. Yet, output per person has fallen by approximately one-third, while real unit costs have increased by around 90%. For a typical 2 Mtpa operation, this translates to an estimated A$35 million in additional labour costs each year — a figure that is becoming increasingly difficult for operators to ignore.

Dr Rubins identifies four structural levers that consistently differentiate top-quartile operations from the rest:

Operating discipline – consistency in planning and execution
Mine design – aligning layouts with practical, efficient extraction
Workforce structure – optimising roles, skills and deployment
Targeted automation – applying technology where it delivers measurable value

These aren’t new concepts — but the difference lies in how effectively they are applied, sustained and integrated across the operation.

Presenter biography:

Dr Kate Rubins
Principal Consultant

Kate is an internationally experienced mining professional with an Executive MBA. She specializes in strategy development, technology implementation, project management and business improvement across heavy-asset industries including mining, energy and manufacturing.

She has more than 15 years’ of experience in usage of continuous improvement methodologies and tools to drive performance improvement. She is passionate about delivering value through business improvement, transformation, cross-functional collaboration, optimization and innovation

Reach out to explore how AMC can support your mining challenges by filling in the form below.

CIM CONNECT 2026

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 06:19:05 GMT

Published: 24 May 2026

cim connect 2026

AMC Consultants (AMC) is pleased to be attending CIM CONNECT 2026 , held under the theme Our Mining Moment: Strategic Growth and Sustainable Operations . This conference will be held at the Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre in Vancouver from 3-6 May 2026.

As part of this year’s program, AMC will contribute through both a focused short course and a technical presentation, reinforcing our commitment to advancing practical, value-driven approaches to mining.

Our short course is an introductory session well suited to professionals across mine planning, technical studies, and leadership roles who are looking to strengthen the link between strategy and outcomes. Attendees will also earn 4 Professional Development (PD) hours.

AMC looks forward to connecting with industry peers at the conference and contributing to the ongoing conversation around smarter, more sustainable mining practices.

AMC at the conference

Short Course:
Cut-Off Grades and Mine Strategy Optimization

Facilitators: Andrew Hall , Managing Director and Eric Frazier , Principal Mining Consultant

Level: Introductory

When: Saturday, 2 May 2026, 13:00 - 17:00

This introductory and foundational course is designed to remove the mystique surrounding cut-off grades. It initially describes increasingly complex cut-off models that progressively account for costs and prices (break-even cut-offs stop here!), the grade distribution of the resource, and the capacities and capabilities of the mining equipment and treatment plants. It then demonstrates how the optimum cut-off policy and all other key value-driving decisions should be based on the results of a comprehensive evaluation focused on delivering the company’s and other stakeholders’ goals. Counterintuitive to many is the common discovery that optimum cut-offs are often unaffected by cost and price assumptions or changes and may vary over time and from place to place within the deposit. Cut-offs are an output from the planning process, not a predetermined input into it.

The techniques described also identify robust plans that manage the trade-offs between upside rewards and downside risks if the assumptions underlying the plan turn out to be wrong, as they inevitably will be! Misconceptions and objections are discussed and results from case studies presented.

Technical Presentation:
Open pit and underground strategic fit – A case study of the Wildcat Resources Tabba Tabba project

Presenter: Thomas Brauhart , Mining Engineer - Open Pit Mining

Part of session: Resilient Strategies for Deep and Integrated Mining

Where and when: Room 117 | Tuesday, 5 May 2026, 14:50 - 15:15

The Wildcat Tabba Tabba project is a planned large-scale lithium operation located 80 km from Port Hedland, Western Australia. During the open pit pre-feasibility study, Wildcat Resources sought to understand the role of underground mining beyond simply identifying an optimal transition point. Instead, the focus shifted to determining the best overall strategic fit, enabling earlier identification of value drivers, risks, and opportunities.

Open pit production schedules were evaluated across multiple revenue factors and aligned with underground inventories assessed at varying cut-off grades. Additional variables, including mill capacity upgrades and capital expenditure timing, were also incorporated. This multi-variable approach enabled more informed decision-making, challenged traditionally fixed assumptions, and highlighted sensitivities across key inputs to identify the most advantageous mine schedule.

The strategic modelling demonstrated the value of integrating underground and open pit planning early—areas typically assessed independently. This resulted in a more cohesive and flexible mine plan aligned with project objectives. While later changes to processing assumptions impacted inputs, the approach provided meaningful insights into optimal project design and long-term value.

PDAC 2026

Fri, 10 Apr 2026 09:40:27 GMT

Published: 6 March 2026

PDAC 2026

AMC Consultants (AMC) was pleased to participate in PDAC 2026 , held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in Toronto from 1-4 March 2026. As one of the most significant events in the global mining calendar, the convention brought together a record 32,155 participants from across the industry, including mining companies, investors, government representatives, Indigenous communities and students.

With more than 1,300 exhibitors and a comprehensive program of technical sessions, PDAC 2026 provided a valuable platform for networking, investment discussions and the exchange of ideas. Across four days, industry leaders and experts explored the key challenges and opportunities shaping mineral exploration, project development and financing, highlighting the increasing importance of collaboration and responsible resource development.

AMC was proud to have a strong team presence at the event, with expertise spanning both open pit and underground mining. Throughout the convention, the team welcomed visitors to Booth #124, where they engaged in valuable conversations with clients, peers and industry stakeholders. Discussions focused on practical strategies to optimise performance, manage risk and deliver sustainable value across the mining lifecycle, from exploration through to closure.

We thank everyone who connected with our team during PDAC 2026 and look forward to continuing these conversations in the months ahead.

AMC representatives in attendance

Gene Tucker
Global Lead Open Pit Mining

Canada & UK

Vinson Abraham

Senior Mining Engineer

Open Pit Mining

Aneta Niewiadomska

Senior Mining Engineer

Open Pit Mining

Lager Wu
Senior Mining Consultant

Underground Mining

Paul Salemenmaki

Principal Mining Engineer

Underground Mining

Craig Stewart

Senior Geologist

Geosciences

Reach out to explore how AMC can support your mining challenges by filling in the form below.

SEM 2026

Fri, 10 Apr 2026 04:38:32 GMT

Published: 3 March 2026

SME 2026

AMC Consultants (AMC) was pleased to participate in the Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration (SME) 2026 Annual Conference & Expo , held in Salt Lake City, Utah from 22–25 February 2026. The annual event brought together mining professionals, technical experts, and industry leaders from around the world to share knowledge, explore innovation, and discuss the future of mining.

As part of the Technical Program, AMC’s Managing Director, Andrew Hall, delivered a presentation titled “AMC's Hill of Value® Strategy Optimization: Modelling Sequential Decisions to Transfer Strategy Optimization into an Operational Mine Plan.”

The presentation explored how advanced strategy optimisation tools, such as AMC’s Hill of Value®, are used to evaluate and refine long-term mining strategies. By modelling key variables—including cut-off grade and mining method—these tools enable rapid assessment of multiple scenarios to identify pathways that maximise project value.

A key focus of the session was the challenge of translating strategic plans into practical, operational outcomes. While long-term strategies provide direction, real-world mining operations often require tactical adjustments to respond to short-term disruptions or emerging opportunities. Andrew highlighted the importance of incorporating these potential deviations into strategy models, ensuring that value is preserved even as conditions change.

This is particularly critical in underground mining environments, where a series of interdependent, sequential decisions—such as access development, scheduling, and processing—must be carefully aligned. Integrating these elements into strategic models allows for more robust planning and supports smoother execution at the operational level.

We appreciated the opportunity to engage with industry peers at SME 2026 and share insights on advancing mine planning practices.

AMC representatives in attendance

Andrew Hall
Managing Director

Gene Tucker
Global Lead Open Pit Mining

Jason Sexauer

Technical Lead Underground Mining

Reach out to explore how AMC can support your mining challenges by filling in the form below.

AME RoundUp 2026

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 08:53:28 GMT

Published: 30 January 2026

ame roundup 2026

AMC Consultants (AMC) was proud to participate in AME Roundup 2026 , held at the Vancouver Convention Centre from 26–29 January 2026.

Recognised as one of the premier global events for mineral exploration, this year’s conference centred on the theme “Minerals for a Changing World,” highlighting the critical role of exploration in meeting future resource demand. The event brought together a diverse group of geoscientists, prospectors, investors, financiers, suppliers, government representatives and Indigenous partners, creating a valuable platform for collaboration and industry dialogue.

Across the four-day program, attendees engaged in technical sessions, networking opportunities and discussions on emerging trends and technologies shaping the future of exploration. As always, AME Roundup provided an important forum for sharing knowledge, building partnerships and advancing the industry.

AMC was pleased to exhibit at Booth #523, where our team connected with a wide range of industry professionals. They welcomed many visitors to the stand, engaging in insightful conversations on how AMC supports clients to mine smarter, navigate complex challenges and unlock long-term value across the mining lifecycle.

AMC was also delighted to sponsor the popular Curling Bonspiel, held on 28 January. The event provided a relaxed and enjoyable setting for industry peers to connect, adding a social highlight to an already dynamic week.

We thank everyone who visited our booth and connected with the team. AME Roundup 2026 was a fantastic few days of meaningful conversations and industry engagement, and we look forward to continuing these discussions.

AMC representatives in attendance

Gene Tucker
Global Lead Open Pit Mining

Genoa Vartell

Technical Lead Geosciences

Simeon Robinson

Principal Geologist

Craig Stewart
Senior Geologist

Wayne Rogers

Technical Lead Open Pit Mining

Jason Sexauer

Technical Lead Underground Mining

Reach out to explore how AMC can support your mining challenges by filling in the form below.

Future Minerals Forum 2026

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 08:15:50 GMT

Published: 16 January 2026

FUTURE MINRALS FORUM 2026

AMC Consultants (AMC) was pleased to attend the Future Minerals Forum 2026 (FMF) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where we exhibited within the Austrade Pavilion from 13-15 January 2026.

Recognised as one of the world’s leading mining and minerals events, FMF 2026 brought together more than 14,000 participants from 178 countries, including strong representation from governments, industry leaders and investors. The scale and diversity of attendance reinforced the forum’s role as a key platform for global collaboration across the resources sector.

The event provided valuable opportunities to engage in discussions around the future of minerals, supply chain resilience and the growing demand for resources to support the energy transition. It also highlighted the importance of international partnerships in addressing evolving industry challenges.

The AMC team connected with industry peers and stakeholders throughout the forum. Conversations focused on how AMC supports clients to mine smarter, navigate complex resource challenges and deliver long-term value across the mining lifecycle.

We thank everyone who connected with our team during the event and look forward to continuing these discussions.

AMC representatives in attendance

Mark Flanagan
Director / Global Lead Open Pit Mining

Kevin Karlovsky

Global Lead Development

Rod Carlson

Technical Lead Geosciences

Reach out to explore how AMC can support your mining challenges by filling in the form below.

Resourcing Tomorrow 2025

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 05:54:43 GMT

Published: 13 November 2025

RESOURCING TOMORROW 2025

AMC Consultants (AMC) was pleased to participate in Resourcing Tomorrow 2025, held at London’s Business Design Centre from 2–4 December 2025. As a key event during London Mining Week, the conference brought together more than 2,300 global industry leaders to explore the future of mining and resources.

Over three days, the event convened mining executives, investors, government representatives and technology providers to address the growing demand for critical minerals and the challenges associated with securing sustainable supply. Discussions focused on key themes including ESG, innovation and investment strategies, as well as the broader impact of geopolitics, supply chain pressures and the global energy transition.

The program featured a dynamic mix of keynote presentations, panel discussions and roundtables, providing valuable insights into the opportunities shaping the sector. A strong emphasis was placed on collaboration and strategic partnerships as essential drivers of long-term, sustainable growth.

AMC was proud to exhibit at Stand C01 , where our team engaged with a wide range of industry professionals. The event provided an excellent platform to connect with clients, peers and new contacts, and to share how AMC is supporting clients to mine smarter in an increasingly complex and evolving resources landscape.

We would like to thank everyone who took the time to visit our stand and connect with the team.

AMC representatives in attendance

Nicholas Szebor
Director / Global Lead Geosciences

Dominic Claridge

Principal Mining Engineer

Alan Turner

Principal Mining Engineer

Reach out to explore how AMC can support your mining challenges by filling in the form below.

IMARC 2025

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 05:24:44 GMT

Published: 4 September 2025

International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) 2025

AMC Consultants (AMC) is excited to be exhibiting and participating at this year's premier event for International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) from Tuesday, October 21 to Thursday, October 23, 2025 in Sydney, Australia.

This year's theme focus is on Collaborating on trends in mining, investment and innovation towards a sustainable future. We invite you to visit us at Booth H05 to meet with our team who look forward to engaging with industry leaders and showcasing our expertise at this significant conference.

As a world-class gathering, IMARC offers six concurrent conferences covering the entire mining value chain, with panel discussions and strategic keynote presentations. Participants will gain insights from c-suite executives and industry leaders on operational excellence, ESG, business resilience, project development, and mine digitisation.

The three-day conference will focus on:

Finding, funding and fast-tracking mining projects
Driving decarbonisation and productivity through collaboration, technology and innovation
Mobilising the mining ecosystem for shared prosperity

Meet our team at IMARC 2025

Andrew Hall

Chief Executive Officer

Mark Flanagan

Director / Global Lead Open Pit Mining

Kevin Karlovsky

Global Lead Strategy Optimization

Meredith Goss

Technical Lead Geotechnical

Tom Bailey

Technical Lead Underground Mining

IMCET Türikye 2025

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 04:38:25 GMT

Published: 13 November 2025

IMCET TÜRIKYE 2025

AMC was delighted to take part in the 29th International Mining Congress and Exhibition of Türkiye (IMCET 2025), held in the vibrant coastal city of Antalya from 11–14 November 2025.

The event brought together a diverse mix of industry professionals, researchers, and innovators from across the global mining sector. With strong participation from universities, research institutions and leading mining companies, IMCET once again proved to be a valuable platform for sharing knowledge, exploring new ideas, and strengthening industry connections.

Throughout the four-day program, attendees engaged in a wide range of technical presentations, workshops and discussions, alongside a large-scale exhibition showcasing the latest developments across the mining value chain. This year’s focus on technology and innovation highlighted the growing role of advancements such as artificial intelligence, automation and robotics in shaping the future of mining.

AMC was pleased to co-exhibit at stand #B21 with NewPro, where we had the opportunity to connect with clients, peers and new contacts. The stand provided a great space for conversations around current industry challenges, project insights and opportunities for collaboration.

Events like IMCET play an important role in bringing the global mining community together, fostering open dialogue and supporting the exchange of technical expertise. We appreciate everyone who took the time to visit us during the congress and look forward to continuing those conversations.

We look forward to participating in future IMCET events and continuing to engage with the international mining community.

AMC representatives in attendance

Bruce Gregory
Director / Technical Lead Mine Sustainability and Development

Koray Gundem

Principal Mining Engineer

Kubra Izmirli

Graduate Mining Engineer

Reach out to explore how AMC can support your mining challenges by filling in the form below.

The Joburg Indaba 2025

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 08:50:38 GMT

Published: 16 September 2025

THE JOBURG INDABA 2025

AMC Consultants (AMC) were proud to sponsor the 2025 Joburg Indaba in Sandton, Johannesburg. A key event that ran from 8 - 9 October 2025 that focused on critical and constructive conversations on the future of mining in South Africa and beyond.

The event brought together a diverse group of speakers, ranging from CEOs and senior leaders across major mining companies to local and international investors, government and parastatal representatives, legal and advisory experts, as well as voices from communities and organised labour.

Our team engaged with industry leaders and decision-makers to endeavour to help miners Mine Smarter through strategic insight, technical excellence, and validated data analytics across the full mine lifecycle.

AMC representatives in attendance

Derek du Preez
Client Operating Officer

Corné Yzelle

Director / Global Lead Strategy and Transformation

Francois le Roux
Technical Lead Underground Mining

Isabella Tillyard

Principal Consultant

Reach out to explore how AMC can support your mining challenges by filling in the form below.

Let the Data Speak: Optimizing Metallurgical Sample Selection for Robust Process Design

Mon, 10 Nov 2025 05:04:28 GMT

Let the Data Speak:

Optimizing Metallurgical Sample Selection for Robust Process Design

Introduction

In metallurgical testing, the notion of a “representative sample” is often taken to mean that a single, well-chosen sample can fully encapsulate the behaviour of an entire ore deposit. This underlying assumption suggests that if the processing plant is designed and tested using this sample, it will operate in a consistent and predictable manner across all feed conditions. However, this idea overlooks a crucial but rarely discussed reality: the true performance of a processing plant is dictated not by the average characteristics captured in a single sample, but by the full spectrum of ore variability encountered over time.

Understanding Sample Representativity

A representative sample should capture the full spectrum of an orebody’s geological, mineralogical, and chemical characteristics that influence processing performance. The misconception that geospatial location drives metallurgical behaviour often leads to suboptimal sampling strategies. Instead, the focus should be on geological variability—what matters more than where.

Variability vs. Composite Samples

Variability Samples : These are selected to characterize the full range of ore types within a deposit. They should be drawn from continuous intercepts in single drill holes to capture the diversity of geological characteristics. Variability samples are critical for understanding how different ore types respond to processing.

Composite Samples : These are useful for establishing a feasible process flowsheet but fail to capture the behaviour of individual ore types. They provide an averaged view, masking critical variations that impact plant performance.

The geometallurgical principle for variability sampling is to select samples that span the multivariate characteristics—physical, mineralogical, or chemical—that affect processing outcomes. By prioritizing geological variability, we ensure the process design accounts for the extremes, not just the average.

Determining the Right Number of Samples

A common question is, “How many samples are needed?” The answer depends on the intended use of the data. Let the data guide the decision.

1. Process Design

The goal is to design unit processes that handle ore with average characteristics at a specified throughput. This requires a compromise, balancing typical ore behaviour with operational constraints. A smaller, carefully selected set of variability samples can suffice to establish a robust flowsheet.

2. Geometallurgical Modelling

Geometallurgical models predict ore variability across a deposit, represented as a three-dimensional matrix of blocks derived from the mineral resource block model. These models require a broader set of variability samples to capture localized ore and waste characteristics. The challenge is to determine the point at which additional samples no longer significantly improve the model’s predictive accuracy.

Balancing Sample Size and Model Accuracy

Adding more samples reduces uncertainty in predictive models, but only to a point. Beyond this, inherent test variability limits further improvements. The goal is to identify the minimum number of samples that achieves an acceptable level of uncertainty, optimizing both cost and accuracy.

Leveraging Machine Learning for Sample Selection

Machine learning offers powerful tools to enhance metallurgical sample selection and geometallurgical modelling. By analysing high-dimensional data, these techniques can identify representative samples and assess model uncertainty.

Predictive Modelling with Machine Learning

Training a predictive geometallurgical model with increasing sample sizes allows us to calculate uncertainty, such as the Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE). Initially, RMSE decreases rapidly as more samples are added. However, it eventually stabilizes, indicating that additional samples provide diminishing returns. This inflection point helps determine the minimum number of samples needed for a robust model.

Assessing Representativity with Dimension Reduction

Machine learning techniques like Uniform Manifold Approximation and Projection (UMAP) reduce high-dimensional data into a manageable number of dimensions for visualization and analysis. Grouping algorithms, such as K-Means clustering, evaluate sample similarity based on multivariate characteristics. Users can define the number of groups based on their interpretability and relevance to processing outcomes. These groupings provide a reproducible framework for:

Describing ore types.
Selecting representative samples.
Interpreting geological domains in three dimensions.

By applying these tools, we can ensure samples are representative in a multivariate sense, capturing the full range of ore characteristics that impact processing.

Best Practices for Metallurgical Sample Selection

To optimize sample selection:

Prioritize Geological Variability: Focus on capturing the full range of ore characteristics rather than geospatial coverage.
Use Variability Samples for Robust Insights: Select samples from continuous drill hole intercepts to reflect geological diversity.
Leverage Machine Learning: Employ tools like UMAP and K-Means clustering to assess representativity and optimize sample size.
Align Sampling with Objectives: Tailor the number of samples to the purpose—process design or geometallurgical modelling.
Monitor Model Uncertainty: Use metrics like RMSE to determine when additional samples no longer improve predictive accuracy.

Next Steps

Unlock the full potential of your metallurgical testing by adopting a data-driven approach to sample selection. By focusing on geological variability and leveraging machine learning, you can design more robust processes and predictive models that account for the complexities of your orebody.

Contact our team at geometallurgy_support@amcconsultants.com to learn how we can help you implement these strategies and optimize your metallurgical outcomes. Let the data speak—start building smarter, more reliable process designs today.

Paul Greenhill , FAusIMM(CP)
Principal Consultant
pgreenhill@amcconsultants.com

Selecting the Right Mine Size: A Case Study Using Minemax Scheduler

Fri, 31 Oct 2025 04:46:06 GMT

Selecting the Right Mine Size: A Case Study Using Minemax Scheduler

Mine planning requires precise alignment between mining inventory, processing capacity, and economic assumptions to maximize project value. This article presents a case study on a greenfield gold deposit in Oceania, where strategic scheduling was revisited following new underground exploration results. Using Datamine’s strategic scheduling software solution, Minemax Scheduler, over 200 scenarios were analyzed to determine the optimal combination of open pit size, underground cut-off grade, mining rate, and processing rate for maximum net present value (NPV).

Introduction

Sizing in mining is as critical as in engineering design - oversized or undersized components lead to inefficiencies and lost value. The processing plant must be correctly matched to the mining rate and inventory. This case study demonstrates how scenario-based optimization can identify the most economically viable configuration for a deposit containing both open-pit and underground resources.

Minemax Scheduler was selected for its capability to handle complex scenario analysis efficiently. Although primarily designed for open-pit scheduling, it was adapted to include underground inventory, enabling optimization of the open-pit to underground transition.

How to avoid switching between multiple Minemax Scheduler projects when managing numerous scenarios?

Developing a broad range of scenarios can be time-consuming without an efficient Minemax Scheduler setup. The most effective strategy is to minimize the number of project files, ideally consolidating into one or a few, since switching between multiple projects increases complexity and reduces efficiency.

To run all scenarios within a single project file, the complete mining inventory for every option should be imported upfront. The project can then be structured so that configuring a scenario is as simple as selecting the relevant options.

To navigate scenarios within the same project, simple and consistent naming is key. If the number of scenarios becomes very large - for example, when incorporating variations in mining costs, processing costs, or commodity prices - it may be more practical to use multiple project files.

How to structure a Minemax Scheduler project for rapid scenario configuration?

In this case study, the scenarios were based on pit size, underground cut-off grade and processing rate options. For the open-pit inventory, each pit size was imported as a separate CSV file. Activation of a specific pit design was controlled through the constraints table by toggling movement limits on or off as required.

To prevent overlap between open-pit and underground inventories, Mineable Stope Optimizer (MSO) shapes located inside each pit design and a buffer were removed. Each pit size option was paired with a corresponding underground inventory, which included multiple sets of MSO shapes based on different cut-off grades. These inventories were imported as CSV files linked to their respective pit sizes. Initiating an underground phase required a capital expenditure (CAPEX) decision, where the relevant inventory—defined by pit size and cut-off grade - was activated under the CAPEX definition table.

For processing, a downstream process was created for each plant capacity option and mapped in the decision tree using splits. This configuration enabled processing rates to be turned on or off under the CAPEX definition table as needed.

Case study results

The case study considers seven open pit designs - from extra extra small (XXS) to extra extra large (XXL) - that are derived from optimization shells across multiple revenue factors. It also considers five underground cut-off grades (labelled A to E) and four processing plant capacities - from extra small (XS) to large (L).

Figure 1 illustrates normalized NPV as a function of pit size for the D underground cut-off grade. All open-pit standalone scenarios (shown by the dashed line) resulted in negative NPVs, while the underground standalone scenario (represented by the dot) achieved a higher NPV with an XS plant but remained marginal. The other trends correspond to combined open-pit and underground scenarios, some of which delivered positive NPVs. Among these, the medium (M) plant consistently produced the highest NPV, with the peak occurring at the M pit.

Figure 1: Normalized NPV versus pit size for the D underground cut-off grade option.
Figure 2: Normalized NPV versus underground cut-off grade for the M pit option.

Figure 2 illustrates NPV trends with pit size fixed at the M pit while varying the underground cut-off grade. The results show that NPV increases progressively with higher cut-off grades, reaching a peak at option D before stabilizing.

Next Steps

Interested in exploring this case study further? Watch the full presentation by AMC’s Technical Lead, Open Pit Consulting, Olivier Gratessolle, titled Efficient Mine Size Selection, delivered at the Datamine Mine Planning Symposium 2025 in Perth. The recording is available upon registration via this link . For technical insights or to discuss how optimized mine sizing can unlock value in your projects, connect directly with Olivier at ogratessolle@amcconsultants.com .

If you are looking to implement advanced strategic scheduling solutions, reach out to AMC’s Global Lead, Open Pit Mining, Mark Flanagan, at mflanagan@amcconsultants.com .

Let AMC help you transform complex planning challenges into value-driven strategies.

Olivier Gratessolle

Technical Lead Open Pit Consulting
ogratessolle @amcconsultants.com

Visualizing Multivariate Data with UMAP: A Geometallurgical Approach to Sample Representativity

Wed, 08 Oct 2025 00:20:26 GMT

Visualizing Multivariate Data with UMAP:

A Geometallurgical Approach to Sample Representativity

Introduction

Visualizing multiple variables in a complex dataset can be overwhelming, especially in geometallurgy, where orebody characteristics drive processing outcomes. Traditional methods struggle to handle the high-dimensional data typical of modern geological datasets. Uniform Manifold Approximation and Projection (UMAP), a powerful dimension reduction algorithm, offers a solution. This article explores how UMAP simplifies multivariate data visualization, enhances metallurgical sample selection, and ensures representativity in geometallurgical modelling.

What is UMAP and Why Does It Matter?

UMAP is a machine learning technique that reduces high-dimensional data into a smaller number of dimensions—typically two—for visualization and analysis (McInnes et al., 2020 [1] ). Unlike other dimension reduction methods, UMAP excels at preserving both local and global data structures, making it ideal for analysing complex datasets like drill hole assays or block model values. The resulting two-dimensional scatterplot groups similar data points in a multivariate sense, where proximity reflects similarity in characteristics, not necessarily spatial relationships.

In geometallurgy, UMAP enables researchers to visualize the multivariate characteristics of an orebody, such as mineral assemblages, textures, and grades, in a single plot. This provides a clear, reproducible way to assess whether metallurgical samples represent the full range of ore types in a deposit.

The Challenge of Metallurgical Sample Representativity

An ore type is defined as mineralized material of economic interest with consistent mineral assemblages, textures, and grades. Ore types often form complex spatial patterns shaped by the deposit’s geological history, and their metallurgical responses depend on multiple variables. However, metallurgical testwork is inherently data-poor, as only a small fraction of the orebody is tested before mining. In contrast, modern drill hole databases are data-rich, containing:

Assays for 30+ elements.
Hyperspectral mineral analyses.
Bulk density and rebound hardness measurements.
Visually logged rock types and textures.

Traditional statistical or graphical tools, limited to one, two, or three dimensions, struggle to assess sample representativity across such diverse datasets. This is where UMAP’s ability to handle high-dimensional data becomes invaluable.

Applying UMAP in Geometallurgy

Geometallurgy leverages abundant geological data to maximize the value of sparse, high-cost metallurgical testwork. By applying UMAP, we can align metallurgical samples with geological data to ensure they represent the orebody’s variability. Here’s how UMAP transforms the process:

Visualizing Ore Type Variability: UMAP reduces complex datasets into a two-dimensional scatterplot. Points close together share similar multivariate characteristics, allowing geologists to identify distinct ore types. For example, a scatterplot coloured by mineral concentrations can reveal clusters corresponding to different ore types.
Assessing Sample Representativity: By plotting metallurgical samples on the UMAP scatterplot, we can evaluate their coverage of ore type variability. For instance, a scatterplot divided into seven groups (interpreted as ore types) might show that samples (e.g., orange and blue dots) cover most groups but miss certain regions (e.g., green dots), highlighting gaps in representativity.
Guiding Sampling Programs: UMAP provides a data-driven framework to select samples that capture the full range of ore characteristics. This ensures metallurgical testwork reflects the deposit’s complexity, improving the reliability of process predictions.

Case Study: UMAP in Action

Consider a UMAP scatterplot generated from a drill hole dataset:

Left Plot: Coloured by mineral concentrations, it reveals seven distinct clusters representing different ore types.
Right Plot: Metallurgical samples (orange and blue dots) are overlaid, showing good coverage across most clusters but poor representation in some areas (green dots).

This visualization enables geologists to assess whether their samples adequately represent the orebody and identify areas where additional sampling is needed. By linking UMAP results to geological understanding and metallurgical testwork, teams can refine sampling strategies and improve process design.

Best Practices for Using UMAP in Geometallurgy

To maximize the benefits of UMAP:

Integrate Diverse Data: Include all relevant geological data (assays, hyperspectral data, physical measurements) to capture the full range of ore characteristics.
Interpret Clusters Thoughtfully: Use domain expertise to validate UMAP-derived clusters as meaningful ore types.
Iterate Sampling: Use UMAP to identify gaps in sample representativity and guide additional sample collection.
Combine with Other Tools: Pair UMAP with clustering algorithms like K-Means to further refine ore type definitions and sample selection.

[1] There are other dimension reduction algorithms that could also be used. See McInnes et al, 2020.

Next Steps

Ready to simplify multivariate data analysis and optimize your metallurgical sampling? UMAP offers a powerful, data-driven approach to ensure your samples represent the full variability of your orebody.

Contact our team at geometallurgy_support@amcconsultants.com to explore how UMAP can enhance your geometallurgical workflows and drive better processing outcomes. Let’s make your data work smarter—start visualizing with UMAP today.

Paul Greenhill, FAusIMM(CP)
Principal Consultant
pgreenhill@amcconsultants.com

PERUMIN 2025

Tue, 16 Sep 2025 07:02:12 GMT

Published: 16 September 2025

PERUMIN 37 MINING CONVENTION 2025

AMC Consultants (AMC) is proud to sponsor, exhibit, and present at the PERUMIN 37 Mining Convention , one of Latin America's most influential mining events. Held from 22 to 26 September 2025 at the Cerro Juli Convention Center in Arequipa, Peru. This convention provides an unparalleled platform for industry collaboration and innovation.

We are pleased to be part of the Australian delegation, coordinated by Austrade, which will bring together senior executives, mine superintendents, procurement leaders, technical experts, and potential partners — offering valuable opportunities to connect with key decision-makers across the mining value chain.

As a global mining consultancy, AMC are committed to driving excellence across the minerals, metals, materials, and energy sectors. We look forward to engaging with industry professionals from around the world to share insights, explore strategic partnerships, and help shape the future of mining.

Visit us at Stand 641 | Pavilion 5

Stop by to meet our team and discover how AMC delivers world-class technical solutions that optimize mining operations across the globe.

Grab a Coffee @ The Hub

Recharge and connect @ The Hub, proudly sponsored by AMC — the perfect spot to network over a great cup of coffee.

AMC at the Conference

Our team of mining specialists will be actively involved in presenting, exhibiting and engaging in convention's activities.

Technical Session:

Topic : Paste fill with reclaimed tailings: a sustainable solution for risk management

Co-Author and Presenter: Hector Orrego Moya, Senior Mechanical Engineer, AMC - Canada

 Abstract:
Tailings management and the mitigation of its associated risks are an imperative for modern mining operations.

This paper presents a proven and cost-effective solution: the use of tailings recovered from existing storage facilities to produce paste backfill. This methodology significantly reduces capital expenditures compared to conventional plants, thereby democratizing access to the benefits of paste backfill and expanding its application to closure and remediation projects.

The success of the technology, however, hinges on rigorous technical control of the feed material, which includes its characterization, management of moisture variability, and pre-conditioning. It is concluded that this approach offers significant potential for mining in the Andean region, provided that local logistical and climatic challenges are addressed.

Technical Session:

Topic: From the strategic horizon to the production front: Integrated model of operational planning

Author and Presenter: Renzo Misari , Senior Mining Engineer , AMC - United Kingdom
Location: TIS Forum

Abstract:

Operational planning in mining represents a critical link between strategy and operational execution. However, in many operations, these plans lack the level of integration and detail necessary to reflect the reality of the work front, leading to frequent deviations, low resource utilization, and difficulties in decision-making.

This paper proposes a structured planning methodology that connects strategic planning with operational planning, where the latter is based on the detailed modeling of the complete mining cycle and the allocation of equipment, labor, and materials.

Key Profiles

Hector Orrego
Senior Mechanical Engineer

Hector is a licensed senior mechanical engineer with over 15 years of experience in mining project development across North and South America. He specializes in material handling systems, ore preparation and crushing plants, conveyors, and apron feeders. Hector has led multidisciplinary teams through all project phases - including engineering design, procurement, fabrication, construction, commissioning, and start-up. He brings strong expertise in project evaluation, risk analysis, and detailed project management.

Renzo Misari
Senior Mining Engineer

Renzo’s primary expertise is in planning, design, and scheduling for both open pit and underground mining operations. He specialises in technical mining studies, project evaluation, mining viability assessments, and risk assessments. He has proven success in mineral reserves estimation, cost estimation, and economic modelling, ensuring compliance with industry standards. His extensive experience with major mining companies has provided him with deep knowledge of various mining methods, including sublevel stoping, cut and fill, caving, large and small open pits.

ACG Mine Closure 2025

Tue, 16 Sep 2025 00:58:52 GMT

Published: 16 September 2025

ACG MINE CLOSURE 2025

AMC Consultants (AMC) is proud to present and attend the Mine Closure Conference 2025 from 23 to 25 September 2025 to be held at Kulturens Hus, Luleå, Sweden.

A key feature of the conference series is the diversity of disciplines and expertise that come together to focus on the pressing issues facing the mine closure community globally.

As a global mining consultancy, AMC are committed to integrating environmentally responsible practices into all services. Leveraging extensive experience and deep knowledge of mining fundamentals, we deliver best practice and innovative insights through a risk-based approach to post-mining transition and sustainability.

AMC at the Conference

Session 10C: Biodiversity and nature outcomes

Topic : The impact of enhanced sustainability outcomes on the optimal open pit to underground transition

Co-Author and Presenter: Nicolau Barros, Mine Sustainability Lead

Location: Ingemar/Martin Room

Date: Thursday, 25 September 2025

Time: 10:15 AM - 10:35 AM

Abstract:

Sustainability considerations, including environmental, social, and governance (ESG) aspects are indeed a

critical matter for the mining industry. Today, sustainability performance and credentials permeate all aspects

of mineral projects, influencing everything from initial project evaluation through to operations and mine

closure, and overarching corporate governance objectives.

The decision to transition from open pit to underground operations is a multifaceted challenge, devoid of a

one-size-fits-all solution. Traditionally, this decision hinged predominantly on economic factors such as mining

costs, and technical risks; with open pit mines often perceived as offering greater certainty. However,

underground mining typically encompasses many material advantages from a broader sustainability

perspective, including a smaller disturbance footprint; lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; greater

utilisation of natural resources (better resources stewardship, less waste generation); less societal disruption;

and less financial impact associated with closure. Consequently, integrating sustainability considerations into

the evaluation of the optimal transition point from open pit to underground operations may expedite the

transition and lead to a smaller open pit and the earlier development of an underground mine.

Key Profiles

Nicolau Barros
Mine Sustainability Lead

Nicolau has 24 years’ international experience in the mining industry, and his expertise is in world-class mining businesses both open-cut and underground across different commodities and countries in roles such as operational technical services, strategic planning and closure studies

Tim Sharman
Mine Sustainability Lead

Tim's professional journey highlights a wealth of expertise and leadership within the mining industry. He has a comprehensive skill set, encompassing strategic planning, sustainability initiatives, and effective management of multidisciplinary teams. Tim's ability to spearhead complex projects, integrate non-mining disciplines, and manage commercial agreements underscores his strategic acumen and operational proficiency.

James Town

Principal Mining Engineer

James has more than 12 years of experience in underground mining-engineering roles, with primary expertise in detailed engineering planning including all aspects of mine design and scheduling, drill - and-blast design, and resource and reserve statements. H e has extensive experience with strategic optimization projects , production potential assessment, cut-off grade application, business strategy development, benchmarking operational performance, and detailed financial analysis .

SEG Conference 2025

Thu, 04 Sep 2025 00:58:59 GMT

Published: 4 September 2025

SEG conference 2025

AMC Consultants (AMC) is excited to present at the Society of Economic Geologists (SEG) Conference 2025 , taking place at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre from Friday, 26 September to Monday, 29 September 2025.

During the four-day event join Melissa Gregory, Principal Geometallurgist, who will present on Smarter Use of Geochemistry and Machine Learning to Support Geological Domaining and Geometallurgical Modelling of Porphyry Cu Deposits in the Poster Hall and give a speed talk presentation in Exhibit Hall 1 on Monday, September 29 .

Session Themes

Deposits: Orebody knowledge in the modern mining and exploration world
Technology: Innovations and new technology impacting mineral discoveries and development
Collaborations: Major economic geoscience initiatives in support of resources for the future
Investment and Policy: Geoscience underpinning investment, policy, and governance
Secondary Metals and Remediation: Secondary metal sources, economic geology, and remediation across the mining value chain

AMC at the conference

Topic: Smarter Use of Geochemistry and Machine Learning to Support Geological Domaining and Geometallurgical Modelling of Porphyry Cu Deposits

Author and Presenter: Melissa Gregory, Principal Geometallurgist

Location: Poster Hall, Poster Board Number: P5.256

Speed Talk: Monday, 29 September, Exhibit Hall 1, 1:09 PM - 1:14 PM

Consistent definition of geological domains is essential for geological modelling. The traditional methods for geological model construction are typically reliant upon subjective visual geological logging or a limited geochemical assay suite. This results in models that poorly represent the true characteristics of the rocks.

Whole rock multi-element geochemistry provides a fingerprint of the elemental composition of drillhole samples that is objective and amenable to powerful data science techniques. Applying dimension reduction and grouping analysis to process high-dimensional data can generate practical solutions for domaining and guide robust sample selection for orebody knowledge studies, for example, metallurgical, geotechnical or environmental.

Grouping materials with similar characteristics using these techniques results in better geological interpretations and improved understanding of geological processes and controls on mineralization. Groups of samples with like-geochemical characteristics are defined using a combination of grouping algorithms and geological information and these groups are then interpreted spatially in two and three dimensions. Since they are based on high-quality assay data, these groups provide a higher level of consistency and repeatability than visual logs alone.

To convert a geological model into a geometallurgical model requires the integration of the drillhole database with metallurgical test work. Selecting representative metallurgical samples is critical for establishing relationships between the composition of the rocks and mineral processing response, such as metal recovery and concentrate grade. Machine learning techniques facilitate modelling of predictive relationships between metallurgical test results and the geochemical characteristics of the ore. This enables the results of a limited number of metallurgical tests to be leveraged against the larger drillhole database to provide predictions of ore processing response that can be deployed into every block in a resource block model.

We will present examples of using this approach to improve interpretation, support sample selection and build geometallurgical models in porphyry Cu deposits.

Meet our presenter

Melissa Gregory
Principal Geometallurgist - Geosciences

Melissa’s expertise lies in designing, implementing, and managing projects that integrate geochemistry and mineralogy datasets for geology and geometallurgy applications. Also, a mineralogist, she is a specialist in understanding and modelling relationships between geological and geometallurgical parameters, enabling the prediction of mineral processing response. Melissa has significant experience in porphyry copper gold deposits, as well as experience in sediment hosted copper, volcanogenic massive sulfide, orogenic gold, ultramafic nickel, and pegmatite hosted lithium systems. Melissa has recent and relevant experience in new and emerging laboratory-based data gathering technologies such as the newest SEM automated mineralogy and XRF systems and LIBS core scanning technology.

APCOM Conference 2025

marketing@amcconsultants.com (Marketing AMC) — Thu, 24 Jul 2025 08:36:04 GMT

Published: 28 July 2025

aPCOM conference 2025

AMC Consultants (AMC) is proud to have Dr Tim Pelech, Senior Mining Consultant present a paper co-authored with Francois Grobler, Principal Mining Consultant at the upcoming Application of Computers & Operations Research in the Mineral Industry (APCOM) Conference 2025 , taking place from Sunday, 10 August through to Wednesday, 13 August 2025 at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre.

This premier technical conference will bring together digital professionals from across the global mining industry, attracting innovators, mining executives, planning engineers, mine managers, geoscientists, operators, and ESG specialists.

The event will focus on cutting-edge research, breakthrough innovations, and forward-thinking perspectives on digitisation throughout the entire mining value chain.

AMC at the Conference

Topic: AMC’s Hill of Value ^® : Modelling sequential decisions to transfer strategy optimization into an operational mine plan.

Session 6C Mine Planning and Scheduling

Presenter: Dr Timothy Pelech, Senior Mining Consultant

Date: Tuesday, 12 August 2025

Time: 10:30 AM - 11:10 AM

Mine strategy optimization techniques such as AMC’s Hill of Value ^® (HoV ^® ) use numerical modelling of an operation to rapidly explore a wide range of strategic options. This is achieved by testing and flexing variables such as the cut-off grade, throughput rates, mining methods, scheduling sequences and more to understand which of these decision variables are strategically important. The output of the HoV ^® process is an optimal set of decision variables, guided by one or more objectives (e.g. NPV, strategy resilience, mine life) which can be converted into an operational mine plan. It enables a high number of strategic options to be rapidly assessed for long-term planning guidance, but at the expense of tactical resolution.

Once an optimal strategy is chosen and committed to for a long-term plan, tactical deviations or modifications from this plan may be required to minimize short-term disruptions and achieve better operational alignment. Ideally, value-accretive tactical deviations could be undertaken without compromising the overall strategy. This is attainable with confidence if the appropriate level of detail is modelled for the strategy selection.

A robust strategy selection process requires that any potential tactical choices fall within its bounds, albeit at a higher resolution. This will enable the promotion of tactical modifications that create value while constraining decisions that destroy it. To account for these tactical deviations within a strategy, they must also be represented in the numerical model.

Tactical decision-making becomes difficult to model numerically when multiple sequential decisions are possible. This is especially the case for underground mines, where the sequential decisions of mine scheduling, capital commitment, access development, and production phase of selecting and extracting the ore, stockpiling and processing typically exist. Each of these sequential decisions can have an upstream and downstream impact on the overall mine value chain.

This paper investigates a practical method for capturing high resolution sequential decisions in a strategy optimization model and enables these to coherently transfer to the operational mine plan.

Meet Our Presenter

Dr Timothy Pelech
Senior Mining Consultant

Tim possesses over 10 years of experience having worked in several world-class mining operations across Australia. During his time in operations, he gained experience as an underground manager, a ventilation officer, implemented mine planning processes, led risk assessments, and always upheld high health and safety standards. His skillset includes resource levelling, data analysis, people management and complex problem solving. Proficient with Deswik and VentSim software, Tim excels in mine design and scheduling, stope optimization, drill and blast planning, and long-term forecasting. His expertise also includes applied research and numerical modelling, as well as managing infrastructure projects such as underground dewatering systems and ventilation upgrades.

AfriRock Conference 2025

marketing@amcconsultants.com (Marketing AMC) — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 17:21:47 GMT

Published: 11 July 2025

AFRIROCK CONFERENCE 2025

AMC Consultants is excited to present at the A friRock 2025 International Rock Mechanics Conference , taking place at Sun City, Rustenburg, in South Africa from Monday 21 July to Wednesday, 23 July 2025.

Jeanne Walls, AMC's Principal Geotechnical Engineer, will be presenting on Geotechnical and Operational Risk Review for an Ultra-Long Ore Pass in a Caving Operation , and will also be chairing the Caving session on Day 1 of the conference.

The AfriRock 2025 conference spotlights cutting-edge technologies such as modern geotechnical data collection techniques, 3D visualization software for geotechnical analysis, computer modelling, mechanization, and more which all play a crucial role in advancing mining operations across the African continent

This international forum brings together engineers, academics, suppliers and manufacturers to present and discuss the latest advancements in rock mechanics and geotechnical engineering.

AMC at the Conference

Conference - Day 1
Session: Caving

Session Topic: Assessing the role of stress distribution on mine layout design in Block Caving Mine

Date: Monday, 21 July 2025

Time: 14:40 PM - 15:00 PM

Chair: Jeanne Walls, Principal Geotechnical Engineer

Conference - Day 2
Topic: Geotechnical and Operational Risk Review for an Ultra-Long Ore Pass in a Caving Operation

Author and Presenter: Jeanne Walls, Principal Geotechnical Engineer

Date: Tuesday, 22 July 2025

Time: 9:35 AM - 9.40 AM

The presentation will illustrate conditions in which an ultra-long ore pass arrangement within a caving operation must be developed to ensure that the ore handling system is effective for the required mine life. Geotechnical stability together with operational management requirements are included, as are challenges of benchmarking against limited industry examples to determine the feasibility of commissioning such a system.

Meet our Presenter

Jeanne Walls
Principal Geotechnical Engineer

Jeanne is a recognized expert in underground and open-pit geotechnical design. Her expertise in geotechnical (rock mechanics) engineering solutions for mining operations and consulting projects is founded on underground extraction methods, with significant contributions to surface mining and exploration activities. Jeanne's extensive experience includes block and sub-level caving, deep tabular mining, and slope stability for open pits. She has managed large feasibility studies, worked on multi-commodity operations, and engaged in advanced numerical modelling, ground support optimization, and seismic monitoring strategies. Jeanne has published numerous technical papers, served on professional committees, and mentored junior engineers.

GMG Brisbane Forum 2025

marketing@amcconsultants.com (Marketing AMC) — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 08:20:16 GMT

Published: 4 July 2025

gmg brisbane forum 2025

AMC Consultants is excited to present at the Global Mining Guidelines (GMG) Brisbane Forum 2025 , taking place at the University of Queensland's St Lucia Campus from Wednesday, 16 July to Thursday, 17 July 2025.

Cailli Knievel, Technical Lead Underground Mining, will present on Rethinking Mine Design - The Need for Collective Ch ange.

The GMG Brisbane Forum will join mining leaders, technology innovators and operational experts over a two-day event covering themes including decarbonization and electrification, AI and data integration, emerging technologies, and full-site operational integration.

This forum unites speakers and participants from across the globe to tackle mining’s biggest challenges and explore its most promising opportunities.

AMC at the Conference

Seamless Horizons: Connecting Value Chains in Mining Across Space and Time

Topic: Rethinking Mine Design - The Need for Collective Change

Author and Presenter: Cailli Knievel, Technical Lead Underground Mining
Date: Thursday, 17 July 2025

Time: 12.55 - 1.20 PM

The current approach to mine design is fundamentally flawed. Despite decades of technological progress and an increasing awareness of the complexity of planning for uncertainty, mining continues to struggle with rigid, top-down project and business planning cycles that often dictate outcomes before meaningful engineering begins. There is a prevailing assumption that mining engineers control the design processes they work within, whereas the reality is that many engineers operate within unnecessary constraints shaped by regulatory requirements, business objectives, and financial and risk metrics that limit innovation and prejudice against practicality.

This presentation explores how misaligned objectives, disconnected frameworks, and unrealistic expectations can unknowingly undermine effective mine design and destroy value. It advocates for a collaborative rethink of how design is defined, governed, and executed - placing value creation, curiosity, and the principles of smarter mining at the centre.

With typical mining project cycles lasting 20+ years, a key question remains: When are we going to unshackle ourselves from how we’ve done things in the past and start looking at what we need to be doing to set ourselves up for the mine of the future?

Meet Our Presenter

Cailli Knievel
Technical Lead Underground Mining

Cailli is a highly skilled mining engineer with over 30 years of experience, including 20 years of site-based roles in Australia, Africa, Europe, South America and the USA, as well as a further ten years in various corporate and consulting roles. Cailli joined AMC as Underground Manager and Principal Mining Engineer in October 2024. Prior to this, Cailli was the Manager of Mine Planning at AngloGold Ashanti Australia from 2020 to 2024, where she was responsible for the underground mine planning function for the Australian operations. Cailli played a crucial role in developing the regional strategy and ensuring the business objectives of the strategic mine plan were met.

Diggers & Dealers Mining Forum 2025

marketing@amcconsultants.com (Marketing AMC) — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 01:21:17 GMT

Published: 7 July 2025

DIGGERS & DEALERS MINING FORUM 2025

AMC Consultants (AMC) is pleased to attend the Diggers & Dealers Mining Forum 2025 , taking place at the Goldfields Art Centre in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, from Monday, 4 August to Wednesday, 6 August 2025.

Diggers & Dealers is Australia’s leading mining forum, combining corporate presentations by listed mining and exploration companies alongside a large exhibition area housing over 159 exhibitors from the sector.

We are committed to strengthening our presence in the Australian mining sector by engaging with like-minded professionals and contributing to the advancement of best practices across the industry.

We look forward to engaging with industry peers and professionals to share insights, foster collaboration, and contribute to shaping the future of mining.

WIMWA Networking Dinner 2025 during Diggers & Dealers

AMC is proud to be a gold sponsor at this year's WIMWA Networking Dinner during Diggers & Dealers.

Join us for a networking dinner at the Kalgoorlie Town Hall from 6pm - 9.00pm on Monday 4 August . This will be a fun evening that will be light on formalities but big on conversation, celebrating the mining community and warm hospitality.

The evening will be hosted by Sabina Shugg AM, Chair of WIMWA and Non-Executive Director at Tellus Holdings and Resolute Resources.

Special guest for the evening includes Catherine Fox AM - Walkey Award-winning journalist and long-time observer of Australian workplaces who will share insights from her timely book, Breaking the Boss Bias: How to get more women into leadership.

SECURE YOUR REGISTRATION TODAY!

AMC at the Forum

Karl van Olden
Global Lead Underground Mining

Karl has more than 25 years’ mining industry experience with substantial experience in diverse mining environments in operational, technical, consulting, and corporate roles. Expertise and skills across the mining business process and a trusted advisor to executives in the mining industry. Karl also has leadership experience and a solid track record in senior roles for multi-national resource companies and as a manager developing business and technical capability in recognized industry-leading consultancies. He has been a project sponsor, a project manager, a technical lead and a contributor to well over 500 diverse, world-wide mining industry assignments. These span feasibility studies, strategic analysis, business planning, Ore Reserve Estimates, due diligence reviews, expert reports, minerals project valuations and operational optimization.

Bruce Gregory
Director / Technical Lead Mine Sustainability and Development | Open Pit Mining - Australia

Bruce is a mining engineer with over 40 years’ experience in technical and leadership roles spanning mine planning, production, and engineering management. Early in his career, he focused on mine planning and equipment evaluation, including pioneering in-pit crushing and conveying systems. He progressed to senior roles overseeing open-pit operations - pit design, long-term scheduling, geology, and geotechnical analysis - before moving into mine production leadership. After transitioning into consulting in late 1996, Bruce specialised in open-pit feasibility studies, equipment selection, cost estimation, and valuation. His expertise has supported major decisions, including contractor versus owner-mining evaluations for large-scale operations. With extensive international experience, he has reviewed more than 50 open-pit sites since 2010. He has also held executive roles in technical leadership and business improvement, contributing to operational excellence and strategic decision-making across the mining sector.

Calli Knievel

Technical Lead Underground Mining

Cailli is a highly skilled mining engineer with over 30 years of experience, consisting of 20 years supporting mining operations in site-based roles in Australia, Africa, Europe, South America and the USA, as well as a further ten years in various corporate roles and consulting on international mining projects. With a passion for bringing diverse teams together to solve complex problems, she is well versed in managing multiple viewpoints and making connections. She has developed the ability to rapidly identify key issues, frame appropriate solutions, engage the resources necessary to execute and see through to successful implementation. Customer focused, Cailli cares deeply about delivering what is needed and is simultaneously passionate about developing others and contributing to an inclusive industry that people want to be a part of.

Mark Hemp

Principal Geotechnical Engineer

Mark has over 35 years of diverse geotechnical engineering experience, working on major projects for top clients like Rio Tinto and Anglo American, as well as smaller mining entities. His work has spanned Africa, Asia, Europe, South America and Australia. His expertise includes open pit stability studies, underground block cave/SLC studies, geotechnical exploration programs, hydrogeological investigations, mine plant and tailings dam investigations, tailings dam construction supervision, and projects involving commercial and residential structures and pavements. Mark has extensive experience with commodities such as iron ore, gold, diamonds, potash, polyhalite, tungsten, and manganese. He has successfully developed and mentored geotechnical teams in both operational and consulting settings. In his operational roles, he has worked at locations including Argyle Diamond Mine and Boddington Gold Mine. In consulting, he has managed numerous studies from Order of Magnitude through to Feasibility and Detailed Design.

Deswik Connect - APAC 2025

Sun, 08 Jun 2025 19:05:21 GMT

Published: 9 June 2025

DESWIK CONNECT - APAC 2025

AMC Consultants is excited to participate in Deswik Connect APAC 2025 , taking place at the Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre in Broadbeach, Queensland, from Tuesday, 17 June to Thursday, 19 June 2025.

Tate Baillie, Open Pit Manager and Principal Mining Engineer, will present on Navigating the Quirks of Mineral Sands.

As a leading global mining consultancy, AMC is committed to advancing best practices across the minerals, metals, materials, and energy sectors throughout the Asia Pacific region.

We look forward to engaging with industry peers and professionals to share insights, foster collaboration, and contribute to shaping the future of mining.

Deswik Connect APAC 2025 offers a dynamic program featuring presentations, workshops, masterclasses, and networking opportunities. This year’s theme, “Learn, Connect, Be Inspired,” will drive discussions centered on innovation and practical insights delivered through real-world case studies.

AusIMM members attending can earn up to 18 hours of professional development points.

AMC at the Conference

Our Principal Mining Engineer will be actively involved in presenting in the afternoon of Day 1 in the conference activities.

Surface Presentations:

Topic: Navigating the Quirks of Mineral Sands

Author and Presenter: Tate Baillie, Open Pit Manager / Principal Mining Engineer, AMC Consultants - Melbourne
Date: Tuesday, 17 June

Time: 4:20 PM - 5:00 PM

This presentation introduces some of the quirks of Mineral Sands mine planning, and shows how Deswik can address them with some creativity.

Key Profile

Tate Baillie
Open Pit Manager / Principal Mining Engineer

Tate’s experience includes more than eight years’ onsite experience in open-pit mining operations across Australia. His technical areas of expertise are in drill-and-blast design and execution, pit design, haulage modelling, strategic scheduling, cost modelling and equipment selection. He is also experienced in pit optimization, cut-off grade strategies, and tactical scheduling using advanced software skills across many key mining engineering packages including Deswik, Vulcan, Whittle, Minemax and Haul Infinity.

AusIMM Mineral Resource Estimation Conference 2025

Tue, 15 Apr 2025 18:27:27 GMT

Published: 30 March 2025

ausiMM mineral resource estimation conference 2025

AMC Consultants is proud to be a Silver Sponsor of the AusIMM Mineral Resource Estimation Conference, taking place at Optus Stadium from 6 May - 7 May 2025 in Perth, Australia.

The AusIMM Mineral Resource Estimation Conference 2025 is set to attract over 500 professionals, including geologists, geostatisticians, software providers, and resource industry experts, from around the world. The event will challenge traditional approaches to mineral resource estimation while sharing innovative best practices.

Focused on showcasing cutting-edge case studies, research, and the essential software tools for resource estimation, the conference will offer a platform for knowledge exchange. It will feature interactive sessions, panel discussions, keynote presentations, as well as case studies and peer-reviewed papers.

Topics will cover the latest developments in areas such as QA/QC and sampling, 3D geological and estimation domain modelling, geostatistical analysis, estimation and validation, risk analysis, and reporting.

Meet Our Team

Rod Carlson
Geology Manager

Rod has a wealth of experience in all aspects of resource development from exploration to feasibility studies and operations. His expert subjects include data manipulation, analytical methods, QAQC, geological interpretation and resource estimation. Technical writing and presentations are a speciality. Rod is adept with most geological and mining software including MapInfo, Leapfrog, Datamine, Vulcan, Supervisor and Microsoft Office.

I ngvar Kirchner
Geology Manager, Principal Geologist

Ingvar has more than 36 years of industry experience in drilling, Mineral Resource estimation and associated geostatistics, open pit and underground mining, reconciliation studies, technical audits and due diligence studies for a range of globally diverse projects. As a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists, Ingvar is a Competent/Qualified Person for Mineral Resource estimation and public reporting of a wide range of metal deposits in accordance with key international reporting codes

AMC at PASTE 2025

Thu, 03 Apr 2025 02:46:33 GMT

Published: March 15, 2025

ACG PASTE 2025

AMC Consultants looks forward to attending the 27th International Conference on Paste, Thickened, and Filtered Tailings (PASTE 2025) at the Swakopmund Hotel and Entertainment Centre in Namibia, from April 8–10, 2025.

Tony Grice, Global Leader – Backfill and Principal Mining Consultant, will present at the Mine Fill Workshop, held in conjunction with the conference.

About ACG Paste

This conference brings together academics, designers, practitioners, consultants and suppliers to discuss best practice, improved methods and technology, with an emphasis on safety, efficiency, and environmental impact. The conference themes include:

Thickening and filtration
Rheology
Emerging issues and technology
Case studies
Surface disposal
Transportation
Instrumentation and monitoring of tailings
Underground and backfill

Paste 2025 seeks to explore the considerations needed to raise the mining industry leaders’ awareness of how important environmental stewardship is to long-term industry sustainability, with regard to their tailings facilities.

With many operations now retrofitting their plants and tailings storages from conventional to thickened technology, the theme of this conference is very timely for an industry that is increasingly concerned with long-term sustainability.

AMC at the Conference

Presentation: Integrating tailings backfill systems and surface tailings storage

Presenter: Tony Grice

Date: Friday, 11 April 2025

Time: 16:35 PM - 17:00 PM

This presentation will look to discuss the integration of underground tailings backfill systems with surface tailings systems and some of the design and operation considerations that arise. Tony will explain some of the tonnage and volume design factors and provide case study examples to illustrate different objectives and outcomes from recent projects.

Topics will further explore:

This session will focus on tailings based backfill
Waste rock management is important and is covered in detail in the new ACG Comprehensive Handbook on MineFill 2025
Mass and volumetric balance of tailings on surface and underground
Supply and demand, mining void and tailings volume
Continuity issues – mining is ~continuous, milling utilisation ~92%, paste and hydraulic fill systems are ~50% to ~65% utilisation
Permitting issues – Time to obtain approval
Case Study 1 – High grade zinc silver mine, no room for surface tailings storage
Case Study 2 – Old gold mine with no permit for next tailings lift but lots of unfilled stopes
Case Study 3 – Open pit gold mine with UG extensions, eliminate final tailings lift
Case Study 4 – Mine changing from wet tailings to dry stack enabling a new paste fill system for UG mine
Summary
Questions

Tony Grice

Global Leader - Backfill / Principal Mining Consultant

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CIM CONNECT Convention + Expo 2025

Mon, 24 Mar 2025 19:00:36 GMT

Published: 28 March 2025

CIM CONNECT CONVENTION 2025

AMC Consultants is proud to exhibit and present at the CIM Connect Convention + Expo 2025, taking place at the Palais des Congrès de Montréal between 4 May to 7 May, 2025 in Montréal, Canada.

As a leading global mining consultancy, AMC is dedicated to advancing best practices across the minerals, metals, materials, and energy sectors in Canada.

We look forward to connecting with industry leaders and professionals at this premier event to share insights, foster collaboration, and help shape the future of mining.

Visit us at Booth 824

We invite attendees to visit Booth 824 to connect with our team and learn more about how AMC Consultants deliver world-class solutions for underground mining operations.

This year’s Convention + Expo will showcase the latest advancements in mining technology, solutions, and services. The 2025 theme, “Minerals, Innovation and the Energy Transition,” will frame key discussions around:

Mining extraction processes
Economic value of the minerals
Tailings and other secondary sources
The long-term goal of achieving full circularity

AMC at the Conference

Our team of mining specialists will be actively involved in presenting, exhibiting and engaging in conference activities.

Technical Session: Innovation and best practices in Mining: Operations and Processing

Topic: Dilution in mine planning

Author and Presenter: Wayne Rogers, Open Pit Manager / Principal Mining Engineer, AMC Consultants - Vancouver
Date: Monday 5 May

Time: 2:00 PM - 2:25 PM | 513C

Abstract:
Any financial evaluation of a project requires realistic assumptions of throughput rate and grade as well as mining rate of ore and waste. A realistically diluted resource model provides a basis for developing realistic production schedules and financial outcomes for a project.

There are many different methods of applying dilution and ore loss and the method chosen should be suitable to the deposit type, mining and processing methods, and the level of study. Deposit types vary in the distribution of mineralisation, thickness, dip, strike and continuity of mineralization.

Mining considerations include the selective mining unit (SMU), bench height, mining equipment size and configuration, and grade control strategy.

Processing considerations include the processing throughput rate, blending, ore sorting techniques and recovery.

This presentation discusses the most common methods used to apply dilution and ore loss, presents case studies, and introduces some of the new and emerging techniques.

Technical Session: Innovation and best practices in Mining: Operations and Processing

Topic: Ground support strategies for weak rock mass in underground mining and tunneling

Author and Presenter: Dr. Ying Liu, Principal Geotechnical Engineer , AMC Consultants - Vancouver
Date: Tuesday, 6 May

Time: 10:55 AM - 11:20 AM | 515A

Abstract:

Mining and tunneling in weak and highly fractured rock, soft soils and mixed ground present challenges in maintaining a safe working environment, excavation stability and operational efficiency. Traditional ground support systems - such as reinforcement (grouted rebar, friction bolts and cable bolts) and surface support (mesh, shotcrete and shotcrete ribs /arches) - commonly used in mining industry often prove ineffective for very poor ground conditions.

This paper introduces an innovative ground support system which combines use of self drilling anchor and shotcrete to address these challenges. The support system provides both active and passive support functions. Self drilling anchor serves as rock reinforcement, consolidating rock mass and enhancing rock mass strength. Additionally, they can be used for spiling as pre-support, as well as for stabilizing faces for large-section excavations. Shotcrete, when applied in weak ground, has two functions: (a) to act as a structural arch support the ground pressure, and (b) to seal the exposed ground immediately

after excavation to prevent loose material form unraveling, reactive rock / soil materials from swelling, face instability and ground collapse.

This paper outlines essential design considerations, practical approaches for pre-reinforcement and support in weak rock, and implementation measures. Three case studies illustrate the application of these pre-reinforcing and support measures in underground mining and tunneling, demonstrating improved excavation stability and reduced cycle time to enhance productivity.

Key Profiles

Wayne Rogers
Open Pit Manager / Principal Mining Engineer

Wayne Rogers is a principal open pit mining engineer with 20 years of experience in both operations and consulting in iron ore, copper, and gold. Wayne's expertise includes mine design and optimization, strategic & tactical scheduling, drill and blast, technical reviews, and feasibility studies. He has strong site-based experience in mine planning, drill-and-blast optimization, and mine-to-mill process optimization. Wayne is an expert user of Deswik, Minemax, Whittle, Surpac, and MineSched.

Ying Liu
Principal Geotechnical Engineer

Ying’s expertise is in numerical modelling, tunnel design and construction, soil and rock mass characterization and testing, selection, testing and design of ground support / reinforcement, geotechnical instrumentation and monitoring, geotechnical aspects of underground mine design and review, feasibility, geotechnical hazard, and risk management. Her computer skills include Flac3D, Map3D, and RocScience.

AusIMM Underground Operators Conference 2025

Tue, 18 Mar 2025 15:20:28 GMT

Published: 10 March 2025

AUSImm UNDERGROUND OPERATORS CONFERENCE 2025

AMC Consultants is proud to be sponsoring, exhibiting and presenting as the Silver Sponsor of the AusIMM Underground Operators Conference 2025 from Monday, April 7 to Wednesday, April 9 in Adelaide, Australia.

As a leading global mining consultancy, we are committed to advancing best practices in underground mining and look forward to engaging with industry professionals at this premier event.

Visit us at Booth 148

We invite attendees to visit Booth 148 to connect with our team and learn more about how AMC Consultants delivers world-class solutions for underground mining operations.

The 2025 Underground Operators Conference will focus on the evolving landscape of underground mining, addressing the demand for more intelligent and cost-effective ore extraction methods.

Key discussions will cover:

Innovations in deep mining technology
Health and safety advancements
Mine ventilation strategies
Social license to operate
The industry's pathway toward net-zero emissions

AMC at the Conference

Our team of underground mining specialists will be actively involved in presenting, exhibiting and engaging in conference activities. Meet the team at Booth 148.

Co-Authored Technical Paper

Session 2: Case Studies

Mine-scale subsidence at Cannington Mine

Presenter: Andrew Clarkson, Senior Project Geotechnical Engineer, South 32, Cannington Mine
Date: Monday April 7, 2025

Time: 10.50 AM - 11.10 AM

Abstract:
The Cannington mine is an underground silver-lead-zinc operation located in North-West Queensland, which has been in production since 1997. The ore is extracted using the longhole open stoping method. Backfilling usually incorporates paste to confine voids with a specific strength to facilitate adjacent stoping. The intent of this approach is to achieve 'full extraction' of the orebody, minimizing the incorporation of rock pillars in the mine design.

Feasibility studies for Cannington forecast that the mine could be prone to subsidence given the geometry and depth of the orebody. In Cannington’s mature phase of mine life, this hypothesis could be tested.

Measured changes on surface infrastructure provided the first indication of subsidence on the surface, however the location and scale of the subsidence went largely un-noticed until InSAR technology was introduced to monitor the site’s tailings storage facility.

Since then, the path to understand the scale and scope of mine subsidence has been a complex process that has evolved over several years. A combination of newer technologies and traditional methods has been employed to measure, correlate, and forecast movement. The outcome is a site-wide awareness of the phenomenon, with trigger action response plans established to manage the risk of mine-scale instability.

Authors:

Andrew Clarkson, Senior Project Geotechnical Engineer, South32, Cannington Mine
Christopher Hall, Geotechnical Superintendent, South32, Cannington Mine
Mike Sandy, Principal Geotechnical Engineer, AMC Consultants Pty Ltd

Technical Presentation

Session 10: Plenary and Sustainability

The impact of enhanced ESG outcomes on the optimal open pit to underground transition

Presenter: Andrew Hall, Managing Director , AMC Consultants
Date: Wednesday, April 9

Time: 12.40 PM - 1.00 PM

Abstract:

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations have become a critical matter for the minerals industry. Today, ESG credentials permeate all aspects of minerals projects, influencing everything from initial project evaluation through to operations and mine closure, and overarching corporate governance objectives.

The decision to transition from open pit to underground operations is a multifaceted challenge, devoid of a one-size-fits all solution. Traditionally, this decision hinged predominantly on economic factors such as mining costs, and technical risks with open pit mines often perceived as offering greater certainty. However, underground mining typically encompasses many material advantages from an ESG perspective including a smaller environmental footprint, lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and less societal disruption. Consequently, integrating ESG considerations into the evaluation of the optimal transition point from open pit to underground operations, may accelerate the transition, and lead to a smaller open pit and the earlier development of an underground mine.

This paper identifies the range of technical, technological, and socio-economic factors that influence the determination of the optimal transition point from open pit to underground mining. Further expanding on conventions through extensive practical experience, case studies and advanced modelling techniques, the authors demonstrate the substantial impact that achieving better ESG outcomes has on this critical juncture.

Authors:

Andrew Hall, CEO, AMC Consultants Pty Ltd
David Lee, Underground Study Lead, AMC Consultants Pty Ltd
Mark Flanagan, Open Put Study Lead, AMC Consultants Pty Ltd
Tim Sharman, Mine Sustainability Lead, AMC Consultants Pty Ltd
Francois Grobler, Principal Mining Consultant, AMC Consultants Pty Ltd

Key Profiles

Andrew Hall
Managing Director

With more than 30 years of practical mining and project management experience, Andrew’s primary expertise covers strategy optimization, feasibility study assessment, technical due diligence, and business improvement in underground and open pit metalliferous mining projects. He has managed numerous feasibility studies and public reports world-wide and performed the role of Qualified/Competent Person for Mineral/Ore Reserves in accordance with the requirements of NI43-101 and JORC. Andrew is an AusIMM representative on the JORC Committee.

PDAC 2025

Wed, 12 Feb 2025 18:18:33 GMT

Published: 09 February 2024

AMC at PDAC 2025

AMC Consultants will be attending and exhibiting at Booth 124 at the PDAC Convention 2025 from Sunday March 2 to Wednesday March 5, 2025, in Toronto, Canada.

The World’s Premier Mineral Exploration & Mining Convention is the leading event for people, companies and organizations connected to mineral exploration.

The annual award winning PDAC Convention in Toronto, Canada brings together up to 30,000 attendees from over 135 countries for its educational programming, networking events, and business opportunities.

Since it began in 1932, the convention has grown in size, stature and influence. Today, it is the event of choice for the world’s mineral industry hosting more than 1,100 exhibitors and 700 presenters.

Meet Our Team

Gene Tucker
Director, Regional Manager - Canada

Gene is a principal open pit mining engineer with 25+ years' experience. He has extensive operational and corporate experience in coal, copper, gold, and molybdenum throughout North and South America and Greenland with mines moving up to 200 Mtpa. Gene has held senior technical and operations positions with multiple companies including Vice President, Technical Services with Conuma Coal Resources, Mine Planning Superintendent for Detour Gold and Taseko’s Gibraltar mines, some of Canada’s largest open pit mines. He was part of the team that brought the Sierra Gorda copper-molybdenum deposit in Chile from PEA to construction and the Mine Manager at KGHM’s Franke Mine through construction into operation. Gene has been responsible for mine planning and operational improvements resulting in significant operating cost reductions at numerous mines. Gene is also proficient with the use of Minesight’s suite of software.

James Kenan
Underground Manager, Principal Mining Engineer

James is a principal underground mining engineer with 20+ years of experience in diamond, gold, copper and nickel mining operations. James’ experience includes stabilizing underground operations, improving annual cost budget accuracy, ore reserve designs, mine design layouts, blasthole drilling, loading and timing layouts, mine services designs, life-of-mine planning, reporting, and identifying risks and opportunities. James is an active user of Deswik, EPS, and Datamine.

Wayne Rogers
Open Pit Manager, Principal Mining Engineer

Wayne Rogers is a principal open pit mining engineer with 20 years of experience in both operations and consulting in iron ore, copper, and gold. Wayne's expertise includes mine design and optimization, strategic & tactical scheduling, drill and blast, technical reviews, and feasibility studies. He has strong site-based experience in mine planning, drill-and-blast optimization, and mine-to-mill process optimization. Wayne is an expert user of Deswik, Minemax, Whittle, Surpac, and MineSched.

Mining4Beer @ PDAC 2025 - an AMC Consultants sponsored event

Welcome to Mining 4 Beer, a non-sanctioned, informal social event for those in the mining industry who want to unwind, connect, and share stories over a drink. No agendas, just good company and a cold one.

Join our team!

Host: Mining4Beer

Date: Sunday March 2, 2025

Time: 5.30 PM - 11.55 PM EST

Where: Scotland Yard Pub, 56 The Esplanade, Toronto, Canada

Mining Indaba 2025

Sun, 12 Jan 2025 07:49:47 GMT

Published: 10 January 2025

INVESTING IN AFRICAN MINING INDABA 2025

AMC Consultants will be attending Investing in African Mining Indaba 2025 in Cape Town, South African between Monday 3 February to Thursday 6 February 2025.

The Investing in African Mining Indaba, established in 1994, has become the leading platform for connecting mining professionals, investors, and industry leaders seeking to unlock Africa’s vast mineral potential. This premier event fosters long-term economic growth and sustainability, offering a space for networking, deal-making, and thought-provoking discussions on critical topics such as technological advancements, sustainable practices, and investment opportunities in African mining projects. Its influence has grown immensely, making it a vital forum for shaping the future of mining across the continent.

Central to the event’s mission is driving sustainable investment into African mining, emphasizing the critical role of local mineral supply chains in fostering economic resilience. These supply chains not only support local self-sufficiency and job creation but also contribute to safe and responsible socio-economic development. Beyond regional impacts, Africa’s resources play an essential role in the global economy, meeting the rising demand for critical minerals that are indispensable for advanced technologies and addressing environmental challenges. Mining Indaba continues to be a key driver in aligning these opportunities with sustainable growth on a global scale.

AMC Team in attendance

Andrew Hall
Managing Director

With over 30 years of practical mining and project management experience. Andrew’s primary expertise covers strategy optimization, feasibility study assessment, technical due diligence, and business improvement in underground and open pit metalliferous mining projects. He has managed numerous feasibility studies and public reports world-wide and performed the role of Qualified/Competent Person for Mineral/Ore Reserves in accordance with the requirements of NI43-101 and JORC. Andrew is an AusIMM representative on the JORC Committee.

Derek du Preez
Director, Executive Lead-Advisory

Derek’s primary expertise is in feasibility studies, technical reviews, business turnaround and transformation, and the management of large complex programs and projects. He is an accomplished underground and open-pit mine operations and mine technical specialist with 30 years of experience in the mining industry spanning the Americas, Australia, and Africa, and has proven success in leading business transformation and innovation programs.

Cape Mining Mixer 2025

Join us!

As a sponsor and host of the Cape Mining Mixer, AMC Consultants is proud to present this yearly exclusive event under the theme "�� ."

The event will unite key players in the mining industry to foster collaboration and innovation.

�� :

-AMC Consultants
-Globe 24-7
-Cape Mining Club
-Schneider Electric
-Henderson Risk Group
-Hogan Lovells

Whether you’re an industry leader, innovator, or future-focused mining professional, this mixer offers the chance to connect, collaborate, and contribute to a stronger, more sustainable future.

We look forward to engaging with thought leaders, professionals, and partners as we work together to build a resilient and prosperous future for the mining sector.

Follow the link below to register your spot!

Let's shape the future of mining together!

Future Minerals Forum 2025

Thu, 09 Jan 2025 17:20:04 GMT

Published: 7 January 2025

FUTURE MINERALS FORUM 2025

AMC Consultants is excited to be exhibiting at the Australian Pavilion Future Minerals Forum 2025 Conference between Tuesday 14 January - Thursday 16 January 2025 at the King Abdulaziz International Conference Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Join Mark Flanagan , Director/Global Study Lead - Open Pit and Roderick Carlson , Geology Manager, at our booth to explore our global expertise and innovative solutions in mining consulting.

The Future Minerals Forum is the world’s premier platform for shaping the future of minerals, bringing together 14,000 participants from 178 countries to drive global collaboration in the minerals sector. Saudi Arabia, emerging as a global investment powerhouse, is strategically focused on industries critical to human progress, with its rich mineral resources playing a key role in this vision.

As part of its Vision 2030, the country is accelerating economic diversification and transformation, fostering growth through strategic investments, large-scale projects, and unparalleled opportunities.

Meet our team

Mark Flanagan

Director / Global Study Lead – Open Pit

Rod Carlson

Geology Manager

AME Roundup 2025

Thu, 09 Jan 2025 10:19:28 GMT

Published: 9 January 2025

AME Roundup 2025

AMC Consultants will be exhibiting at AME Roundup 2025 in Vancouver, Canada one of the world's premier events for the mining industry during Monday 20 to Thursday 23 January, 2025 at Booth 523.

The Roundup Conference will bring together the latest mining innovations, successes, findings and stories to support this year’s theme Exploring for Value.

AME Roundup will bring together participants from around the globe to engage in meaningful dialogue on how the mineral exploration and mining industry is securing our future through:

Supporting a critical minerals industry from discovery to distribution.
Regulatory and Permitting Efficiency
Economic Reconciliation and Indigenous Engagement
Human Capital Development and Workforce Diversity
Technological Innovation and Industry Transformation.

Curling Bonspiel – A Tradition at AME Roundup

As part of our longstanding support for AME Roundup, AMC is once again proud to sponsor the Curling Bonspiel event.

This exciting tradition brings together industry professionals for an evening of curling fun, complete with plenty of sliding and sweeping. It's the perfect opportunity to connect with colleagues and unwind in a relaxed, yet competitive atmosphere.

Location:
Marpole Curling Club
8730 Heather St
Vancouver, BC
V6P 3S8

Be sure to join us for a rousing evening on the ice!

Find out more and book your tickets via the link below.

Don’t miss out on the fun—it's an event you won’t want to miss.

Join us at Cur ling Bonspiel

Wednesday, January 22

4:15pm – 8:00pm

Transportation:
Bus departs from Vancouver Convention Centre East at 3:15 PM.

Please register by Monday, January 13, 2025

There is no cost to register.

12th MINEX Eurasia Conference on Mining and Exploration 2024

Mon, 02 Dec 2024 10:31:36 GMT

Published: 29 November 2024

MINEX EURASIA 2024

AMC Consultants is excited to participate in the 12th Eurasian Conference on Mining and Mineral Exploration, Minex Eurasia 2024 , taking place in London, on Monday, December 2, 2024.

Mark Burnett , Principal Consultant, be in attendance serving as moderator for Session 6: CRIRSCO in Action: Revolutionizing Mining Reporting Standards in Central Asia and beyond .

This year's conference brings a particular regional focus to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Uzbekistan. It will bring together industry experts, senior officials, and companies to explore the latest trends and opportunities in these regions, providing valuable insights for companies to navigate the industry's complexities and identify strategies to mitigate potential risks.

Sessions will include:

The role of CRIRSCO aligned codes and standards in minerals reporting.
Edmund Sides , Deputy Chair, CRIRSCO

Practical application of CRIRSCO codes in Central Asia.
Tracey Laight , Principal Resource Geologist, SLR Consulting

Promotion of the KAZRC Code in the mining industry of Kazakhstan.
Nikolai Yenshin , Representative, PONEN | CRIRSCO

The United Nations Framework Classification for Resources (UNFC)
Eimear Deady , Senior Mineral Resource Geologist, British Geological Survey

Panel Discussion:

Mike Armitage , Mining Industry Consultant
Edmund Sides, Deputy Chair, CRIRSCO
Tracey Laight , Principal Resource Geologist, SLR Consulting
Nikolai Yenshin , Representative, PONEN | CRIRSCO
Eimear Deady , Senior Mineral Resource Geologist, British Geological Survey

Session 6: CRIRSCO in Action: Revolutionising Mining Reporting Standards in Central Asia and beyond

Session agenda:

While the adoption of CRIRSCO standards alone isn't a guarantee of increased foreign investment, it is a significant step towards creating a more attractive investment environment in the mining sector. The session will discuss the practical experiences of Kazakhstan, Mongolia and other Eurasian jurisdictions in their commitment to implement the internationally acceptable reporting standards and developing a broader strategy to improve the investment climate in these countries' mining sectors.

Mark Burnett

Principal Consultant

Resourcing Tomorrow 2024

Mon, 18 Nov 2024 08:28:44 GMT

Published: 08 November 2024

Resourcing tomorrow 2024

AMC Consultants is excited to be exhibiting and participating at Resourcing Tomorrow , Europe's largest and most influential mining event taking place in London from Tuesday, December 3 to Thursday, December 5, 2024.

We invite you to visit us at Booth C01 , where you will be able to talk with our experts Mark Burnett, Principal Geologist, Dominic Claridge, Principal Mining Engineer, and Alan Turner, Principal Mining Engineer.

Resourcing Tomorrow challenges the mining industry to break out of the echo chamber and take bold action in leading the global energy transition.

With a focus on decarbonization, overcoming industry challenges, and forging innovative partnerships with OEMs, energy giants, and governments, the event underscores the dynamic and ever-changing nature of the industry. It’s an opportunity to foster collaboration, drive innovation, and propel growth.

We look forward to engaging with industry leaders alongside 2,000 other participants from more than 100 countries.

Meet our team at Resourcing Tomorrow 2024

Mark Burnett

Principal Geologist

Dominic Claridge

Principal Mining Engineer

Alan Turner

Principal Mining Engineer

International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) 2024

Tue, 22 Oct 2024 05:46:45 GMT

Published: 17 October 2024

International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) 2024

AMC Consultants is excited to be exhibiting and participating at the International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) from Tuesday, October 29 to Thursday, October 31, 2024 in Sydney, Australia.

We invite you to visit us at Booth H05 and attend an industry panel discussion on Value Opportunities in Canada, featuring Andrew Hall, Chief Executive Officer.

IMARC is premier event where the most influential voices in the mining industry converge to share ideas, inspiration, and insights.

As a world-class gathering, IMARC offers nine concurrent conferences that cover the entire mining value chain, featuring over 370 technical talks, panel discussions, and strategic keynote presentations over three dynamic days.

The three-day conference will focus on:

Fast tracking the critical minerals value chain
Operationalising the energy transition through innovation and collaboration
Responsible mining initiatives that contribute to shared prosperity
Leveraging technology and innovation to achieve productivity and operational excellence
Accessing capital for project development, innovation and commercialisation
Speeding up the project lifecycle to develop the mines of the future quicker
Opportunities for global trade and investment.

We look forward to engaging with industry leaders and showcasing our expertise at this significant conference.

AMC at the conference

Session: Canada, A Land of Opportunities for Exploration, Mining and METS Companies

Industry Panel Discussion: Value Chain Opportunities in Canada

Moderator: Cameron Clark, Founder, Mining4Beer

Panelists: Andrew Hall, Chief Executive Officer, AMC Consultants
Iggy Tan , Chairman, Lithium Universe
Piero Amodeo , Canadian Mining Sector Leader, GHD
Farzi Yusufali, Co-Founder, Stratum AI

Date: Wednesday, 30 October 2024

Time: 1.10 PM - 1.30 PM

Venue: MMG Global Opportunities Theatre, Level 3, Room E3.5

Mining4Beer @ IMARC - an AMC Consultants sponsored event

Welcome to Mining 4 Beer , a non-sanctioned, informal social event for those in the mining industry who want to unwind, connect, and share stories over a drink. No agendas, just good company and a cold one.

Join our team!

Host: Mining4Beer

Date: Wednesday, 30 October 2024

Time: 5.30 PM - 10.00 PM

Where: Helm Bar & Bistro , Darling Harbour

Meet our team at IMARC 2024

Andrew Hall

Director / Chief Executive Officer

Mark Flanagan

Director / Global Study Lead – Open Pit

Chris Readon

Principal Mining Engineer

Anthony de Veth

Regional Manager - Eastern Australia

AusIMM Mill Operators Conference 2024

Tue, 15 Oct 2024 04:19:20 GMT

Published: 10 October 2024

AusIMM Mill Operators Conference 2024

AMC Consultants is excited to present at the AusIMM Mill Operators Conference 2024 in Perth, Australia from Sunday, October 20 to Thursday, October 23, 2024.

Join Paul Greenhill, Principal Consultant, as he shares his expertise on Applying Geometallurgical Principles for Metallurgical Sample Selection.

The conference will explore the transformative impact of data science, AI, and machine learning in the minerals processing industry across four main conference themes:

Operating updates and new commissioned plants
Best practice in existing plant operations
Operation and optimisation of key unit operations and
Environment, Social and Governance.

Presentation

Applying Geometallurgical Principles for Metallurgical Sample Selection

Abstract

Metallurgical sampling and the results of metallurgical test work form the quantitative basis for prediction of the processing behaviour of ore. These predictions are critical inputs for the design and capital and operating cost estimates for the ore processing plant, the economic evaluation of the project and the final investment decision.

Ore characteristics such as hardness, competency, mineral content, grain size and texture, control ore behaviour in a mineral processing circuit. Therefore, the principles for selection of metallurgical samples should be strongly guided by orebody geology. Furthermore, only a tiny fraction of the orebody will be tested before it is mined, so metallurgical test work is always data-poor. In contrast, the geological sample database is likely to consist of tens or hundreds of thousands of records.

A key principle of geometallurgy is to use the geological sample database to gain leverage from relatively few high-cost metallurgical tests. Applying geometallurgical principles to design of metallurgical sampling programmes aligns sparse test work data to abundant geological data and ensures that the data is suitable for the application of data science methods to derive robust predictions of ore processing behaviour.

The selection of composite, variability, and blended samples with respect to purpose, representativity, and predictive modelling is discussed. Application of machine learning to metallurgical sample selection using multivariate data is demonstrated using case studies. The vexed question of ‘how many samples do we need?’ is addressed and a data-driven solution is proposed.

Session: Session 7 | GeoMetallurgy
Presenter: Dr Paul Greenhill

Authors: Ian Lipton, Principal Geometallurgist, Dr Paul Greenhill, Principal Consultant, and Luis Torres, Senior Data Scientist

Date: Thursday, October 22, 2024

Time: 2:05 PM - 2:20 PM

Venue: Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre

Meet our presenter

Dr Paul Greenhill

Principal Consultant

Gold24 International Symposium 2024

Mon, 07 Oct 2024 13:16:53 GMT

Published: 2 October 2024

AIG Gold24 International Symposium 2024

AMC Consultants is excited to present at the GOLD24 International Symposium hosted by the Australian Institute of Geoscientists (AIG), from Wednesday, October 22, to Saturday, October 24, 2024, in Perth, Australia.

Rod Carlson, Geology Manager will deliver a presentation titled 'Gosowong Re-born – Discovery and Geology of the Shallut Deposit, Halmahera, Indonesia' at The University Club of Western Australia.

The GOLD24 symposium, including short courses and field trips, is designed for geology students and graduates with an interest in gold exploration, mining, and research.

This conference is also ideal for:

• Company Directors

• Senior Managers

• Government

• Academia

• Exploration Geologists

• Mine Geologists

Abstract

Gosowong re-born - Discovery and geology of the Shallut deposit, Halmahera, Indonesia

Authors: Roderick Carlson (AMC Consultants), Daud Silitonga, Sejati Awang Wibowo, Reza Ardiansyah (PT Nusa Halmahera Minerals).

The Shallut (a.k.a Salut) deposit within the Gosowong epithermal field contains Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resources of 2.7 Mt @ 11.7 g/t Au for 1 Moz Au. Discovery of this classic low to intermediate sulphidation quartz vein-hosted gold deposit adjacent to the Toguraci deposit in Gosowong is testament to corporate belief, the right address, and classic epithermal system architecture.

Gosowong gold mine on the island of Halmahera in North Maluku Province, Indonesia (Figure 1) was first discovered by geologists from Newcrest Mining Limited (Newcrest) in 1994 (in a Joint Venture with PT Aneka Tambang), a Contract of Work was granted in 1997, and first gold doré poured in July 1999. It has produced over 6.7 Moz Au up to 2022 averaging 290 koz Au per year (S&P Global, 2024).

The Gosowong discovery and geology have been described by many authors including Carlile et al, (1998), Olberg et al. (1999), Richards and Priyono (2004), Gemmell (2007), Corbett (2012), Fitzpatrick et al. (2015), Clark and Gemmell (2018) and Saputro et al. (2023b).

The original Gosowong vein found via mapping and stream float (Carlile, 1998) started a long history of discovery and expansion commonly with limited Ore Reserve mine life. The discovery of the Shallut Vein continues the story on from Gosowong, Kencana and Toguraci where drilling was used to test and expand initial low-grade intercepts resulting in the discovery of high-grade gold-silver epithermal veins.

Meet our presenter

Rod Carlson

Geology Manager

Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve (MRMR) Conference 2024

Thu, 03 Oct 2024 12:37:47 GMT

Published: 30 September 2024

Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve (MRMR) Conference 2024

AMC Consultants is excited to attend and present at the Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve (MRMR) Conference from Wednesday, October 16 to Saturday, October 18, 2024 in Vancouver, Canada.

Join Paul Salmenmaki and Brian Hall, Principal Mining Engineers, Mark Burnett, Principal Geologist, Nicholas Szebor, Regional Manager - UK, and Justin Glanvill, Principal Geologist, as they share their expertise at this year’s conference.

This year's event, promoted by the CIM and CRIRSCO, will bring focus to:

transformative techniques for the quantification and management of risk,
keynote speeches, presentations, and panel discussions,
fostering integration and showcasing innovative approaches and technologies,
empowering transparency and shape the future of MRMR mineral estimation.

across five thematic sessions:

Resource Estimation
Mine Planning and Supporting Resources
Mineral Processing and Geometallurgy
Environmental and Social
Regulations and Finance

Presentations

Reasonable Prospects for Eventual Economic Extraction for Underground Mineral Resource Estimation

Abstract

Determining if underground (UG) mineralization has reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction (RPEEE) is a multi-discipline process. It involves an evaluation of the deposit’s geology, geotechnical conditions, mining methods selection, metallurgical characteristics, marketing, economics, and cut-off estimate.

Session: Resource Estimation
Presenter: Paul Salmenmaki, Principal Mining Engineer

Authors: James Keenan, Underground Manager/Principal Mining Engineer and Paul Salmenmaki, Principal Mining Engineer

Date: Thursday, October 17, 2024

Time: 8.50 AM - 9.10 AM

Venue: Regency Ballroom

The Use and Abuse of Cut-offs and Resource Categories for Mine Planning

Abstract

Resource models provided to mine planners often have features that produce unintended effects in the mine planning and Reserves estimation processes, making them unfit for these purposes.

Session: Mine Planning and Supporting Resources

Presenter: Brian Hall, Principal Mining Engineer

Date: Friday, October 18, 2024
Time: 10:15 AM - 10.35 AM

Venue: Regency Ballroom

Minerals Reporting for Critical Minerals – the need for separate reporting systems for government and industry

Abstract

The increased concerns from policy makers in the EU, UK and elsewhere over the supply of raw materials to support key industries, particularly in the context of the energy transition, has led to the identification of official lists of critical raw materials (CRMs).

Session: Regulations and Finance
Presenter: Edmund Sides, Chairperson, PERC

Authors: Edmund Sides, Chairperson, PERC, Mark Burnett, Principal Geologist, Alastair Moyes, Consultants and David Dingemans, PERC

Date: Friday, October 18, 2024

Time: 2.10 PM - 2.25 PM

Venue: Regency Ballroom

Does reporting using a CRIRSCO compliant code reduce project risk?

Abstract

It is widely acknowledged that exploration and mining endeavours are associated with a high degree of risk, however they can also provide opportunities for significant financial benefits.

Session: Regulations and Finance
Presenter: Mark Burnett, Principal Geologist

Authors: Mark Burnett, Principal Geologist and Edmund Sides, Director and Principal Consultant, Orebody Risks Limited

Date: Friday, October 18, 2024

Time: 2.40 PM - 2.55 PM

Venue: Regency Ballroom

Short Course

Cut-off Grades and Mine Strategy Optimization

Facilitator: Brian Hall, Principal Mining Engineer

Date: Saturday, October 19, 2024

Time: 12:30 PM - 4:30 PM
Venue: Hyatt Regency Hotel

Many technical planning staff and executive decision makers in the mining industry do not realize how critical the selection of cut-off grades is to their company’s success. The goals implicit in the cut-off derivation are the de facto company’s goals, regardless of what the chairman or president might tell the shareholders! Yet commonly used cut-offs derived by break-even calculations are virtually guaranteed to not maximize, for example, profits or net cash flow measures.

This “executive summary” course is designed to remove the mystique surrounding cut-off grades. It initially describes increasingly complex cut-off models that progressively account for costs and prices (break-even cut-offs stop here!), the grade distribution of the resource, and the capacities and capabilities of the mining equipment and treatment plants. It then demonstrates how the optimum cut-off policy and all other key value-driving decisions should together be based on the results of a comprehensive evaluation focused on delivering the company’s and other stakeholders’ goals. Counter-intuitive to many is the common discovery that optimum cut-offs are often unaffected by cost and price assumptions or changes and may vary over time and from place to place within the deposit. Cut-offs are an output from the planning process, not a predetermined input into it.

Short Course Objectives:

Mining Engineers, Geologists, Processing Engineers

Meet our presenters

Brian Hall

Principal Mining Engineer

Paul Salmenmaki

Principal Mining Engineer

Mark Burnett

Principal Geologist

Thank you for letting us know you are unable to attend AMC@40

Wed, 25 Sep 2024 02:21:55 GMT

Thank you for letting us know you can't attend AMC@40

We're sorry you can't join us for our 40 year Anniversary celebrations. We look forward to catching up with you soon!

Curious to find out more about AMC?

AMC@40: Celebrating Four Decades of Mining Smarter - London

Tue, 10 Sep 2024 03:19:32 GMT

AMC@40: Celebrating Four Decades of Mining Smarter - London

Join us at the Old Bank of England for an evening of celebration of AMC's 40-year Anniversary with drinks and nibbles!

Curious to find out more about AMC?

Australia Geology Symposium 2024

Thu, 05 Sep 2024 12:21:23 GMT

Published: 4 September 2024

Australia Geology Symposium 2024

AMC Consultants is delighted to participate in the upcoming Datamine Australia Geology Symposium, set to take place in Perth, Australia from Tuesday, September 17th to Wednesday, September 18th, 2024.

We are particularly excited to announce Ingvar Kirchner, Geology Manager and Principal Geologist, will be delivering a presentation titled “Why MIK/LMIK (and a Bit of How)".

This presentation explores the rationale of MIK (Multiple Indicator Kriging) and LMIK (Localized Multiple Indicator Kriging) as a non-linear estimation method, especially for complex mineralization models. These methods are valuable in scenarios where understanding mining selectivity and behaviour across a range of cut-off grades is essential.

The MIK/LMIK approach is particularly suited to mineralization types such as stockwork, sheeted vein, and disseminated styles, where statistical stationarity within domains may be compromised. While MIK/LMIK is one of several estimation methods available, its significance lies in its ability to integrate key geological, geostatistical, and mining concepts. It is versatile, making it a strong choice for early-stage mining studies. The approach also incorporates complementary estimation processes, which allow for robust validation and fine-tuning of variance adjustment factors. This leads to potentially more accurate estimates and a more refined approach to mineralization modelling compared to traditional methods.

About the Symposium

This in-person event is focused on improving outcomes in Mine and Resource Geology will offer valuable insights into common industry challenges and the solutions employed by experts. Attendees will have the opportunity to engage, network, and share experiences with fellow geologists.

Meet our Speaker

Ingvar Kirchner

Geology Manager / Principal Geologist

AMC@40: Celebrating Four Decades of Mining Smarter - Melbourne

Tue, 03 Sep 2024 05:47:28 GMT

AMC@40: Celebrating Four Decades of Mining Smarter - Johannesburg

Join us at the Valhalla Bar located in the same building as our office in Melbourne for an evening of celebration of AMC's 40-year Anniversary with drinks and nibbles!

Curious to find out more about AMC?

AMC@40: Celebrating Four Decades of Mining Smarter - Perth

Mon, 02 Sep 2024 01:34:59 GMT

AMC@40: Celebrating Four Decades of Mining Smarter - Johannesburg

Join us at the AMC Perth office for an evening of celebration of AMC's 40-year Anniversary with drinks and nibbles!

Curious to find out more about AMC?

The Joburg Indaba 2024

Wed, 28 Aug 2024 04:47:24 GMT

Published: 27 August 2024

MEET AMC AT The Joburg indaba 2024

AMC Consultants is proud to support and participate as a Networking Sponsor at The Joburg Indaba, taking place from Wednesday, October 2nd to Thursday, October 3rd, 2024, in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Join AMC Consultants’ leadership team, including Derek Du Preez, Director/Executive Lead; Corné Yzelle, Advisory Lead - Business Transformation/Operational Excellence; and Johann van Wijk, Lead - Corporate Consultancy.

The Joburg Indaba will explore the implications of South Africa’s newly formed Government of National Unity for both the nation and its mining sector. Attendees will gain valuable insights from influential CEOs, investors, and government representatives on the challenges and opportunities ahead.

AMC Consultants eagerly anticipates engaging with key stakeholders, exchanging ideas, and exploring potential collaborations that will contribute to the future of mining.

Key discussions at the event will address economic recovery strategies, infrastructure protection, energy security, and the promotion of clean energy. There will also be a strong focus on enhancing foreign direct investment and advancing socio-economic development.

The Joburg Indaba will be accessible both in person and online, with recordings available for those unable to attend live.

Meet our team at The Joburg Indaba 2024

Derek Du Preez

Director / Executive Lead

Corné Yzelle

Advisory Lead - Business Transformation / Operational Excellence

Johann van Wijk

Lead - Corporate Consultancy

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SAIMM Mine Planning and Design Colloquium 2024

Mon, 26 Aug 2024 05:38:17 GMT

Published: 27 August 2024

SAIMM Mine Planning and Design Colloquium 2024

AMC Consultants is pleased to present and chair at the upcoming The Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM) Mine Planning and Design Colloquium in Johannesburg, South Africa scheduled between Thursday, 5 September to Friday 6 September 2024.

Jonathan Chiappero, Senior Mining Consultant - Strategy Optimization, will present on AMC Consultants' approach to strategy optimization. This presentation will explore AMC Consultants' approach to strategy optimization, focusing on how we help clients identify critical decisions and assess risks that impact long-term asset value. Specific outcomes from case studies will be provided, demonstrating the tangible benefits of our methodology in real-world scenarios.

Jonathan will chair session 3 on Colloquium Day 1, where he will facilitate discussions on key topics related to mine planning and design, mine performance optimization and tailings.

The SAIMM Mine Planning colloquiums have consistently highlighted deficiencies in mine planning skills over the years. The colloquiums held in 2012, 2014, 2017, and 2019 all emphasized the need for developing skill sets with various mine planning tools within the context of multiple mining methods. By addressing these deficiencies and adapting to newer tools and skills, the mining industry can better meet the challenges and opportunities presented by evolving technologies and changing market demands.

Topics across the colloquium will consist of:

Impact of strategic plans on tactical and operational planning.
Importance of mineral resource estimation in mine planning and design.
Minerals processing considerations.
Design criteria for planning processes as the foundation of good mine planning.
Optimizing the mine plan.
Equipment selection.
Mine access, including haul roads and declines, often neglected in mining.
Financial technical evaluations and their importance for mine planners.
Appropriateness of new technologies in mine planning.

Delegates attending the colloquium will have complimentary access to the Electra Mining Expo Centre on the colloquium days.

AMC Consultants' approach to strategy optimization - Colloquium Day 2, Session 4

Presenter:

Jonathan Chiappero
Senior Mining Consultant - Strategy Optimization

Date: Thursday, 5 September 2024
Time: 9.50am-10.15am

Venue: Johannesburg Expo Centre

AMC's Speaker at Mine Planning and Design Colloquium 2024

Jonathan Chiappero

Senior Mining Consultant - Strategy Optimization

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XXXI IMPC 2024 - International Mineral Processing Congress

Thu, 22 Aug 2024 06:28:57 GMT

Published: 20 August 2024

XXXI IMPC-International mineral processing congress 2024

AMC Consultants is excited to present at the upcoming International Mineral Processing Congress (IMPC) Congress 2024 , taking place in Washington, DC, United States from Sunday, September 29 to Thursday, October 3, 2024.

Dr Paul Greenhill , Principal Consultant, will present on Applying Geometallurgical Principles for Metallurgical Sample Selection during the Geometallurgy and Process Mineralogy I – Using Geological Data to Inform Metallurgical Processes session.

IMPC 2024 will focus on "Mineral Processing for the Energy Transition" and will bring together global industry experts to explore key research and advances in science and technology. This congress is dedicated to the critical role that mineral processing plays in securing a sustainable and cost-effective supply of a wide range of minerals for the future.

Applying Geometallurgical Principles for Metallurgical Sample Selection

Abstract

Metallurgical sampling and the results of metallurgical testwork form the quantitative basis for prediction of the processing behaviour of ore. These predictions are critical inputs for the design and capital and operating cost estimates for the ore processing plant, the economic evaluation of the project and the final investment decision.

Ore characteristics such as hardness, competency, mineral content, grain size and texture, control ore behaviour in a mineral processing circuit. Therefore, the principles for selection of metallurgical samples should be strongly guided by orebody geology. Furthermore, only a tiny fraction of the orebody will be tested before it is mined, so metallurgical testwork is always data-poor. In contrast, the geological sample database is likely to consist of tens or hundreds of thousands of records.

A key principle of geometallurgy is to use the geological sample database to gain leverage from relatively few high-cost metallurgical tests. Applying geometallurgical principles to design of metallurgical sampling programmes aligns sparse testwork data to abundant geological data and ensures that the data is suitable for the application of data science methods to derive robust predictions of ore processing behaviour.

The selection of composite, variability, and blended samples with respect to purpose, representativity, and predictive modelling is discussed. Application of machine learning to metallurgical sample selection using multivariate data is demonstrated using case studies. The vexed question of “how many samples do we need?” is addressed and a data-driven solution is proposed.

Authors:

Paul Greenhill , Principal Consultant
Ian Lipton , Principal Geologist
Luis Torres , Senior Data Scientist
Matthew Nimmo , Principal Geoscience and Data Scientist

Date: Thursday, October 3, 2024
Time: 2.30pm

Venue: 12999 E. Adam Aircraft Cir. Englewood

AMC's Speaker at IMPC Congress 2024

Dr Paul Greenhill

Principal Consultant

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AMC@40: Celebrating Four Decades of Mining Smarter - Vancouver

Thu, 15 Aug 2024 10:28:22 GMT

AMC@40: Celebrating Four Decades of Mining Smarter - Johannesburg

Join us at the AMC Vancouver office for an evening of celebration of AMC's 40-year Anniversary with drinks and nibbles!

Curious to find out more about AMC?

AMC@40: Celebrating Four Decades of Mining Smarter - Brisbane

Thu, 15 Aug 2024 10:22:57 GMT

AMC@40: Celebrating Four Decades of Mining Smarter - Brisbane

Join us at the historic Transcontinental Hotel for an evening of celebration of AMC's 40-year Anniversary with drinks and canapés!

Curious to find out more about AMC?

AMC@40: Celebrating Four Decades of Mining Smarter - Adelaide

Tue, 06 Aug 2024 08:31:17 GMT

AMC@40: Celebrating Four Decades of Mining Smarter - Johannesburg

Join us at the lively The Gallery for an evening of celebration of AMC's 40-year Anniversary with drinks and nibbles!

Curious to find out more about AMC?

AusIMM Critical Minerals Conference 2024

Mon, 22 Jul 2024 07:55:22 GMT

Published: July 22, 2024

AusIMM Critical Minerals Conference 2024

AMC Consultants is excited to attend and present at the upcoming AusIMM Critical Minerals Conference 2024 , taking place at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre from Monday, August 26 to Wednesday, August 28, 2024.

Rod Carlson , Geology Manager, will be presenting during the Government and Economic Development Session on Tuesday, August 27. His presentation titled Critical Minerals – Economic complexity and Australia’s downfall will delve into key topics such as economic complexity, critical minerals and government infrastructure.

#CriticalMinerals2024

The Critical Minerals Conference will feature a total of 52 live presentations from across the globe, including 6 keynote speakers and 3 panel discussions bring a focus to pushing the conversation forward on mining and the critical minerals supply chain, presenting urgent challenges and opportunities that currently exist in the industry.

Attendees of the Critical Minerals Conference 2024 will gain exclusive access to a variety of sessions, including:

Critical Minerals – Economic complexity and Australia’s downfall

Abstract

Australia is the lucky country but as a country we have built a reliance on selling raw products that makes us poor. In 2021, Australia is ranked the lowest in economic complexity indicators (ECI) in trade value compared to countries of a similar GDP ( https://oec.world/en/profile/country/aus ) according to Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC). In the last 20 years Australia has gone from 33rd to 82nd position in the ECI ranking.

Australia is extracting its natural resources to feed other countries the materials required for intermediate and end products that we then buy back at a large imbalance to the balance of trade. All the most significant export trade products are unprocessed raw goods. Closures of smelters and refineries in Australia due to aging infrastructure or operating costs are exacerbating the issue. Government support for developing downstream processing options and products are minimal.

Indonesia caused an international uproar by banning sales of raw mineral products in 2014 with the aim to increase the value of minerals for export and preserve the country’s resource supplies (USAID, 2013). Indonesia now has a stranglehold on nickel metal supply. Oman despite having few metal mines of its own set up special economic zones. The Sohar Free Trade Zone has attracted 14 foreign companies, which have invested in metals, minerals and logistics including Sohar Aluminum’s smelter with downstream aluminum rolling plants, and an antimony and gold roasting plant. Large gypsum and limestone resources and deep-water ports with cheap power from oil and gas allowed construction of large gypsum dry wall product plants and limestone clinker plants.

This presentation aims to examines the role of governments in developing downstream mineral processing facilities for critical minerals and the lessons Australia could learn from growing economies around the world. Can Australia afford not to secure our children’s future through enhanced economic complexity.

Session 6a | Government and Economic Development

Stream A

Critical Minerals – Economic complexity and Australia’s downfall

Tuesday August 27 - 11:35 AM - 11:55 AM

Government and Economic Development | Stream A

Venue: Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre

AMC's Speaker at Critical Minerals Conference 2024

Roderick Carlson

Geology Manager

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Celebrating AMC Consultants' Contributions to the AusIMM Study Processes Handbook

Fri, 05 Jul 2024 03:45:47 GMT

Published: July 5, 2024

Celebrating AMC Consultants' Contributions to the AusIMM Study Processes Handbook

We are delighted to congratulate our esteemed colleagues at AMC Consultants for their significant contributions to the AusIMM Study Processes Handbook, First Edition, Monograph 35 , recently published by The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) .

This essential publication is designed for practitioners managing project studies in the minerals industry and for decision-makers and leadership teams across the mining sector who approve these studies.

Our Contributors

Karl van Olden FAusIMM, Executive Lead – Operations
Matthew Nimmo, Principal Geoscience and Data Scientist
Glen Williamson FAusIMM(CP), Operations Consulting Manager Perth
Damian Peachey, Principal Consultant

Our team contributed to three critical chapters in the handbook: Geology and Resources, Mining and Reserves, and Cost Estimation.

About the Handbook

The AusIMM Study Processes Handbook has been meticulously prepared to enhance the consistency, quality, and content of studies for resource projects. By providing a recommended framework, it aims to increase transparency in the status of studies, thereby improving the reputation of the resources industry and fostering stronger relationships with the community, stakeholders, and investors.

Additionally, the handbook aims to:

Provide frameworks and details from experienced industry practitioners for study managers and teams to manage resource project advancement through the study phases.
Address the lack of prescribed definitions in study contents, which has led to varied interpretations of technical study assessments.
Support continuous risk management from the Scoping Study phase to the Feasibility Study phase, ensuring the study’s purpose is clearly defined and addressed.

Central to the handbook is a structured framework that facilitates ongoing risk management from the Scoping Study phase through to the completion of the Feasibility Study phase. Emphasis is placed on defining the study's purpose early on, which includes identifying project value for funding, assessing project risks, understanding environmental and regulatory impacts, exploring new technologies, expanding existing projects, and supporting strategic initiatives like mergers or acquisitions.

This high-level framework for study processes ensures a consistent approach aligned with ethical standards and accountability through a set of guidelines for stakeholders. These guidelines are intended to enhance the deliverable outcomes of capital projects, improving industry performance and boosting investor and community confidence.

Primarily targeting internal company needs, the handbook aims to clarify minimum technical requirements from perspectives spanning internal stakeholders, investors, financiers, and regulators. Notably, it does not prescribe technical methodologies or reporting structures but complements existing industry standards such as the JORC Code and VALMIN Code, along with various stock exchange disclosure requirements.

AMC Consultants’ subject matter experts have contributed to each chapter, with the framework supporting other Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) and industry publications. Additionally, the handbook serves as a supporting document for the Study Processes for Resource Projects offered by the AusIMM.

We extend our congratulations to Karl, Matthew, Glen, Damian, and all contributors for their exemplary contributions and dedication to advancing industry knowledge and best practices.

Hard copies are available as print-on-demand products from your preferred online distributor, for example Booktopia, Amazon, and others.

Meet our contributors

IOM3 - Future Challenges for Mining Seminar

Wed, 03 Jul 2024 10:52:02 GMT

Published: July 3, 2024

IOM3 - Future challenges for Mining seminar

AMC Consultants is delighted to sponsor and attend the Future Challenges for Mining seminar in London taking place at 5pm to 8pm on Wednesday 10 July 2024.

Nicholas Szebor , Regional Manager, and Mark Burnett , Principal Geologist, from AMC's office in Maidenhead, will represent AMC Consultants at the upcoming event. Drawing on their geology expertise, they are enthusiastic about engaging with fellow industry leaders in advancing industry best practice.

This Future Challenges for Mining seminar will bring together industry experts to discuss key issues for the next decade. The event features leaders from industry, including, Duncan Wanblad of Anglo American, Barbara Dischinger of International Women in Mining, Rohitesh Dhawan of ICMM, and Tanya Chikanza of RSSB. Attendees will gain insights into mining challenges, sustainability, diversity, and investment, followed by a Q&A session and networking opportunities.

The Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining (IOM3) supports professionals in materials, minerals, and mining fields, promoting a transition to a low-carbon, resilient, and resource-efficient society.

Attending this event will benefit participants by providing them with insights into industry trends and challenges and offering opportunities to network with key stakeholders. This aligns with IOM3's mission to promote sustainable practices throughout the materials cycle, enhancing strategic approaches and solutions.

AMC Team in attendance at IOM3

Nicholas Szebor

Regional Manager - UK

Mark Burnett

Principal Geologist

QA/QC for Exploration and Mining Seminar - June 2024

Mon, 24 Jun 2024 09:30:30 GMT

Published: June 24, 2024

QA/QC for Exploration and Mining 2024

AMC Consultants is excited to present at the Australian Institute of Geoscientists' (Qld Branch) seminar session on QA/QC for Exploration and Mining on Friday, June 28, 2024, at the University of Queensland Business School.

Rod Carlson , Geology Manager, will present on the Common QA/QC issues associated with Mineral Resource estimates.

Rod will explore the effectiveness of various strategies in sampling, density, grade, and CRM, providing numerous examples to stimulate critical thinking. He will also address common QA/QC issues associated with Mineral Resource estimates, describing the types of QA/QC issues present and examining case examples and other topical issues.

The seminar will feature a series of talks on quality assurance and quality control procedures, systems, and best practices, as well as case studies from the exploration and mining sectors.

Topics covered will include:

Why QA/QC is not just about sampling and analysis
For different geoscientific data sets – what are the QA/QC issues to consider
Sampling and analytical QA/QC systems, including a commercial laboratory perspective
Geological database QC systems and integrity
QA/QC issues to consider when estimating Mineral Resources
Case studies from exploration and mine operations

Friday Seminar: QA/QC for Exploration and Mining

Face-to-Face, Live Streamed, and Post-Seminar On Demand

6-hour CPD session.

Date:

Friday 28 June, 2024

Time

Registration – 8:30am
Seminar – 9:00am to 5:00pm
Complimentary drinks/nibbles - after 5:00pm

Venue:

UQ Business School – Room 227
Level 2, 308 Queen St Brisbane, 4000

Rod Carlson

Geology Manager

UK Mining Conference in Cornwall 2024

Wed, 05 Jun 2024 14:25:47 GMT

Published: June 5, 2024

UK Mining Conference in Cornwall 2024

AMC Consultants is delighted to attend and proud to be one of the sponsors of the UK Mining Conference in Cornwall, taking place from Wednesday June 12 to Thursday 13 2024 in Cornwall, United Kingdom.

Nicholas Szebor , Regional Manager, and Alan Turner , Principal Mining Engineer, from AMC's office in Maidenhead, will represent the company at the conference. They are eager to engage with industry professionals and share insights on how AMC Consultants is leading the way in sustainable mining practices.

The conference will host high-profile delegates, including investors, brokers, operators, and key players in the mining supply chain. This event is an excellent opportunity to network and present to an influential audience, fostering connections that drive the industry forward.

The global demand for technology metals such as lithium, copper, tin, tungsten, and cobalt is on the rise. Additionally, minerals critical for food production and the development of housing and infrastructure to support a growing population are in high demand, fuelling significant growth in the mining industry.

This conference will showcase opportunities for responsibly extracting the UK's rich deposits of metals and minerals. Attendees will have the chance to review the progress made so far and explore potential future investment opportunities. Presenters will emphasize the importance of the mining industry's growth and resurgence for the UK’s economy.

AMC Sponsored event

Tuesday’s Welcome Supper

Tuesday 11 June 2024 - 6.00pm – 9.30pm - £65

Cornish buffet supper & drinks with Bryher’s Boys Sea Shanty band

Venue: Chain Locker , Quay Street, Falmouth, TR11 3HH

Nicholas Szebor

Regional Manager - UK

Alan Turner

Principal Mining Engineer

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AMC at Austmine Copper to the World Conference 2024

Mon, 03 Jun 2024 16:19:00 GMT

Published: June 3, 2024

AUstmine Copper to the world 2024 Conference and Exhibition

AMC Consultants is pleased to return to the Copper to the World 2024 Conference and Exhibition . Organized by the South Australian Government in partnership with Austmine , the conference will be held on Tuesday 18 - Wednesday 19 June 2024, in Adelaide. Gathering more than 500 attendees, 65+ speakers, and 20+ exhibitors, this will be Australia's largest copper conference.

We invite delegates to visit us at Booth #6 to meet our team consisting of Andrew Proudman, Principal Consultant - Advisory, and Michael Wood, Principal Mining Consultant - Open Pit, both from AMC's office in Adelaide.

Under the the key theme of Innovating for a Sustainable Future , delegates will have an opportunity to learn from industry leaders, strategic thinkers, and technology experts from around the globe, coming together to discuss how the industry can meet future copper demand.

About the conference

Join us for a dynamic two-day event, offering a rare opportunity to connect with industry frontrunners, delve into cutting-edge advancements in copper mining, and envision the promising horizon of sustainable copper production.

Whether you're a seasoned mining professional, an innovative mind, an investor, or simply enthusiastic about fostering the industry's eco-conscious evolution, this conference serves as your platform for networking, knowledge enrichment, and shaping the trajectory of copper mining.

Meet our team at Copper to the World 2024

AusIMM Professional Certificate in JORC Code Reporting

Mon, 03 Jun 2024 14:30:39 GMT

Published: 3 July 2024

AusIMM’s Professional Certificate in JORC Code Reporting

* PD hours recognized by AusIMM & Australian Institute of Geoscientists.

AMC Consultants is pleased to team up with the AusIMM to offer the next round of the Professional Certificate in JORC Code Reporting . The AusIMM, the peak industry body for people working in the resources sector, developed the course in consultation with leading organisations in the mining industry, subject matter experts, and community leaders. Three of AMC's world leading experts on the subject, Andrew Hall, Roderick Carlson, and Glen Williamson, will join the team of six course facilitators.

Up to 40 PD Hours

Why attend

Designed for Competent Persons, aspiring Competent Persons, or Mining companies listed or looking to list on the Stock Exchange, the course aims to help participants:

Evaluate the responsibilities and duties of the Competent Person as outlined in the JORC Code.
Illustrate a comprehensive understanding of the Code and its significance within the minerals sector.
Examine the application of the JORC Code within participants' professional sphere.
Implement the JORC Code effectively in reporting practices.
Address and refute prevalent misunderstandings surrounding the JORC Code.
Distinguish between exemplary and substandard technical reporting.
Exhibit proficiency in adhering to the guidelines set forth in the JORC Code.

Note: This course does not enable a practitioner to qualify as a Competent Person. All the criteria as specified in the JORC Code must still be met.

Course facilitators from AMC

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Minefill 2024; 14th International Symposium on Mining with Backfill

Wed, 08 May 2024 08:26:20 GMT

Published: 8 May, 2024

Minefill 2024; 14th International Symposium on Mining with Backfill

AMC Consultants is delighted to announce its participation and contribution to Minefill 2024, the 14th International Symposium on Mining with Backfill, taking place from May 12th to 15th, 2024, in Vancouver, under the theme of "Full Circle: Supporting a holistic mining cycle." The conference will coincide with CIM Connect 2024.

Jordan Yamine, an esteemed backfill expert from AMC's Vancouver office, will co-chair technical two sessions during the event.

About Minefill 2024

Minefill plays a crucial role in a majority of underground mining endeavors. Its impact on the stability and safety of underground mines cannot be overstated. Through meticulous design, operation, and control, minefill systems bolster the integrity of underground operations.

The conference will underscore the significance of backfill technologies in the mining process and focus on stress management, resource optimization, and waste stream management.

Technical Session

Backfill in the Mine Waste Cycle

Time: 10:20 AM - 12:00 PM

Date: Monday 13 May, 2024

Room: 202

Session Chairs: Betty Yi-Shing Lin, Hatch (Chair) and Jordan Yamine, AMC Consultants (Co-Chair)

Full session details: Click here

Technical Session

Backfill Properties

Time: 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM

Date: Monday 13 May, 2024

Room: 202

Session Chairs: Ryan Veenstra, Newmont (Chair) and Jordan Yamine, AMC Consultants (Co-Chair)

Full session details: Click here

Jordan Yamine

Senior Mining Engineer / Backfill Specialist

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CIM Connect 2024

Fri, 03 May 2024 00:58:41 GMT

Published: May 3, 2024

AMC at CIM Connect 2024

AMC Consultants (AMC) is pleased to participate in the CIM Connect Convention and Expo 2024 taking place in Vancouver between 12-15 May, 2024. The conference will focus on the theme of “Brand Canada: Our Critical Advantage,” which will shine a spotlight on Canada’s unique role in the minerals, metals, and energy landscape globally.

As a worldwide consultancy, AMC is deeply dedicated to contributing to Canada's role in the global minerals industry. With two offices in Canada, we're firmly invested in its development. Meet our team at booth #704 where Eric Frazier, Principal Mining Consultant at AMC, will present on the " Five key levers to improve margins and beat the cost-price squeeze. "

About CIM Connect 2024

With a strong emphasis on learning, knowledge sharing and professional development, the CIM Connect Conference aims to showcase the most innovative mining technology and services through this year's top-level panels and immersive experiences, including:

The diverse focus on the examination of Canadian advantage in the minerals industry.
The exploration of the synergy between industry, government, and communities.
The implications of future strategies and their relationship with mining technology, industry trends, and human resources.
Teck Resources Limited's enterprise-wide innovation and technology transformation.
The challenges in securing investment in mining and metals, from the various perspectives of private equity, and banking/capital markets.

Presentation at CIM 2024

Five key levers to improve margins and beat the cost-price squeeze

Session: Estimation Techniques & Controls

Time: 2:00PM

Date: Monday May 13, 2024

Presenter: Eric Frazier

Abstract: The high metal prices that have prevailed for most of the last decade have triggered a chase for production. This has compounded the fundamental scarcity in some key inputs, such as experienced and skilled labour, and has been pushing costs up over time. But recently, this has been accelerating, due, in part, to supply chain issues stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic; geopolitical factors, such as war; and, most recently, sky-high inflation. We are now seeing the prices for many minerals, while still relatively high, come off their recent peaks. The combined effect of increased costs and lower prices is squeezing margins.

Eric Frazier

Principal Mining Consultant

Five key levers

This certainly isn’t the first time the mining industry has faced similar challenges. What is evident time and again is that the use of blunt instruments, such as cost-cutting and intensive productivity improvement programs, barely scratch the surface. They may deliver some short-term gains, but these are rarely sustained. The big opportunities are typically found by digging a little bit deeper into the key levers of performance to uncover the hidden value by mining smarter.

These opportunities typically don’t require big investment but do require a more sophisticated approach. Five key levers that can drive sustainable performance improvement address both sides of the cash flow equation—that is, costs and revenues. Miners can improve cash margins and reduce business risk by:

Employing good cost management and control, rather than cost cutting. This will typically result in significant savings that can be sustained. The difference being that a deeper understanding of cost drivers can quickly identify and eliminate wastage and inefficiency without compromising quality or sustainability.
Getting the most out of the available data. This provides a substantial opportunity to improve productivity and performance. But to do this, it’s essential to set the right KPIs to get data working for you.
Developing a robust geometallurgical model. This results in more predictable ore and enables higher metallurgical recoveries and reduced cost.
Reviewing the cut-off grade policy and moving away from break-even grades typically delivers higher cash margins in the short-term and maximizes value over the long-term, thereby de-risking the mine.
Good mine planning. This ensures that you have a sound and reliable strategy, and are achieving your business goals.

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AMC at International Mining Geology Conference 2024

Wed, 01 May 2024 03:21:55 GMT

Published: May 1, 2024

International Mining Geology Conference 2024

The International Mining Geology (IMG2024) Conference brings together industry experts to explore advancements in mining geology, exchange knowledge, ideas, and insights that will shape the future of mine geology. Organized by the AusIMM , the conference will take place in Perth, Australia between 7-8 May, 2024.

AMC Consultants is pleased to announce that Karl van Olden , Executive Lead - Operations at AMC and Committee Member of the AusIMM Consultants Society, will present " Weaving the Threads Together."

About the IMG2024 Conference

This biennial conference aims to grow the capability of geologists to solve common problems and develop their careers. It will cover a broad range of topics including excellence in mine geology, future proofing in technology, decision making, and reconciliation.

The conference is for mine geologists, industry leaders, technology partners, consultants, and academics.

Karl van Olden

Executive Lead - Operations

Presentation

Weaving the threads together

Date: Wednesday, 8 May, 2024

Time: 9.05-9.15 AM

Presenter: Karl van Olden

Session Five: Orebody knowldege

Abstract: Delve into the crucial yet often underestimated role of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) in providing benefits to its members. AusIMM Societies, comprising industry experts, drive the development of events, products, and projects for mining professionals, offering valuable opportunities for growth and collaboration. The work of the AusIMM Consultants Society underscores this commitment, urging member involvement. Within the context of this week's conference centred on geology, particularly orebody knowledge, the discussion emphasizes the comprehensive contributions of this discipline to successful mining operations, weaving together various threads crucial for their success.

AMC at Responsible Raw Materials Conference 2024

Wed, 24 Apr 2024 15:42:50 GMT

Published: April 24, 2024

Responsible Raw Materials 2024 - Critical Choices

The Responsible Raw Materials conference returns for a fifth edition, this time with a focus on threats and opportunities for the extraction, production, and consumption of raw materials. The conference will take place entirely online between Monday 29 April to Friday 3 May 2024 and will be free and open to all.

AMC Consultants proudly presents a presentation by our Principal Geologist, Mark Burnett, focusing on the geological risks associated with mining projects.

About the Responsible Raw Materials Conference

This conference brings together a variety of actors and stakeholders interested in risk in mineral value chains, from geostrategic to operational dimensions. Participants will discuss what is evolving and what remains unchallenged, misunderstood, or under-explored in this landscape.

It will spotlight forward-looking redesign ideas for the businesses and operations that make up mineral value chains. Delegates will have ample opportunity to explore how these new models can mitigate threats, realize opportunities, and connect with one another to create new systems for resilience, sustainability, and shared benefits.

Mark Burnett

Principal Geologist

Presentation

Geological risk to mining projects

Date: Tuesday 30 April 2024

Time: 9.10-9.30 PM

Presenter: Mark Burnett

Presentation Summary: Mining, by its very nature, incurs a level of uncertainty that differs from other industries, in fact mining, and specifically exploration, has often been likened to the ultimate form of gambling.

Most people are familiar with the risks that are prevalent within the modifying factors that are applied when converting a Mineral Resource to a Mineral Reserve. The areas of uncertainty, inherent in a mining project include both technical as well as non-technical risk. Some of which can be reasonably quantified in terms of their potential variability, while others are more uncertain, for example metal price and currency exchange forecasts.

To quantify, and manage, project risk it is first necessary to understand the sources of risk, what impact they may have, and then decide how the uncertainty they pose to the projects’ success can be mitigated. This presentation will focus on a specific area of mining project risk, namely geological and Mineral Resource risk.

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Media Release: AMC appoints Corne Yzelle as Advisory Lead in South Africa

Tue, 23 Apr 2024 02:39:49 GMT

Published: 3 May 2024

AMC appoints Corne Yzelle as Advisory Lead in South Africa

AMC is pleased to announce the appointment of Corne Yzelle as the Advisory Lead for the Business Transformation and Operational Excellence team, based in our Cape Town office in South Africa.

This strategic appointment underscores AMC's commitment to expanding its global presence and driving business transformation initiatives across diverse markets. Corne's leadership will bolster AMC's operations in South Africa while contributing to our broader international growth and client engagement strategies.

Prior to joining AMC, Corne distinguished herself as a leader in the mining sector, holding key roles at renowned organizations. As an Associate Director at Deloitte Consulting South Africa, she played an instrumental role in shaping and executing complex transformation programs, significantly advancing the industry.

Prior to her tenure at Deloitte, Corne served as the Digital Transformation Program Manager at Vedanta Zinc International, overseeing the development and implementation of digitalization strategies. Her efforts fostered innovation and operational efficiency throughout the organization.

With a proven track record in understanding operational and business needs, Corne is well-positioned to drive transformative programs and solutions that deliver tangible value across the mining sector.

Derek du Preez, Director and Executive Lead - Advisory, commented on Corne's appointment: "Corne is a recognized expert in digital transformation. Her insights will be instrumental in advancing AMC's commitment to transformation and innovation. She will lead programs to optimize client operations, uncover hidden value, and design transformative initiatives. This includes rapidly identifying cost reduction and performance improvement opportunities for our clients leveraging AMC's SmartData™ and technical expertise.

Corne's expertise and forward-thinking approach, refined through her experiences at Deloitte and Vedanta, will strengthen AMC's capability to deliver tailored transformation solutions that address the unique challenges and opportunities within the mining industry.

We are thrilled to welcome Corne to our team and are confident that her leadership and insights will be instrumental in driving our strategic initiatives forward, added Derek.

Commenting on her appointment, Corne stated, “AMC has built an excellent reputation as a trusted advisor by leveraging deep technical expertise, being intentional about quality, and harnessing data to mine smarter. I am particularly excited about the opportunity to help build on that strong foundation to help clients prepare for the future and transform their operations in a sustainable, value-driven way. I am grateful for the opportunity to work with such an experienced and dynamic team.”

About AMC Consultants

AMC Consultants (AMC) is a global consultancy firm dedicated to helping miners find smarter ways to unearth hidden business value. It helps mining leaders evaluate opportunities, solve hidden productivity challenges, and improve performance across the mining cycle.

Since 1983, AMC has helped miners evaluate potential mining projects or investments and develop world-class mining operations. With more than 10,000 projects for more than 1,800 clients in more than 110 countries across more than 60 commodities under its belt, AMC’s global team of career miners has seen most challenges. And chances are, it has created a smarter way to solve them.

Download Media Release as PDF

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AMC at PASTE 2024

Fri, 12 Apr 2024 09:29:03 GMT

Published: April 12, 2024

ACG PASTE 2024

AMC Consultants is excited to join the ACG 26th International Conference on Paste, Thickened, and Filtered Tailings in Melbourne, Australia, from 16-18 April 2024.

Tony Grice, Global Leader - Backfill / Principal Mining Consultant, a globally acclaimed expert in backfill from AMC's office in Vancouver, will attend to contribute to a panel discussion and deliver a session during the conference's Minefill Seminar.

About ACG Paste

Thickening and filtration
Rheology
Surface disposal
Transportation
Instrumentation and monitoring of tailings
Underground and backfill

Panel discussion

Tailings harvesting for cemented paste backfill

Time: 1.55 PM

Date: Thursday 18 April 2024

Facilitator: R Veenstra, Newmont Corporation

Panelists: L Correia, Paterson & Cooke, Canada; T Grice, AMC Consultants, Canada; S Thacker, Newmont Australia

Minefill Seminar

Backfill has undergone significant evolution over the past century, especially with the advent of cemented paste backfill (CPF) more than three decades ago. CPF has emerged as the most widely adopted form of backfill, offering numerous benefits. These range from its rapid delivery and engineered strength to environmental advantages achieved by placing tailings underground and minimizing the footprint of surface tailings storage facilities.

The seminar will begin by exploring the role of CPF within both mining and tailings cycles. It will then delve into operationally focused topics, covering aspects such as monitoring and documenting a backfill system, adapting systems to operational changes, and examining case studies that illustrate how operations have navigated these adjustments.

Session: Types of backfill and their uses

Time: 10.15AM

Date: 19 April 2024

Presenter: Tony Grice

Join Tony Grice as he presents on the three primary backfill options: rock, hydraulic, and paste fill. He will explore how mines can choose and implement the most suitable option(s) to align with their technical, economic, and ESG (environmental, social, and governance) objectives.

This seminar aims to bring together backfill specialists, leaders, and operators from around the globe to present a comprehensive learning experience.

Tony Grice

Global Leader - Backfill / Principal Mining Consultant

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Business Optimization, Performance and Improvement Short Course

Tue, 26 Mar 2024 03:33:52 GMT

Published: 26 March 2024

AusIMM Business Optimization, Performance and Improvement Short Course

AMC Consultants has teamed up with the AusIMM to offer the Business Optimisation, Performance and Improvement Short Course . Led by Andrew Hall and Derek du Preez, two of our world renowned experts on the topic, the course will cover value maximization and the de-risking of mining projects through good strategic decision making and high performance. It will explore both key drivers of value in mining projects as well as how to better manage strategic risk.

Up to 20 PD Hours

Why attend

In this course, you will gain practical knowledge on:

Project evaluation basics.
Strategy optimization.
Cut-off grade theory and practice from the experts who helped develop it for the past 20 years.
Key performance measures and reporting.
Recent developments in new technologies and innovations.
How to conduct benchmarking and implement continuous improvements.

This course is tailored for mining executives, senior managers, and technical personnel who want to better understand strategy optimization, and key value drivers of their projects.

Course facilitators

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AMC at Indaba 2024 | Strategy selection in an uncertain world

Tue, 13 Feb 2024 13:09:50 GMT

Published: 13 February 2024

AMC at Indaba 2024 | Strategy selection in an uncertain world

AMC Consultants showcase services in Cape Town during Indaba 2024

At this year's Mining Indaba 2024, AMC proudly featured Karl van Olden as part of the Mining Review Africa event hosted by the VUKA Group on Monday 5 February.

On Wednesday 7 February, AMC hosted its own event at the NASDAK Rooftop Venue. With a focus on Strategy selection in an uncertain world , AMC hosted a panel discussion between experts in the field followed by a Q&A session.

AMC Consultants showcase services in Cape Town during Indaba 2024

AMC HILL OF VALUE® STRATEGY OPTIMIZATION

AMC's SMART DATA™

10X PERFORMANCE DIAGNOSTICS™

Images from our event

Meet our host and experts

Moderator

JanLouis du Toit

Principal Consultant – Advisory

Panelist

Andrew Hall

Director / Chief Executive Officer at AMC

Panelist

Jan-Adriaan du Plessis

Partner at Futureworld

Panelist

Francois Naude

Independent Mining Consultant

Curious to find out more about AMC?

PDAC 2024

Mon, 12 Feb 2024 14:11:46 GMT

Published: 12 February 2024

AMC at PDAC 2024

With attendance from our executive team, and offices in Canada and the UK, PDAC 2024 Convention represents an important event on the AMC calendar. Meet AMC's team at our booth, or get in touch with us to arrange a meeting ahead of the conference.

PDAC 2024 is a global mineral exploration event in Toronto, Canada. It expects 30,000 attendees from 130+ countries this year with 1,100 exhibitors, and 700 speakers.

On-Site

In attendance at PDAC 2024, you can find our team on the exhibition floor at Booth No. 448 . Click on the map to zoom in on AMC's booth.

Explore the Exhibitor Directory and PDAC 2024 Floorplans with the external link below.

Quenching Thirsts and Mining Brews

Mining 4 Beer is back at Craft Beer Market, located at 1 Adelaide Street East at Yonge Street, on Sunday, March 3rd at 4pm.

AMC is thrilled to sponsor this social event and looks forward to seeing you there!

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Media Release: Andrew Hall CEO and 40 Years

Thu, 01 Feb 2024 04:36:05 GMT

Andrew Hall appointed CEO as AMC Consultants celebrates 40 years

In conjunction with its 40-year anniversary, AMC Consultants (AMC) is pleased to announce the appointment of Andrew Hall as its new CEO. Andrew has succeeded Patrick Smith, who remains with the company as a Director and Principal Consultant.

After an almost 30-year career with AMC, Andrew Hall has most recently grown the company’s Advisory division from inception to an integral part of the business. “It is an honour to be entrusted with leading such a remarkable and dedicated team into the future, and I thank Patrick for steering AMC so successfully over the past decade” says Hall.

Andrew emphasizes that “for us, it’s business as usual, with the change in management signalling a continuation of the high-quality and client-focussed strategy that has gotten AMC to the strong position it is in today. Our priority will continue to be helping our clients mine smarter” says Hall.

This announcement also brings with it changes to AMC’s executive team, which comprises Karl van Olden continuing his leadership of the Operations Team, Felicia McKenzie in the newly created Chief Performance Officer role, Victoria Kladchenko continuing as Chief Financial Officer, and South Africa-based Derek du Preez taking over the leadership of AMC’s Advisory division. This latter appointment signals the company’s focus on being readily accessible to our clients in Africa, and all around the globe.

About AMC Consultants

Download Media Release as PDF

Meet our executive team

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African Mining Indaba 2024

Fri, 19 Jan 2024 02:31:39 GMT

Published: 18 January 2024

AMC at African Mining Indaba 2024

AMC looks forward to attending African Mining Indaba 2024 in Cape Town, this year with a focus on 'Embracing the power of positive disruption: A bold new future for African mining'. To mark the importance of this region for AMC, Andrew Hall, our CEO, and two other members of our executive team, Karl van Olden and Derek du Preez, will be part of our team at the event.

With 8,100+ attendees including 900+ investors and 1,100+ delegates from established mining and junior mining companies in attendance, African Mining Indaba is one of the most important events in the global mining calendar.

Unique opportunity to interact with our groundbreaking solutions

AMC is excited to open an office in Cape Town this year and to mark this, we invite you to visit our team at Nasdak Rooftop Venue on February 7th between 9:00 AM and 12:00 PM to meet our team and interact with AMC's Hill of Value® Strategy Optimization and Smart Data™ in real time applied to your operation. Stop by anytime for a coffee and an exclusive opportunity to access the world's largest site-sourced benchmarking dataset. No appointments necessary!

Meet the AMC Team in Cape Town

Date: 7th February

Time: Anytime 9AM - 12PM

Address: Nasdak Rooftop Venue

26th Floor, Media24 Centre

40 Heerengracht Street, Cape Town

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AME Roundup 2024

Tue, 16 Jan 2024 00:46:56 GMT

Published: 16 January 2024

AME Roundup 2024

AMC is proud to be a bronze sponsor of AME Roundup 2024 in Vancouver. Led by Gene Tucker, the General Manager of our office in Vancouver, our team looks forward to welcoming you at booth #1522.

Curling Bonspiel

As has now become a tradition, AMC is the sponsor of the Curling Bonspiel event at AME Roundup. Join us in a rousing evening of sliding and sweeping. Find out more, and book tickets via the link below.

AMC C onsultants @ AME Roundup

Meet the AMC team at this year's conference, for Monday and Tuesday only.

Our team will be located at booth #1522.

Read our case study

Strategy selection in an uncertain world

Fri, 05 Jan 2024 05:26:16 GMT

Strategy Selection

in an uncertain world

Mining Indaba 2024

Exclusive Invitation

Join AMC Consultants as some of the industry’s best discuss strategy selection in a volatile and uncertain world followed by drinks and canapés on the rooftop.

Date: Wednesday 7th February 2024

Time: 3.30 PM - 5.00 PM

Venue: Nasdak Rooftop Venue

26th Floor, Media24 Centre

40 Heerengracht Street, Cape Town

AMC is excited to open an office in Cape Town. Come past Nasdak Rooftop Venue anytime between 9.00 AM and 12 PM on 7th February to meet our team and for exclusive access to the world’s largest site-sourced benchmarking data set.

No need to book a time!

Panel Discussion

Embracing the power of positive disruption:

A bold new future for African mining

Moderator

JanLouis du Toit

Principal Consultant – Advisory

Panelist

Andrew Hall

Director / Chief Executive Officer at AMC

Panelist

Jan-Adriaan du Plessis

Partner at Futureworld

Panelist

Francois Naude

Independent Mining Consultant

Curious to find out more about AMC?

AMC at IOM3 Conference 2023

Wed, 29 Nov 2023 09:00:32 GMT

AMC at IOM3 2023

AMC Consultants looks forward to participating in the Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining (IOM3) Geometallurgy 2023 Conference on 4-5 December in London.

AMC's Mark Burnett, Principal Geologist, has been invited to present a keynote presentation on Day 2 of the conference.

Keynote presentation

Can a reporting code reduce risk in a mining project?

Session 4: Value from tailings and reporting

When: 1.50 PM -2.20 PM Tuesday 5 December 2023

Presenter: Mark Burnett

AMC's Predictive Geometallurgy ™

AMC has not just defined what geometallurgy is, we’ve been working on what it means in practice for the ability to optimize mine sequencing, make better plant design decisions, improve the stability of operations, and make the right strategic choices.

Want to find out how our cutting edge team can help you mine smarter?

Geometallurgy Case Study

SAEMC 2023

Fri, 24 Nov 2023 15:05:14 GMT

SAEMC 2023

AMC is proud to be the lunch sponsor of the South Australian Exploration and Mining Conference (SAEMC) . On behald of our team in Adelaide, Johann van Wijk, General Manager of our office in Adelaide, will be joined by Andrew Proudman, Ali Abedi, and Kathryn Lee at our eibition table.

This year, SAEMC is celebrating its 20th anniversary. The event will bring together mineral explorers and miners for technical updates on South Australia's key mines and exploration projects.

Read our case study

Mines and Money | Resourcing Tomorrow exhibition

Fri, 17 Nov 2023 16:31:46 GMT

Mines and Money – Resourcing Tomorrow exhibition

AMC Consultants eagerly anticipates joining Mines and Money London, the city's premier international gathering uniting investors, mining companies, and industry experts. The conference will take place 28-30 November.

AMC's team in the UK looks forward to sharing our expertise, forging strategic alliances, and uncovering the next transformative ventures alongside like-minded professionals at Mines and Money in London.

AMC Consultants @
Mines and Money

Locate the AMC booth at this year's conference, which is on the right after the first set of stairs following the main entrance. Our team will be located at booth #C01.

Read our case study

AMC hosts Sundowner 2023

Fri, 17 Nov 2023 16:18:53 GMT

AMC Sundowner with Hon. Colin Barnett

On 19 October 2023, AMC hosted an event at The Melbourne Hotel in Perth featuring a discussion on critical minerals projects, with drinks, canapés, and great views. Bruce Gregory and the team from our office in Perth hosted the event. They were joined by the recently appointed Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Hall, along with other senior members of AMC's management.

The programme included:

A presentation by Ken Brinsden, Chairman of Patriot Battery Metals, on critical minerals, with a focus on the Patriot Battery Metals lithium project.
A panel discussion on "Establishing critical minerals projects: Australia vs. other jurisdictions" moderated by Liam Twigger from Argonaut Securities. Panelists included Joshua Thurlow (CEO - Lithium at Mineral Resources) and Ken Brinsden.
There were drinks and canapés on the rooftop, and a door prize was given out at the exclusive Aurora Rooftop.

AMC Consultants celebrates another successful Sundowner

The event provided an opportunity for networking, knowledge-sharing, and celebration in Perth. AMC looks forward to welcoming you back in 2024 for another edition of this event.

Images from our event

Meet our host and experts

Host

Bruce Gregory

Director and

General Manager, Perth at AMC

Master of Ceremonies

Liam Twigger

Deputy Chair and Executive Director of Argonaut Limited

Presenter and panelist

Ken Brinsden

Chairman of Patriot

Battery Metals

Panelist

Joshua Thurlow

Chief Executive - Lithium

Mineral Resources

Curious to find out more about AMC?

MINEX Eurasia 2023

Fri, 17 Nov 2023 16:03:37 GMT

AMC at MINEX Eurasia

AMC is excited to participate in the 11th MINEX Eurasia Conference, hosted on 27 November 2023, by Simmons and Simmons in London (UK).

AMC recognizes this event's significance in fostering connections and exploring investment opportunities in Central Asia, Caucasus, and Mongolia.

With a keen eye on advancements and potential collaborations, AMC looks forward to engaging with fellow industry leaders, investors, and government representatives from both the UK and across the globe at this exclusive gathering.

Want to get in touch with our team?

Latest LinkedIn Posts

AMC - Kazakhstan

Thu, 16 Nov 2023 17:09:22 GMT

AMC projects in Kazakhstan

AMC Consultants has been engaged in various mining-related activities across multiple sites and commodities in Kazakhstan.

We have previously been involved in tasks such as mineral resource estimation, open pit and underground mine design, optimization and scheduling of open pits and underground mines, scoping/ feasibility studies , geotechnical evaluations and metallurgical studies.

Contact us

Contact our team today.

Lithium - Mining consulting services

Tue, 14 Nov 2023 15:55:12 GMT

Lithium - Mining consulting services

AMC Consultants has the highest level of technical and management expertise in lithium across the disciplines of geology, geotechnical engineering, mining engineering, and metallurgy. Our engineers, geologists, and support staff provide these expert services from offices in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Toronto, Vancouver, and Maidenhead (UK).

Professional, proven global mining consultancy experience

AMC’s lithium mining expertise is underpinned by practical experience across all mined commodities in all types of mining, including underground and open-pit mining, selective and bulk mining, traditional methods, and methods using the most modern technology. We understand the critical factors that are unique to the lithium mining process and the chemical itself, including the technical and practical challenges and risks and how to manage and solve these.

AMC has a strong team of principal mining consultants with experience in the early-stage to mature-stage of lithium exploration and lithium mining operations. The team includes staff with significant direct operational experience, complemented by broad consulting experience.

Our team’s experience spans lithium geology, exploration, resource evaluation, resource modelling, geostatistics, mine production, mine planning, mine design, reserves, metallurgy, reconciliation, grade control, and business improvement.

We also provide advice on international reporting requirements and qualified Competent Persons for reporting lithium exploration results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves in accordance with the JORC Code, PERC, SAMREC and NI 43-101 reporting standards.

Lithium mining consulting services

AMC provides direct technical and operational advice on lithium properties and is an independent reviewer of in-house or commissioned third-party lithium advice. Our mining consulting services include:

Corporate due diligence, independent reviews, and audits.
Geology and Mineral Resources.
Mining engineering and Ore Reserves.
Operational improvement.
Reconciliation studies.
Mine production and mine planning.
Metallurgical reviews.
CRIRSCO reporting advice.

Lithium mine capabilities

Geological consulting

All geological aspects, from exploration through to resource definition and mine production.
Geological modelling, resource estimation, and advanced geostatistical studies.
Mine-to-refinery and mine-to-ship sampling and reconciliation.
Exploration and resource advice, drilling planning, optimization, and programme management.
Sampling, drilling, and laboratory audits, QA/QC reviews, and improvement.
Mine geology, grade control, production and planning advice, and procedures design.
Mineralogical and deleterious element management and improvement, from mine to refinery.
CRIRSCO reporting and advice, Competent Person/Qualified Person responsibility and resource classification.

Mining engineering and operational performance

Reserve estimates, definition, classification, CRIRSCO reporting, and Competent Person/Qualified Person responsibility.
Mining engineering studies, from feasibility stage to operating mines, including mine design, mine planning, scheduling studies and mine optimization, and financial evaluation studies.
Benchmarking and performance improvement, projection rate, and schedule optimization.
Equipment selection and optimization, mining loss, and dilution management and improvement.

Geotechnical consulting

Geotechnical studies, reviews, and audits.
Geomechanics and ground support assessment.
Mine design and waste disposal studies.

Metallurgical consulting

Process optimization and lithium beneficiation testwork design and review.
Bespoke geometallurgical studies.

AMC expert corporate reports

Due diligence studies for valuations and asset acquisitions.
Geological, mining, and metallurgical independent specialist reports.

Mine personnel training and mentoring

Geology, reconciliation, resources, and reserves.
Project evaluation, risk, mine design, and mine planning.
Codes and reporting — JORC and NI 43-101.

Notable projects for worldwide lithium mining companies

AMC has worked on a wide range of lithium projects in Australia, Canada, France, Serbia, and Ukraine.

We have advised more than 40 lithium mining projects across the globe for businesses including Rio Tinto Services Ltd, Canadian Lithium Corp and Rock Tech Lithium Corp. Some of our particularly notable work has advised the following lithium mines:

Imerys, Emili Project

The Exploitation de Mica Lithinifère par Imerys (Emili) project is one of the largest lithium projects in Europe. Located at Imerys’ Beauvoir kaolin mine in Echassières (Allier), France. Emili has the potential to be a key supplier of lithium in Europe. AMC is currently providing the Emili team with technical assistance for its exploration programme and is taking Competent Person sign-off responsibility for the Mineral Resource estimates, following the guidelines of the PERC reporting standard.

Pilgangoora Lithium Project

AMC has provided a range of technical solutions and support to the Pilgangoora lithium project in Western Australia. AMC has undertaken studies ranging from scoping through to feasibility level and provided ongoing engineering support, including strategic assessment, evaluation of potential acquisitions, providing Ore Reserve estimates and Competent Person sign-off, and operational planning support for mining lithium.

Greenbushes Lithium Mine

AMC has completed a range of long-term planning projects for Talison Lithium Pty Ltd, including a mining fleet and infrastructure expansion study, a strategic mine planning study and support in tactical scheduling.

Whabouchi Lithium Mine

AMC completed due diligence on the Whabouchi lithium mine, one of the largest high-purity lithium deposits in North America, on behalf of a large private equity lender.

Contact us

Contact our specialist lithium mining consultants today and see how AMC can help you mine smarter.

SSIM 2023 – Third International Slope Stability in Mining Conference

Mon, 30 Oct 2023 06:47:20 GMT

SSIM 2023 – Third International Slope Stability in Mining Conference

AMC Consultants is proud to be the official Lanyard sponsor for the Third International Slope Stability in Mining Conference that will take place in Perth between 14-16 November.

Adam Beer will present a paper on Tuesday, November 14th, during Session 2B: "Weak Rocks" in the Grand Ballroom 3. Make sure you visit us at our booth.

AMC proudly serves as the official Lanyard sponsor for the conference.

Day One: Tuesday 14 November 2023

SESSION 2B: WEAK ROCKS

�� GRAND BALLROOM 3

�� 11:05

A case study of a waste dump design for oxidized material in a Western Australian mine

Presenter: Adam Beer

Geotechnical Engineering at AMC Consultants

Find out more about AMC’s practical geotechnical engineering solutions

Base Metals Cut-Off Grade Strategy Case Study

Mon, 30 Oct 2023 03:06:20 GMT

Base Metals Cut-Off Grade Strategy case study

AMC’s Hill of Value® process helps Canadian Base Metals miner unlock near-term mining opportunities and more than US$1.0B in value by adopting a new cut-off grade strategy.

AMC’s Hill of Value® process and approach to full system optimization has significantly supported our client's operations by helping them achieve a more dynamic and flexible cut-off grade application to mine near-term opportunities and contingency production. This has helped them close the current performance gap through a more robust Life of Mine (LOM) strategy.

Project facts

Operations:

Base Metals

Location:

Canada

Commodities:

Nickel and Copper

Since 2021, AMC has provided ongoing support to our client's base metals operations through performance diagnostics to identify key bottlenecks and opportunities, as well as in-depth strategic planning through full system optimization.

The Challenge

Our client's Canadian base metals operations are some of the oldest and deepest underground open stoping operations globally.

Highly seismic mining conditions, ageing underground infrastructure, and slow development rates have led to:

A drop in overall production.
Excess system capacity.
Increase in mine operating costs over the last 20 years.

The application of break-even style cut-off grades resulted in increasing cut-off grades in each of the mines as operating costs continued to increase with depth, with potential near-term opportunities and potentially value-adding inventories being left unmined. Planned LOM productivity rates were also materially higher than current performance, which required a robust strategy to fill the performance gap.

Our Approach

AMC's more dynamic and flexible cut-off grade strategy ensures that near-term opportunities that had been left unmined in the upper mining areas could be included in the LOM plans.

A lower cut-off grade at the higher-grade operations in the short-term will allow greater operational flexibility in the LOM plan process to include near-term opportunities and contingency production when spare mining capacity is available without eroding value.

Raising the cut-off in the long-term across all the mines when operating at full system capacity and steady-state production ensures the highest grade material is being mined in future.

The Results

Significant upside:

Adopting an optimized cut-off grade strategy has the potential to unlock $0.7B cash over the next 5 years and more than $1.0B in NPV.
Potential to provide greater operational flexibility and stability to fill the performance gap without eroding value.

Cut-off grades is a key lever:

Moved away from break-even style cut-off grades calculations to a more flexible and dynamic cut-off grade strategy.
Reduced short term cut-off grades at the higher grades mines to access near-term opportunities and contingency production to fill spare system capacity.
Increased cut-off grades long-term across all mines to ensure highest grade material is being mined when system capacity is full.

Key staff

Interested to find out how our approach to cut-off strategy can help your operations unlock hidden value? Contact our team by filling out the form below.

Narrow Vein Mining

Tue, 10 Oct 2023 12:48:27 GMT

Narrow Vein Mining

AMC Consultants (AMC) is widely recognized in the global mining industry for its expertise in the planning, design, operation and evaluation for all underground mining methods.

AMC optimizes the overall economic benefits that can be derived from each mineral deposit within the context of our client’s needs and objectives. Our expertise covers all aspects of geology and geotechnical characterization of narrow tabular to massive deposits. AMC’s underground expertise is also supported by SmartData™ , an extensive database of costs and performance parameters using specialist in-house tools and mine optimization processes to produce reliable mine plans and estimates.

Mining methods

AMC is a leader in mining method selection, with extensive experience in delivering underground mining solutions . Mining method selection would consider factors such as ore geometry (dip, complexity, etc.), value (grade), geotechnical conditions, geographical location and other relevant factors. A selection of methods includes:

Drifting methods like drift-and-fill (overhand and underhand) and cut-and-fill, room-and-pillar, post-pillar, etc using handheld or mechanized equipment.
Open stoping variations like sub-level, benching, uphole retreat mining, modified AVOCA, alimak, etc.
Backfill methods such as paste fill, hydraulic fill, cemented rock fill, hybrid fills, waste fill, etc.

AMC narrow vein capability and experience

AMC’s underground capability includes specialization in all aspects of narrow vein underground Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve estimation, narrow vein mine planning, design, production operations and technical assessments. The AMC team has specialists with technical and operating experience for various narrow vein mining methods and commodities and includes discipline specialists in backfill and ventilation.

AMC’s services address all the stages of an operation’s life from exploration and resource assessment to mine development, operations and decommissioning, providing detailed plans, designs and schedules and offering ongoing operational support and options for improvement.

When required, AMC can join and enhance clients’ technical teams, providing capacity to optimize performance and flexibility. AMC uses the latest industry software to further enhance its capability.

Key narrow vein mining services

AMC can provide the following technical services for narrow vein deposits:

Preliminary Economic Assessment, mining Pre-Feasibility and mining Feasibility studies .
Geological and Mineral Resource appraisal , interpretation and modelling.
Mineral Resource and Mineral (Ore) Reserve estimation, including reviews/audits and preparation of Independent Qualified Competent Person’s Reports (NI 43-101, JORC, SAMREC, etc.).
Mining method options assessment, cost estimation, and implementation guidance.
Mine design, planning and scheduling .
Narrow vein mine design optimization using leading-edge stope optimization software providing bespoke outcomes for challenging geometries.
Geotechnical assessment for mine and stope design.
Narrow vein mining equipment assessment and guidance.
Dilution studies and operational guidance, including drill and blast design.
Operations support, including life-of-mine project scheduling.
Due diligence technical reviews.
Mining backfill and ventilation studies and solutions for mines in operation.
Open pit to underground mining transition optimization and planning.
Benchmarking, operations reviews and narrow vein strategy optimization studies.
Risk assessment.
On-site narrow vein execution support.

Notable narrow vein mining projects

AMC underground narrow vein experience includes operational and/or project study experience at the following mine sites and locations:

LATIN AMERICA

Centauro Profundo, Mexico (gold)

Cerro Morro, Argentina (gold-silver)

El Dorado, El Salvador (gold-silver)

Fresnillo, Mexico (silver-gold-lead-zinc)

Fresnillo Mina Proaño, Mexico

Fresnillo Mina Saucito, Mexico

Fresnillo Mina Cienega, Mexico

Fresnillo Mina San Julian, Mexico

Fresnillo-MagSilver JC Juanicipio, Mexico

Fresnillo Centauro Profundo, Mexico (gold)

Juanicipio, Mexico (silver-gold)

Jacobina, Brazil (gold)

Mercedes, Mexico (gold-silver)

Monterde, Mexico (silver-gold)

Palmarejo, Mexico (silver-gold)

Pau-a-Pique, Brazil (gold)

San Sebastian, Mexico (gold-silver)

San Dimas, Mexico (gold-silver)

San Julian, Mexico (gold-silver)

San Jose, Mexico (silver-gold)

CANADA & USA

Back River, Canada (gold)

Hoyle Pond, Canada (gold)

Lucky Friday, USA (silver-lead-zinc)

Pine Cove and Stog’er Tight, Canada (gold)

Phoenix, Canada (gold)

Prairie Creek, Canada (zinc-lead-silver)

Rainy River, Canada (gold)

Wolverine, Canada (zinc-copper-lead-silver-gold)

EUROPE

Curraghinalt, Northern Ireland (gold)

Cononish, United Kingdom (gold-silver)

El Valle-Boinás/Carlés, Spain (gold-copper-silver)

Gedabek, Azerbaijan (gold-copper)

Neves Corvo, Portugal (poly metallic - zinc & copper)

Zinkgruvan, Sweden (poly metallic - zinc, lead, copper, silver)

ASIA

Gaochang, China (silver-lead-zinc)

Ying Mines, China (silver-lead-zinc)

Zarmitan (Guzhumsai), Uzbekistan (gold)

Zarmitan (Zarmitan), Uzbekistan (gold)

OCEANIA

Tuvatu, Fiji (gold)

Vatukoula, Fiji (gold)

Andy Well, Australia (gold)

Angas Zinc Mine, Australia (zinc)

Ballarat, Australia (gold)

Beaconsfield, Australia (gold)

Bendigo, Australia (gold)

Blendevale (Pillara), Australia (zinc-lead-gold)

Central Norseman, Australia (gold)

Challenger, Australia (gold)

Costerfield, Australia (gold-antimony)

Deflector, Australia (copper-gold)

Fosterville, Australia (gold)

Golden Pig, Australia (gold)

Gympie Eldorado Mine, Australia (gold)

Henty, Australia (gold)

Kambalda, Australia (nickel)

St Ives deposits, Australia (gold)

Merlin, Australia (diamond)

Monkland, Australia (gold)

Nicholson’s Find, Australia (gold)

Okay (OK), Australia (gold)

Pajingo, Australia (gold-silver)

Plutonic, Australia (gold)

Renison, Australia (tin)

Tarnagulla, Australia (gold)

Telfer I30, Australia (gold-copper)

Vatakoula-Emperor, Fiji (gold)

Widgemooltha deposits, Australia (nickel)

AFRICA

Bulyanhulu, Tanzania (gold)

Debarwa, Eritrea (copper-zinc-gold)

New Luika, Tanzania (gold)

Pandora, South Africa (platinum group elements)

Segala, Mali (gold)

Tabakoto, Mali (gold)

Yaramoko Zone 55, Burkina Faso (gold)

how we can help you mine smarter, contact us today.

To speak to AMC Consultants about our narrow vein mining expertise

IMARC 2023

Fri, 29 Sep 2023 13:14:06 GMT

IMARC 2023

AMC Consultants is pleased to return to the International Mining and Resources Conference and Expo at the Sydney Convention Centre from 31 October to 2 November. Anthony de Veth, Principal Mining Consultant and General Manager, Melbourne, and Marc English, Principal Mining Engineer, will represent AMC at the event.

We are excited to engage with attendees and discuss AMC's services , as well as our unique SmartData™ system.

We cordially invite you to visit AMC at booth #D54 during the exhibition period of this conference.

Our booth can be found near the Digital Transformation Theatre .

IMARC Mining4Beer Ibeer Iwine & Ipromise Ishallnotwhine

AMC Consultants Is a sponsor of the Mining4Beers IMARC Sydney gathering where we bridge the gap between global and local vibes.

Wondering what sets this social event apart? Mining4Beers is not exclusive; it's inclusive, fostering a warm and welcoming atmosphere. The evening will kickstart with complimentary drinks and snacks before switching to a buy-your-own system. Leave the sales pitches behind; this is a laid-back, non-pitchy affair. We cater to all tastes with a selection of beer, wine, liquor, and fortified alcohol. Share your cards, stories, and connect with miners, geologists, and metallurgists in an open-minded setting.

When? 1 of November at 6:00 PM - 11:00 PM

Where? Helm Bar & Bistro, 7 Wheat Road Sydney, NSW 2000 Australia.

Recommended of you

White Paper: Commodities supply and demand: how the global race for battery materials is changing mining

Finding value – and operating smarter – in the worldwide sourcing and supply of battery materials for electric vehicles. Click the button below to download our whitepaper.

The JORC Code

Tue, 26 Sep 2023 14:38:49 GMT

The JORC Code

As the JORC Code nears its final stages of review, AMC Consultants is well-placed to provide the latest advice on how and where changes will likely affect the mining industry. With significant AMC representation on the Committee, our team of experts maintains a granular understanding of the present Code and updates proposed.

Code compliance can be the difference between investors opting into or walking away from a mine feasibility study. As a JORC Code expert, our team of specialist mining consultants advises clients on guidelines as they stand and evolve.

What is the JORC Code and its purpose?

A professional mining Code of Practice in Australia and New Zealand, JORC outlines the minimum standards required for Public Reporting of Mineral Resources, Exploration Results and Ore Reserves. These public documents capture annual and quarterly company reports, information memoranda, technical details, media releases and website activity. The JORC Code is incorporated in the Australian and New Zealand Stock Exchanges Listing Rules. As such, public companies operating in both countries must demonstrate Code compliance.

Who sits on the JORC Committee?

Three parent bodies fund the Committee in equal parts:

1. The Minerals Council of Australia (MCA)

2. The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM)

3. Australian Institute of Geoscientists (AIG)

Also included are representatives from the Financial Services Institute of Australasia (FinSIA), the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), accountants and an observer from the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (AMEC). Importantly - Committee membership is voluntary.

What representation does AMC have on the JORC Committee?

AMC Principal Geologist, Peter Stoker OAM, is JORC Code Deputy Chair (AusIMM nominee)
AMC Chief Executive Manager, Andrew Hall is a JORC Committee non-executive (AusIMM nominee)
AMC General Manager, Roderick Carlson, is a JORC Committee ex-officio member

Why is the JORC Code under review?

Since its inception in 1971, the Code has typically been reviewed every five to seven years. However, the last round of changes took place in 2012, meaning the present Code is no longer keeping pace with the industry.

Broadly speaking, revisions occur because the world changes; society evolves, global priorities shift, mining technologies advance. Updates are not intended to reflect the last decade but to inform the one that follows.

Crucially, these reviews enable the mining industry to drive its own change rather than have regulators at the helm (as is now the case in Canada, for example). Australian regulators are becoming increasingly observant. If they don’t see rules introduced to reflect change, they will move to introduce them. As most operators within our industry agree, our institutes - not our regulators - should own our environment.

More specifically, the Code is under review to address particular shortcomings, which include:

ESG investor expectations

Social and investor expectations are now an entrenched part of the mining permit process. Investment funds require evidence that a mining operation is doing all it can to reduce its carbon footprint and minimize adverse environmental risk. Any such risk must be transparently communicated. Traditionally, this was achieved through classification, which, in isolation, is now deemed insufficient. As such, we anticipate some of the most concentrated Code updates to take place around ESG. Understanding and advising benchmark communication of ESG considerations and risk will be a focal part of this round of updates.

Competent Person guidelines

Changes here are expected to help mitigate risk to the Competent Person by spreading responsibility.

Whereas presently, a Competent Person might be required to sign off on documentation for which they do not have the highest level of expertise, Code changes will defer to the specialist in each field. Ultimately, it will still fall on the Competent Person to provide the final sign-off. However, they will do so based on the official assurances provided by peers who are experts in the relevant fields.

These updates are intended not to disempower the Competent Person but to protect them and prevent them from overstretching their expertise. We also anticipate revisions to the Competent Person selection criteria (for example, years of relevant experience). Again, this is to ensure individuals do not find themselves advising or approving beyond their abilities, thus safeguarding not only the individual but the integrity of the entire mining operation.

Public report formatting

Also under review is the way in which public reports are formatted, with particular attention paid to Table 1.

Complaints review process

The general consensus agrees that clearer processes and faster assessment are required in response to Code transgressions and Competent Persons complaints. For example, a compulsory CV of Record before a complaint arises would help make initial investigations more efficient (instead of investigators resorting to LinkedIn for their research).

JORC Committee membership

Current membership qualification requires a relevant tertiary degree and referrals. As such, the Committee is exploring changes to how prospective members are vetted, assessed and approved.

Who is responsible for suggesting JORC Code changes, and how are proposals made?

Initially, the process was to involve a series of face-to-face consultations. However, the global pandemic and subsequent nationwide lockdowns across Australia and New Zealand prevented this from happening. As such, the process pivoted to an online survey system. As a result, the Committee received more than 500 submissions from a combination of individuals, consulting groups and representatives from Australian companies operating worldwide but still referring to JORC as their primary Code of Practice.

Sub-working groups (each involving at least one or two Committee members) were then formed and tasked with a specific theme emerging from the submissions.

Contact AMC Consultants, your JORC Code expert

Failing to grasp and comply with the JORC Code can mean failing to find investment.

For smart mining solutions that understand and adhere to the Code now - and into the future - speak to AMC Consultants. With our team members on the Committee frontline, nobody knows this space better than us.

AMC Sundowner 2023

Wed, 20 Sep 2023 00:26:56 GMT

AMC Sundowner with Hon. Colin Barnett

Join us at The Melbourne Hotel for an evening of discussion about establishing critical minerals projects, drinks, canapés, and stunning views!

This event is now fully booked. Please email us at PerthSundowner@amcconsultants.com to be placed in the waiting list.

Bruce Gregory, Director and General Manager of AMC Consultants' office in Perth, and his team are delighted to host this exciting opportunity for our industry to meet and discuss the future of critical minerals and the role Australia will play.

Our program will include:

Presentation by Ken Brinsden, Chairman of Patriot Battery Metals
Ken Brinsden, a distinguished expert in the field, will deliver a captivating presentation on critical minerals, with a special focus on his groundbreaking Patriot Battery Metals lithium project.

Panel Discussion: "Establishing critical minerals projects: Australia vs. other jurisdictions"

Our panel discussion, moderated by Liam Twigger of Argonaut Securities, will delve into the critical topic of establishing critical minerals projects. Our panelists, including Joshua Thurlow (CEO -Lithium at Mineral Resources), and Ken Brinsden (following his presentation), will share their insights and expertise.

Drinks and canapes on the rooftop and door prize

Make sure you stick around after the panel and join us at the exclusive Aurora Rooftop for a drink and gourmet apetizers and for a chance to win our coveted door prize. Remember, you must be present at the Aurora Rooftop to claim your prize.

This promises to be an evening of networking, knowledge-sharing, and celebration in the heart of Perth. We look forward to catching up with you at this much-anticipated event.

Date: Thursday 19 October 2023

Time: 5.30 PM - 11.00 PM

Venue: The Melbourne Hotel, Perth

Presentation and panel discussion at Karingal Ballroom.

Drinks and canapes at Aurora Rooftop Bar.

Meet our host and experts

Host

Bruce Gregory

Director and

General Manager, Perth at AMC

Master of Ceremonies

Liam Twigger

Deputy Chair and Executive Director of Argonaut Limited

Presenter and panelist

Ken Brinsden

Chairman of Patriot

Battery Metals

Panelist

Joshua Thurlow

Chief Executive - Lithium

Mineral Resources

Curious to find out more about AMC?

Iron Ore Conference 2023

Mon, 11 Sep 2023 12:27:06 GMT

Iron Ore Conference 2023

AMC Consultants is thrilled to announce our participation and sponsorship of the Conference App for AusIMM's Iron Ore Conference 2023, taking place in Perth from 18-20 September 2023.

We invite you to meet the AMC team at Booth #47 and join us for Session 4b, titled 'Mining and Processing,' chaired by Peter Fisher. The session will take place on Monday, September 18th, from 3:45 PM to 5:00 PM as part of the Conference events. We look forward to seeing you there!

Iron Ore Conference 2023

In Attendance

Peter Fisher

Principal Mining Consultant

Operations and Corporate Consulting

Peter Fisher chairs:

Mining and processing - Stream B

Monday, September 18, 2023

3:45 PM - 5:00 PM

Presentations include:

Phosphorus association with goethite: Effects of Fe(II)-catalysed recrystallisation
Coarse Processing of South African Banded Iron Formation (BIF)
Filtered tailings – An iron ore experience and,
Q&A with Session Chair

AMC sponsors the Iron Ore Conference 2023 App

Read our case study

Geometallurgy 2023

Thu, 24 Aug 2023 15:51:10 GMT

Geometallurgy 2023

AMC Consultants is excited to attend the Geometallurgy conference on the 4-7 September in Stellenbosch of South Africa's Western Cape.

AMC's Ian Lipton co-authored a paper being presented at the event as part of the conference, entitled " Modelling sphalerite mineral chemistry – towards a geometallurgical model for Gamsberg North ". The paper was a collaboration with other writers from Mountain Mining, Vedanta Zinc International, Aggeney, University of Cape Town, all of whom are based in the South African and Australian regions.

Modelling sphalerite mineral chemistry – towards a geometallurgical model for Gamsberg North

W Price,1 A Molifie,2 K Pillay,2 K Moses,3 I Lipton,4 P Greenhill,4 L Torres,4 P Spathelf,5 M Becker2*

1 Black Mountain Mining, Vedanta Zinc International, Aggeneys, South Africa

2 Centre for Minerals Research, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Cape Town, South Africa

3 Department of Geological Sciences, University of Cape Town, South Africa

4 AMC Consultants Pty Ltd, Melbourne, Australia

5 Gamsberg Operations, Black Mountain Mining, Vedanta Zinc International, Aggeneys, South Africa

Gamsberg North is a world class Zn ± Pb and Ag deposit located in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa that came into production in 2018. It is a geologically, geochemically and mineralogically complex ore deposit, with its primary variability arising from the complex Mn and Fe deportment. The primary ore mineral, sphalerite, exhibits a range of compositions depending on the degree of Fe and Mn substitution for Zn in the sphalerite crystal lattice. Mn in the concentrate significantly impacts the price and saleability of the final concentrate product. To ensure that targets for the Mn grade in the final sphalerite concentrate are met, complex blending of the run of mine feed ore is required. This blending in turn requires upfront knowledge of the sphalerite composition mineral distribution spatially throughout the ore body. This paper describes the programmatic approach that was taken to acquire this ore body knowledge using a range of analytical techniques (QEMSCAN, SEM-EDS/WDS, EPMA, XRD, Raman, ICP-OES) complemented by the application of machine learning algorithms to develop predictive models that can be applied to the drill hole database. Developing a comprehensive understanding of the mineralogy and associated sphalerite compositional variation across the orebody and host rocks is fundamental to managing various aspects of mining, through ore blending to the processing of the ore, to optimise the saleable concentrate.

GMUSG Conference and Trade Expo 2023

In Attendance

Ian Lipton

Principal Geometallurgist

In Attendance

Derek du P reez

Advisory Lead - Business Transformation

Read our case study

Perumin 36 Mining Convention

Thu, 24 Aug 2023 14:55:05 GMT

AMC at Perumin 36 Mining Convention

AMC Consultants is excited to attend

Perumin as part of the Austrade delegation.

Hill of Value™ Strategy Optimization

AMC’s Hill of Value® process is a robust way to uncover and assess all available opportunities; allowing you to make an informed decision on how to achieve your preferred strategic position.

Based on unique IP, conceived by AMC’s very own Principal Mining Engineer, Brian Hall over two decades ago
More inputs and more scenarios enable the world’s most comprehensive model that reduces risk and extracts value across a mine’s life cycle
Creates unique Hills of Value that are dynamic and site specific so you can select your preferred strategic position with confidence

Predictive Geometallurgy™

Predictive Geometallurgy™ is a process that produces a dynamic 3D block model that enables you to understand your orebody variability – allowing you to improve design, scheduling and recoveries, while reducing operating costs and volatility.

Multidisciplinary team with geologists, mining, data scientists, and metallurgist process experts
360-degree view of the orebody, from drill hole to process plant, in a predictive working model that’s adaptive to change
Site specific 3D block model, allowing orebody variability and production impacts to be effectively managed

Mineral Reporting Assurance

AMC’s expert Mineral Reporting Assurance Team helps resource companies in the process of estimating their mineral assets to assure shareholders that appropriate and reliable processes are in place.

Some of the codes we have expertise and/or leadership roles in developing are:

Mineral Reporting Assurance

AMC combines:

Experience from thousands of high-quality and compliant Mineral Resource and Reserve estimates for Major and small companies around the world, including companies with complex mineral deposits and company structures.

Deep knowledge of reporting codes coming from our involvement in developing these industry guidelines.

A tried and tested practical and thorough approach to assessing reporting code compliance and advising on filling compliance gaps.

Perumin contact

Francis McCann

General Manager, Toronto

Principal Mining Engineer

Perumin 36 Convencion Minera

Thu, 24 Aug 2023 10:59:32 GMT

AMC - Perumin 36 Convencion Minera

AMC en Perumin 36

AMC asistirá a Perumin 36 en Arequipa como parte de la delegación de Austrade. El ingeniero principal de minas, Mark Chesher, se complace en representar a AMC en este importante evento al que AMC asiste todos los años. La conferencia se llevará a cabo del 25 al 29 de septiembre en Arequipa y está patrocinada por algunas de las empresas mineras más grandes del Perú, incluidas Antamina, Cerro Verde, BHP y AngloAmerican.

Qué hacemos

La razón de ser de AMC Consultants es ayudar a las empresas mineras a encontrar maneras más inteligentes de minar y descubrir el valor comercial oculto. Ayudamos a los líderes en minería a evaluar oportunidades, resolver desafíos de productividad ocultos, y mejorar el rendimiento en todo el ciclo de minado.

Cumplimos con las cifras

Más de 60

Productos básicos (“commodities”)

Más de 10,000

Proyectos

40 Años de experiencia

$ 5 mil millones

en oportunidades de crecimiento desde la línea de base entregadas por Advisory

Más de 85 proyectos en latinoamérica

en los últimos 5 años

Hemos trabajado en

más de 110 países

Algunos de nuestros 40+ clientes en latinoamérica

en los últimos 5 años

Anglo American

Aftermath Silver

Barrick Gold

Equinox Gold

Fresnillo Plc

Glencore

Anglo American

Aftermath Silver

Barrick Gold

Equinox Gold

Fresnillo Plc

Glencore

Hemos trabajado en

más de 110 países

AMC de un vistazo

• Nuestra actividad central es responder a cuatro necesidades clave: evaluar, desarrollar, mejorar y transformar. Poseemos experiencia significativa en minería a tajo abierto y subterránea.

• Empleamos más de 160 expertos. Nuestro equipo incluye especialistas en ingeniería de minas, geología, ingeniería geotécnica y metalurgia.

Más de 500 proyectos por año

Evaluar

Informes de Factibilidad

Asesoría Corporativa

Desarrollar

Minería

Geología

Ingeniería Geotécnica

Metalurgia

Servicios de Ingeniería

AMC Advisory

• Advisory es nuestro equipo global especializado dedicado a la mejora y transformación de proyectos y operaciones mineras.

• Combinamos SmartData™, la base de datos de rendimiento minero más completa, software y análisis sofisticados, y la profunda experiencia minera que solo pueden aportar 40 años como consultores mineros.

Advisory crea puentes entre soluciones técnicas y resultados comerciales en minería

10x Performance Diagnostics™

10x Performance Diagnostics™ es un diagnóstico / evaluación comparativa de rendimiento “Benchmarking” independiente enfocado en la alineación estratégica, el control de calidad y la mejora de la mina. Combina experiencia, datos, y análisis sofisticados para permitirle saber dónde se está desempeñando bien, dónde están sus puntos ciegos y, lo que es más importante, cómo mejorar, con confianza.

SmartData™
Conjuntos de datos comparables con datos de más de 300 sitios
Menos de seis semanas desde la visita al sitio hasta el valor identificado y los próximos pasos acordados

Hill of Value™ Strategy Optimization

El proceso Hill of Value® de AMC es una forma sólida de descubrir y evaluar todas las oportunidades disponibles; permitiéndole tomar una decisión informada sobre cómo lograr su posición estratégica preferida.

Basado en una propiedad intelectual única, concebida por nuestro propio ingeniero principal de minas, Brian Hall, hace más de dos décadas
Más insumos y más escenarios permiten el modelo más completo del mundo para reducir el riesgo y extraer valor a lo largo del ciclo de vida de una mina
Crea colinas de valor únicas que son dinámicas y específicas al sitio lo que le permite seleccionar su posición estratégica preferida con confianza

Predictive Geometallurgy™

Predictive Geometallurgy™ or Geometalurgia Predictiva es un proceso que produce un modelo de bloques 3D dinámico que le permite comprender la variabilidad de su yacimiento, lo que le permite mejorar el diseño, la programación y las recuperaciones, al mismo tiempo que reduce los costos operativos y la volatilidad.

Equipo multidisciplinario conformado por geólogos, mineros, científicos de datos, y metalúrgicos
Vista de 360 grados del yacimiento, desde el pozo de perforación hasta la planta de procesamiento, en un modelo de trabajo predictivo que se adapta al cambio
Modelo de bloques 3D específico del sitio, lo que permite gestionar de manera efectiva la variabilidad del yacimiento y los impactos de la producción

Mineral Reporting Assurance

El equipo experto de aseguramiento de informes minerales de AMC ayuda a las empresas mineras en el proceso de estimar sus Recursos y Reservas Minerales a asegurar a sus accionistas que se implementan procesos adecuados y confiables.

Algunos de los códigos en los que somos expertos y/o tenemos posiciones de liderazgo son:

Algunos de nuestros expertos

Steve Hunt

Presidente Comité JORC, CRIRSCO Miembro

Francis McCann

Miembro de CIM

Peter Stoker

Tesorero CRIRSCO, Vicepresidente Comité JORC

Genoa Vartell

Miembro de CIM

Mark Burnett

Miembro Ejecutivo del Comité PERC, Miembro del Comité CRIRSCO

Andrew Hall

JORC Miembro del Comité

Garantía de informes minerales

AMC combina:

Experiencia de miles de estimaciones de Recursos y Reservas Minerales de alta calidad para empresas tanto grandes como pequeñas alrededor del mundo. Esto incluye empresas con depósitos minerales complejos y estructuras empresariales intricadas.

Profundo conocimiento de los códigos de informes gracias a nuestra participación en el desarrollo de estos códigos de la industria.

Un método probado, práctico y completo para evaluar el nivel de cumplimiento con las obligaciones de presentación de informes y cómo llenar cualquier brecha de cumplimiento.

Contáctenos

Francis McCann

General Manager, Toronto

Principal Mining Engineer

AusIMM NZ Branch Annual Conference

Tue, 22 Aug 2023 12:27:54 GMT

AusIMM NZ Branch Annual Conference

AMC's Principal Mining Consultant Peter Fisher is excited to attend the New Zealand Branch Annual Conference.

Hosted at the Rydges Latimer Christchurch, the AusImm conference will run from 20-22 August 2023 with a focus on "enabling a sustainable future".

AMC has recently published a study regarding the race to develop graphite mines, and its potential as an alternative energy supply.

In Attendance

Peter Fisher

Principal Mining Consultant

Graphite and AMC

GMUSG Conference and Trade Expo 2023

Tue, 08 Aug 2023 15:39:17 GMT

19th Global Maintenance USG Conference and Trade Expo

AMC Consultants was a proud sponsor of GMUSG, which took place in Port Augusta, South Australia, on the 15th-17th August 2023. AMC had a booth and provided satchel inserts to all attendees. The event attracted more than 700 delegates which is a record. Rob Chesher and Andrew Proudman , represented AMC at the event.

Below are some photos from the event with some commentary about the presentations.

The Hon. Tom Koutsantonis, SA Minister for Energy and Mining detailed an exciting strategic plan for the Spencer Gulf and the state to become a clean, economic powerhouse focused on

A South Australian copper province featuring an expanded Olympic Dam smelter and refinery
A green iron and steel facility at Whyalla that uses South Australian magnetite ore
A green hydrogen industry utilising the high-intensity renewable energy zone around the Upper Spencer Gulf.
Places such as Port Augusta where the sun shines (a lot) and the wind blows (a lot) are in high demand worldwide!

In addition to the copper province allowing BHP to fully exploit the resources of Olympic Dam, Prominent Hill, Carapateena and Oak Dam, the expanded Olympic Dan smelter could provide a processing option for other stakeholders in the region.

Gavin Hobart, EGM Mining Growth and Transformation, GFG Alliance - SIMEC Mining and Liberty OneSteel – Whyalla Greeniron and Greensteel Transformation, outlined an exciting project to use magnetite ore from SA and hydrogen manufactured by electrolyser in the Spencer Gulf to manufacture green iron and steel at the Whyalla plant.

The South Australian government has identified two critical ways that the pace of these major projects can be accelerated:

Dr Paul Heithersay, Chief Executive SA Department for Energy and Mining detailed the critical importance of early engagement with Native Title groups to ensure that all stakeholders are aware of new projects and initiatives early in the project cycle so that they are fully prepared to advocate for rights and benefits for their people, and so that the projects are not unduly delayed by the Native Title process. 23 groups were pre-emptively engaged on the proposed Hydrogen and Renewable Energy Act – 2023 under this excellent strategic initiative.

Jeremy Conway, CEO Infrastructure SA – Northern Water Project, detailed SA’s answer to the second project accelerator: creation of a ready supply of water; desalinated in the Spencer Gulf at 260 ML per day using renewable energy and reticulated for all users using a 600 km pipeline system.

Meet our team at the GMUSG Conference and Trade Expo 2023

In Attendance

Rob Chesher

Technical Manager – Business Development

In Attendance

Andrew Proudman

Geology Manager, Adelaide

Read our case study

AMC at The Melbourne Mining Club in London 2023

Mon, 10 Jul 2023 15:11:08 GMT

AMC at the Melbourne Mining Club in London 2023

After a four year hiatus, on Thursday, June 29, The Melbourne Mining Club Dinner took place at the presitgious Guildhall in London. Attended by more than 500 mining industry professionals and media, this is one of the most important events in the mining industry calendar and for AMC Consultants, a proud sponsor of the club and the dinner.

AMC was well represented with two members of the executive team travelling to London exclusively for this event as well as two members of its management team. This AMC delegation consisted of CEO Patrick Smith , Nick Szebor , Johann van Wijk , Dominic Claridge , Mark Chesher , and Johnny Mercer-Royce .

MMC Overseas - Video recording

In this video recording, Gary Nagle is interviewed by The Melbourne Mining Club, discussing the challenges faced by the mining industry and their on-going growth through purchasing tech resources. Leslie Hook, the Natural Resources Editor at the Financial Times (also known as the Pink Bible), joins the conversation.

Soundcloud audio recording is also available below.

Vote of thanks

AMC's CEO Patrick Smith presents guest speaker Gary Nagle with a 'thank you' pick for his guest presentation.

Other images here include AMC's table with Hugh Shedden and Mark Chesher pictured.

Meet our team

Patrick Smith

Managing Director and CEO

Attendees

Nicholas Szebor

Principal Geologist

Attendees

Dominic Claridge

Principal Mining Engineer

Mark Chesher

Executive Lead - Business Development / Principal Mining Engineer

Johnny Mercer-Royce

Principal Mining Engineer

Hugh Shedden

Senior Mining Engineer

Johann van Wijk

General Manager, Adelaide / Principal Geotechnical Engineer

Access exclusive

video content from AMC

Life of Mine 2023

Mon, 19 Jun 2023 13:02:21 GMT

Life of Mine 2023

AMC Consultants is proud to be a name badge and lanyards sponsor for the Life of Mine Conference in Brisbane from August 2nd to 4th, 2023.

On Day 3 of the conference (Friday, August 4th), Jayson Tolley, an Advisory Lead member of AMC (Strategy Optimization), will be presenting during Session 10 of the program.

Jayson's presentation, titled Getting your cut off grade policy right for better ESG outcomes , will take place just after midday.

Jayson Tolley

Advisory Lead – Strategy Optimization

August 4, 2023 | Session 10

11:40 AM - 11:55 AM
Getting your cut off grade policy right for better ESG outcomes

Presented by Jayson Tolley

Getting your cut off grade policy right for better ESG outcomes

The shift towards clean energy technologies is having a significant impact on the mining industry, with the demand for minerals such as copper, nickel, cobalt, lithium, manganese, and graphite increasing exponentially. To meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, mineral requirements for clean energy technologies would need to quadruple by 2040, and to achieve net-zero globally by 2050, mineral inputs in 2040 would need to be six times more than today.
The most significant driver of mineral demand is electric vehicles (EVs) and battery storage, with lithium seeing the fastest growth, and copper demand doubling over the same period due to the expansion of electricity networks globally. The demand for these minerals is expected to rise significantly as investments in clean energy technologies continue to grow in the future. As the world moves towards a decarbonized economy, the minerals industry is under increasing pressure to reduce its environmental and social impacts and meet the increased demand for minerals.
Mining companies are facing additional challenges due to the depletion of near-surface mineral deposits globally, with more mines transitioning from open pits to underground. The transition to underground mining requires the right strategy to economically access deeper mineable inventories and to keep up with future clean energy technology demands to achieve net-zero globally by 2050. One key way to achieve this is through decarbonization using ‘green’ mining technologies such as replacing current primary diesel mining fleets with battery electric vehicles (BEVs). However, these measures through electrification overlook the bigger opportunity to maximize the socio-economic returns from the mine while also reducing the overall carbon footprint.

Meet our team at Life of Mine

G lenn Mathieson

Principal Mining Consultant

In Attendance

Jayson Tolley

Advisory Lead – Strategy Optimization

"Cut-off Grades and Optimizing the Strategic Mine Plan"

Iron Ore at AMC

Mon, 19 Jun 2023 12:46:31 GMT

Iron Ore at AMC

Appointing iron ore mining consultant: Your due diligence capability checklist

Whatever your touchpoint to iron ore mining, be it in the banking, finance, independent advisor or company sector, you likely require expert technical advice that spans geology, mining, geotechnical engineering, and corporate, if not a combination of all these.

Mistakes at any stage across any area of mining can lead to colossal financial or reputational damage and staggering loss. There is simply no room for error. When appointing the right - and best - consultant for the task, you must have confidence in your decision. Not only must the consultant have a wealth of experience, but you must also have implicit trust in their capabilities and reputation.

So, how does your due diligence sort the iron from the clayore?

Based on almost four decades of working in this demanding field, our team here at AMC has consolidated the following checklist to help you make the right decision for your business.

Questions you should ask when vetting an iron ore mining consultant

These questions will enable you to very quickly identify the calibre of consultant you are considering:

For how long has this consultant been operational in iron ore mining and how many projects have they led over this time?
What can the consultant do to de-risk your project and hedge against future market volatility?
How can this consultant objectively demonstrate that they are trusted by the industry?
How can this consultant objectively demonstrate their reputation in the industry?
What is the level of transparency in this consultant’s work and how will they keep me abreast of progress?

Iron ore mining consulting - general capability checklist

The following are non-negotiable, broader capabilities your consultant simply must be able to demonstrate:

Thorough experience with initial scoping studies yielding technical risk assessments to definitive feasibility studies.
Ability to produce accompanying cost estimates to bankable standards.
Preparation of independent technical reviews for proposed transaction along with relevant financial advice.
Ability to undertake geological, geotechnical and mining engineering aspects of studies.
Experience in Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve estimation.
Sound knowledge of contract tender evaluation.
Strategic analysis and optimization..
Ability to produce independent reports in accordance with the JORC Code (or equivalent) and advice on ASX stock exchange listing- related matters.
Experience in preparing Ore Reserve audits and mine planning reviews.
Ability to undertake Owner vs Contract mining studies and produce support and equipment reviews.
Mining cost estimation and analysis.
Geotechnical assessment.
Provision of trade-off studies, including options analysis to determine the most appropriate mining method and mode of material transport for mines.

With the above serving as a broad-base foundation, an experienced iron ore mining consultant needs to demonstrate even more specific skill sets. These include:

Iron ore geology expertise

Mineral resource estimation and preparation and publication of JORC Mineral Resource Statements and NI 43-101 Technical Reports.

Exploration and production support and advice.
Grade control, blending strategies, reconciliation.
Independent exploration valuations and reviews.
Exploration targeting and country/region reviews.

Iron ore mining engineering expertise

Scoping, bankable feasibility, pre-feasibility, feasibility and strategic studies.
Pit optimization, strategic scheduling, financial evaluation and benchmarking studies.
Life of Mine (LOM), operational production scheduling, pit and waste designs.

Iron ore

Cut-off grade analysis, product mix strategy, mining loss and dilution studies.
Ore Reserve estimation and preparation and publication of JORC Ore Reserve Statements and NI 43-101 Technical Reports.
Site support for various operational, mine planning, management and benchmarking/operational improvement roles.
Risk assessments – mining and project risk.

Iron ore geotechnical and metallurgy expertise

Geotechnical slope stability and risk assessment.
Open-pit geotechnical monitoring, management, advice and site secondments
Operational process performance improvement.

Why appoint AMC Consultants for your iron ore mining project?

Our frontline iron ore mining experience is second to none

Having consulted for the past ten years on more than 500 projects covering all iron ore deposit styles across all major iron ore provinces globally, AMC holds a wealth of hard-won iron ore consulting experience. Our knowledge and skill set includes direct experience within numerous operations and technical and corporate consulting studies for iron ore projects worldwide.

AMC's iron ore experience around the world

Peter Fisher

Principal Mining Engineer

Iron Ore Commodity Champion

Peter has more than 35 years of diverse experience in the mining industry, holding executive management and consulting roles in BHP, Rio Tinto, NAB, Hancock Prospecting, Vale, Bechtel, CSR, Talbot Group, and HWE Mining. He has served as Director of private mining companies and CEO of listed and unlisted companies, with extensive experience in large-scale mining, rail/port/road logistics and contract mining.Peter’s core capabilities are developing and implementing complex strategies, managing commercial, risk, organizational and technical solutions in the mining industry.

We are iron ore mining consultant specialists

Our key personnel are supported by over 100 geologists, geotechnical engineers, mining engineers, metallurgists and associates with further expertise. We provide accurate, timely studies enabling many deposits to advance to the next stage. Our clients include the biggest names in global iron ore mining, including BHP , Rio Tinto Iron Ore , Fortescue Metals Group , Roy Hill , Kumba Iron Ore , African Minerals Ltd, Sesa Goa Ltd , Qatar Mining , London Mining Plc, Nordic Iron Ore AB , Nevada Iron Ltd and dozens more.

We pioneered Hill of Value™ and Smart Data™ System

AMC’s ground-breaking Hill of Value ™ strategy optimisation process has been in continual development for more than 20 years. We know that every mining operation is unique and we apply Hill of Value™ to comprehensively assess all the practical input and scenario combinations available to you. As a result, you can make assured, confident decisions. Moreover, every report we prepare is founded on data run through our Smart Data™ System, which captures mining cost and productivity data across mining methods, commodity types, geographies, and more.

The mining sector trusts us

We’re not advisors perched on the periphery of the mining sector - we’re on the frontline, as is demonstrated by our presence on the JORC Code Committee:

AMC Executive Lead - Technical, Steve Hunt , is the present JORC Code Committee Chair
AMC General Manager, Roderick Carlson , is a JORC Committee ex-officio member
AMC Principal Geologist, Peter Stoaker OAM, is JORC Code Deputy Chair
AMC Director / Executive Lead, Andrew Hall , and AMC Geology Manager, Tracie Burrows, are JORC Committee non-executives

Contact us

If your business requires iron ore mining consultants with an outstanding pedigree and proven results, contact AMC today.

The Melbourne Mining Club in London 2023

Fri, 09 Jun 2023 10:03:22 GMT

The Melbourne Mining Club in London 2023

AMC Consultants will be one of the principal sponsors for The Melbourne Mining Club 's special event in London. This exclusive gathering will feature a keynote guest presentation by Gary Nagle, the CEO of Glencore.

Known as "The Melbourne Mining Club in London", this event is dedicated to promoting the global minerals industry. The club operates in association with the Minerals Council of Australia and the AusIMM, showcasing the importance of collaboration and knowledge exchange.

The evening promises an atmosphere of sophistication, with lounge suit attire and entry via an art gallery in Guildhall. AMC looks forward to the opportunity to engage with industry leaders and network with like-minded professionals.

Please save the date: Thursday 29 June, 2023 , at 6:30 PM .

AMC Consultants is proud to support The Melbourne Mining Club and hopes to see you at this prestigious occasion.

Additional AusIMM Events in London

While in the UK, Mark Chesher (Executive Lead - Business Development / Principal Mining Engineer) will attend the Resources Industry Leaders Lunch on the 26th June. Sponsored by Bloomberg, this exclusive event invites VIP resources leaders to connect and discuss the critical role of the Australian mining sector and global industry trends. On the same day, Mark will also be attend the AusIMM local Branch meeting in London.

Meet our team

Patrick Smith

Managing Director and CEO of AMC Consultants

Deputy Chair, Austmine

Attendees

Nicholas Szebor

Principal Geologist

Attendees

Dominic Claridge

Principal Mining Engineer

Mark Chesher

Executive Lead - Business Development / Principal Mining Engineer

Johnny Mercer-Royce

Principal Mining Engineer

Access exclusive

video content from AMC

World Mining Congress 2023

Wed, 31 May 2023 09:51:50 GMT

World Mining Congress 2023

AMC Consultants is a proud sponsor of the 26th edition of the World Mining Congress taking place in Brisbane, Australia. AMC will be exhibiting the event at Booth 132 with CEO Patrick Smith, Rod Carlson and Robert Chesher in representing AMC.

AMC is proud to be the Afternoon Tea sponsor of this event.

This conference provides a distinctive opportunity for global representatives from the foremost resource economies to convene, establish new partnerships, engage in discussions about present challenges, and exchange cutting-edge research, technology, and best practices.

High-grade gold-copper open pit and underground mine case study

Meet our team

Rod Carlson

General Manager – Principal Geologist

Attendees

Robert Chesher

Technical Manager – Business Development

Graphite and AMC

Thu, 18 May 2023 14:12:52 GMT

Graphite and AMC

In recent years, many companies have joined the race to develop the next graphite mine. With the rapid development of alternative energy sources for many applications, improved batteries with increased storage capacity have become critical to world growth. As a result, the lithium, cadmium, nickel, vanadium, and graphite markets have seen an increase in demand; especially high purity, large sized graphite flakes, which are able to attract a significant premium in the current market.

According to Allied Market Research, the graphite market was valued at $14.3 billion in 2019, and is expected to reach a total market value of US$21.6 billion by 2027. This is driven by high demand for lithium-ion batteries and through graphite electrode, electric arc furnace steel production.

Clearly, graphite mining and processing will feature significantly in the future. Individuals and firms like AMC Consultants (AMC) with substantial experience in graphite projects, from exploration, resource and reserve estimation through to mining and processing, will be in demand. Graphite deposits have unique characteristics for mining, as well as in geotechnical performance, processing and tailings management, which makes graphite experience essential for technical studies and JORC or NI 43-101 reporting.

About Graphite

Graphite is a form of elemental carbon, the other two being coal and diamond. It has a black to steel grey colour. It is extremely soft and feels greasy to touch in its natural form. It is opaque, even in the finest particles. Graphite is a good conductor of heat and electricity. It can stand temperatures up to 3,000 ^o C in an inert atmosphere, though in the presence of oxygen it burns between 620 ^o C and 720 ^o C. It is unaffected by most acids and reagents but yields graphitic acid on treatment with a mixture of potassium nitrate and nitric acid. Graphite has the highest natural strength and stiffness of any material currently known.

Source Allied Market Research

Most people are surprised to learn that a lithium-ion battery contains 20 to 30 times more graphite than lithium. These batteries are becoming increasingly popular in power tools and electric scooters. Growth will be further accelerated with increased use in hybrid and fully electric passenger and utility vehicles. Graphite also finds extensive use in nuclear reactor fuel cells, solar power storage systems and electronics ranging from smartphones to laptops. It has been categorized as a critical, strategic mineral by several governments, including the United States and governments in the European Union. Other uses include crucibles for melting non-ferrous metals, lubricants, foundry facing, pencils, protective coatings for wood, construction materials in the aircraft industry, and large industrial applications such as the electrodes in electric furnaces.

A simplified lithium battery with spherical graphite in blue and lithium oxides in yellow

(www.mdpi.com)

Both natural and synthetic graphite are available to industry. There are three distinct types of natural graphite, being amorphous graphite, flake graphite and high crystalline graphite.

Graphite types

Amorphous graphite

This is the most abundant form of graphite and has a relatively low carbon content of between 70% and 80%. There is no visible crystallinity, and it is not of a suitable quality for most applications.

Flake graphite

Flake graphite is a less common form of graphite, with a carbon range of 85% to 98%. It is priced approximately four times higher than amorphous graphite and is used in many traditional applications. These include lubrication additives and furnace electrodes, where the graphite is introduced as a paste that is continuously fed into the top of the electrode while it burns away at the other end inside the furnace.

Large flakes are desirable for many of the emerging technology applications such as Li-ion battery anode material, and as a result the larger flake sizes tend to attract a high price.

High crystalline graphite

This is also referred to as vein, lump, or crystalline vein graphite; and it is currently only extracted in Sri Lanka. The carbon content of high crystalline graphite ranges from 90% to 99%. Due to its scarcity and high costs, the viability of using this type of graphite in most industrial applications is limited.

High crystalline graphite

Synthetic graphite

Synthetic graphite is a manufactured product made by high-temperature treatment of amorphous carbon materials. In the United States, the primary feedstocks used for making synthetic graphite are calcined petroleum coke and coal tar pitch. This makes it up to ten times more expensive to produce than natural graphite, and as a result, less appealing for use in most applications.

What is Graphene?

In recent years, graphene has generated a large amount of interest due to its very unique properties. It is a natural material that is the basic building block of graphite, achieved when the thickness is reduced to less than 10 atoms. Although it was “discovered” in the 1940s, it took until 2004 before scientists figured out how to isolate it from graphite particles, using what is termed a “scotch tape” exfoliation method. Since then, there has been tremendous interest in graphene, with research scientists demonstrating its suitability for combination with a vast range of materials to greatly enhance the performance of those materials. There has also been an explosion in the number of patents being taken out, as industry has been preparing for the start of the new and deeply disruptive “graphene age”. The table below lists the key properties of graphene that industry is seeking to employ.

Graphene

Source: The Investors’ Guide to Graphene

Graphene can be manufactured from different carbon sources and is not limited to graphite as a source material, with manufacturing methods including:

Carbon vapour deposition (CVD).
Carbon dioxide reduction.
Epitaxial growth on silicon carbides and metal substrates.
Graphite oxide reduction.
Graphite sonication.
Carbon nanotubes (CNT).
Mechanical exfoliation.

Graphite Deposits

Graphite is of metamorphic origin and usually found as veins, lenses, pockets, and as thin laminae disseminated in gneisses, schists and phyllites. It is usually associated with minerals such as quartz, calcite, micas, tourmalines, and with iron-rich meteorites. Flake graphite, the most valuable form, is found disseminated in metamorphosed quartz-mica-feldspar gneiss, schist and marble. High crystalline graphite is precipitated during propylitic hydrothermal alteration of the volcanic host rock. Amorphous graphite is formed by metamorphosis of coal seams through magmatic intrusions. Amorphous graphite is soft, black, earthy, and has less lustre than crystalline graphite.

Commercially viable grades can vary from approximately 8% to more than 20% of total graphitic carbon (TGC) in the deposit, with cut-off grades usually between 2% and 5% TGC.

Overall, more than 100 known deposits exist, and most countries have at least one graphite deposit. However, world production is mainly focussed in Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, India, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe.

Typical process flowsheet

Commercially viable grades can vary from approximately 8% to more than 20% of total graphitic carbon (TGC) in the deposit, with cut-off grades usually between 2% and 5% TGC.

Figure 1. Typical graphite process flowsheet

Source: SRG Graphite

Graphite is a naturally hydrophobic mineral and was reputed to be the first mineral concentrated by flotation. The flotation separation from feldspar, quartz, mica, and marble gangue is enhanced by the addition of small amounts of a neutral oil such as kerosene, and by the addition of a frother such as pine oil or an alcohol.

Cleaning of the rougher concentrate, even after repeated gentle, low solid content regrinding with pebble mills in between cleaner flotation stages is challenging because graphite smears easily, which could render remaining gangue particles floatable. Also, some graphite flakes have a siliceous skeleton, or are composed of a flaky layer of mica in between layers of flaky graphite, making it difficult to obtain an ultra-high-grade product. Using flotation and multiple cleaning stages, a grade of up to 97% to 98% TGC can be achieved. In order to obtain ultra-high-purity flake graphite with up to 99.98% TGC for the nuclear industry, chemical digestion and removal of impurities by leaching is necessary.

Products

Final products sold by the operations can be tailored to demand, depending on the initial flake size, purity, and effort that the producer is prepared to expend before shipping the graphite concentrate to market.

The most important initial differentiator is obviously purity. However, once certain purity objectives have been achieved, e.g., TGC > 97%, size specifications are the most important differentiator. Typical operations would screen the product into three to five different size fractions, with bagging facilities allowing the blending of size fractions for certain customers, if required. In addition, fines can be formed into briquettes, which can still achieve a reasonable price.

A high-premium product is spherical graphite, which is produced by polishing the edges of large flakes, producing high-purity, spherical particles with larger overall surface area and better conductivity, providing enhanced battery anode characteristics. Spherical graphite is produced mainly in China, with high production costs elsewhere preventingmost other producers from entering this high-value market. Figure 2 shows the basic steps of spherical-graphite processing to create a high-value final product. However, a significant additional cost is incurred due to loss of product volume through the generation of fines during the additional processing steps.

Figure 2. Flake to spherical graphite – the process

Source: Peninsula Mines / Finfeed.com

AMC’s capability

Many graphite deposits are under active evaluation or development, and this will continue as a response to rising demand, especially in the battery market, but also in the development of alternative uses for graphite-based materials such as graphene.

AMC’s graphite capability is backed by specific practical and technical experience, as well as a global reputation in all types of commodities in all phases of the mining cycle. This includes resource estimation, feasibility studies, project development, underground and open-pit mine design, and processing. AMC understands the critical factors that are unique to graphite, including flake size, purity and market sensitivities, technical and practical challenges and risks, and their management and solutions.

Need Help?

Meet some of our graphene experts

Mark Burnett

Principal Geologist

Tracie Burrows

Advisory Lead - Geometallurgy

Meet some of our graphene experts

Rob Chesher

Technical Manager – Business Development

Paul Greenhill

Principal Consultant

References:

W Grigor; The Investors’ Guide to Graphene; Far East Capital Limited; February 2015

M R Patil, K.S. Shivakurnar, S. Prakash and R. Bhima Rao; Estimation of the liberation size of graphite in a schistose rock and its response to beneficiation; Minerals and Mining; November 1997

I H Redeker, E H Bentzen; Plant and Laboratory Practice in Non-metallic Mineral Flotation; Colorado School of Mines Research Institute; Undated

S Moores; Spherical graphite: how is it made?; Industrial Minerals; August 2013

Efficient Mining Operations Summit

Wed, 03 May 2023 12:29:46 GMT

Efficient Mining Operations Summit

AMC Consultants is a proud sponsor of the 6th edition of the Efficient Mining Operations Summit 4-5 May 2023.

Dominic Claridge and Johnny Mercer-Royce from our office in Maidenhead (UK) will represent AMC at this Summit and will also present and participate in panel discussions.

This year's hybrid event, based out of Barcelona, will cover a number of topics incuding:

Continuous improvement mine to mill
Drill-and-blast optimization
Blasting simulation
Effective mine planning and engineering
Operationalizing sustainability

AMC Consultants - Bronze Sponsor

Johnny Mercer-Royce

Principal Mining Engineer

Day 1 - 4 May 2023, 14:10

Five Key Levers to Improve Margins and Beat the Cost-Price Squeeze

Cost management versus cost cutting.
KPIs and getting the most out of your production data.
Using predictive geometallurgy for a better understanding of your orebody.
Undertake strategy optimization and leave break-even behind.
Mine planning practices to align operations with strategic intent.

Featuring a Q&A with Johnny Mercer-Royce

Day 2 - 5 May 2023, 9:15

Welcome address from the chair of the day

Chair of the day: Dominic Claridge

Day 2 - 5 May 2023, 13:30

Panel discussion: The Secret to Effective Mining is Optimization

Panel discussion leader: Johnny Mercer-Royce

Dominic Claridge

Principal Mining Engineer

Five Key Levers to Improve Margins and Beat the Cost-Price Squeeze

Navigating the Open Pit to Underground Mine Process

Wed, 03 May 2023 09:01:14 GMT

How to Prepare for an Open Pit to Underground Mining Transition

When is the right time to transition a mine from open pit to underground ?

Despite a lack of industry standards, there are two schools of thought. One is to initiate the transition once the open pit has reached its full potential to mitigate production rates, and operating and capital costs. The second is to approach this strictly as a cost analysis exercise to determine the depth that triggers the transition.

AMC believes the optimal solution can be found somewhere between each limit whilst also considering many technical and non-technical factors. At the heart of this lies the need for exacting, thorough mining feasibility studies and constant mining data collection and review.

We recently met with Andrew Hall, Director of AMC Consultants and Executive Lead – Advisory, who shared his expertise on this topic.

The effect of Russia’s invasion on the global commodity market

Mark Chesher, Executive Leader Business Development and Principal Mining Engineer at AMC Consultants, explains the likely long-term consequences of the invasion of Ukraine on global electric car battery raw material production and prices.

Chesher believes the war will contribute to a short-term deficit in copper supply. As for nickel, Norilsk is one of the major mining houses in the world, with approximately 10% of the world's nickel supply. “Supply contracts take a long time to work through the system. But if the sanctions are applied strictly, it will bite hard in the metals market across the world.”

Metallurgist and Technical Manager - Business Development, Rob Chesher, says that Russian nickel projects are well-developed for growth and taking them out of play for the foreseeable future will have consequences. “We talk a lot about ‘prospectivity’ – projects that are being developed further into the future, but they are currently in the study or early study phase. There are many targets following these trends throughout Eastern Siberia.”

Here Andrew addresses matters including:

Underground or open pit pros and cons
Why and when a transition should occur
What influences a transition
When planning should ideally commence
How long a transition might take
Main planning considerations
Common challenges you might encounter
How long the open pit can stay functioning
Health & safety considerations
Water management, ESG considerations, and more

If your mine is considering transitioning from open pit to underground operations, you cannot afford to miss these insights.

Which is better - an underground or open pit mine?

There are pros and cons for both.

Underground mining tends to leave a lesser ESG (Environmental, Social & Governance) footprint, which continue to reduce in line with technological advances. Indeed, if all ESG aspects were considered in detail, most mines would probably transition sooner.

However, the upfront costs are typically higher, often delaying a transition. Mining underground is also more technically challenging. Open pit mining is preferable for recovering weathered and more shallow resources, and it can lead to access points to underground mines.

Why and when would mining open pit move to underground?

Begin by establishing the upper and lower limits of the transition. The minimum depth determines the upper limit for mining the ore body using underground methods. The lower limit is determined by the Lerchs-Grossman ultimate pit, which is to establish the deepest possible limit of economically mining the ore body in an open mining pit.

When these limits are confirmed, the Lerchs-Grossman pit can be restricted by applying the opportunity cost of each block to establish the limit (as opposed to the profit), where the opportunity cost is the difference in the value of the block when mined by open pit or by underground. Here we assume that if a block can be mined by either method, if it is not an open pit mine, then it will be an underground operation.

The restricted (opportunity cost) pit is typically smaller than the ultimate Lerchs-Grossman pit shell. Notably, the basis for calculating the block values is quite different, and as a result, the restricted pit does not necessarily align with a particular phase in the ultimate pit.

So the upper and lower limits to positioning the base of the pit are now established in theory. However, targeting the precise “sweet spot” within this transition zone depends on a number of technical and non-technical influences.

What factors might influence a transition to mining underground?

As we’ve begun to mention, numerous factors will affect your ultimate decision. These include:

The level of knowledge regarding the deeper areas of the ore body
Access to personnel with the right skills and experience
The method and underground mining equipment available
Capital cost to establish underground access
The time frame to move to full ore underground production
Whether ore can be accessed from alternative sources
The existing process plant’s capacity to treat what might be different ore types at a lower feed rate
The time it takes to establish an underground mine
Environmental, safety, and social considerations of open pit mining as opposed to underground mining

As we can see, this is an extensive number of influences. Each must be understood in detail so that management and key stakeholders can make the most considered, informed, and accurate decision possible.

When to plan a transition to underground mining operations?

In an ideal scenario, planning should commence in the project’s early concept to feasibility stages. If at this stage going underground is an option only, planning is often postponed. This is especially the case if knowledge of the ore body at depth is limited or there is a lack of in-house skills to plan accordingly.

AMC’s mining services can provide the level of knowledge and planning skills your project requires. Contact our team to find out more.

How long does transitioning to an underground mine take?

This is where mines can be caught out, as it is common to underestimate the amount of time a transition requires. On average, the answer lies somewhere around five years minimum. Underestimating can lead to shortcuts, which in turn can compromise the mine’s long-term future.

Why this amount of time? It’s not surprising when you start to consider everything involved:

Drilling programmes
Test work
Technical studies
Approval processes
Actual construction
Commissioning

What are the main considerations when planning a transition from open pit mines to underground operation?

The quality and volume of technical data, a significant source of exploration drilling, is one of the most important factors. It is critical to establishing any potential underground operation's economic and technical feasibility and scope. Variations in this data can have a considerable influence on the transition.

As a result of costs and drill site availability, the deeper drilling goes, the more the density in the ore body and host rocks reduces. The result? Less drill core is available for logging and samples for test work. This can reduce planning confidence across a broad spectrum of areas, including:

Geology
Mineral resource estimates
Ground conditions
Selection of the mining method
Capital and operating costs
Potential production rates
Mined grade, metallurgical recovery and costs

Assumptions from existing data need to be made, much of it extrapolated from the open pit operation during the design’s conceptual level. As the mine progresses and reveals greater access to deeper parts of the ore body, ongoing measurements of geological, geotechnical data, metallurgical, and other key design parameters will be crucial in minimizing ongoing inherent risks.

To understand orebody variability, make design and scheduling improvements, minimize volatility and operational costs and increase recoveries, and reduce operating costs - discover AMC’s Predictive Geometallurgy ™.

What are the common challenges of moving to an underground operation?

There are two particularly common challenges a mine may encounter:

Providing appropriate feed volumes and material types to a plant that favours milling qualities over underground feed material

Strategic metallurgical plant reviews are required to balance typically reduced underground feed volumes (granted with higher grades to realize acceptable project economic outcomes). This could require:

Plant throughput reductions (turning off a parallel stream, for example)
Plant reduced utilization (campaigned milling time)
Other geometallurgy factors such as increased hardness with less throughput (generally counter-intuitive for pit operations whereby unit volume is t

Separating pit and underground activity during the transition phase

This challenge is exacerbated if underground access must come from within the pit itself. Some of the issues you might face in this instance include mismatched material movement, the operation’s access to materials, and blasting in underground mine restrictions (to cancel out underground intake airway issues or vibration problems for stope voids and/or pit walls).

What are the common challenges of moving to an underground operation?

It is not possible to transition personnel from open pit mining operations to underground without the necessary OH&S training. These types of mining are two very different beasts - communications, lighting, ventilation, emergency response and working in confined spaces are just some of the more obvious differences.

What effect does open pit mining to underground have on groundwater and water management?

Typically an open pit uses more water and creates greater water disturbance than an underground operation. Water ingress from the pit into the underground needs to be managed.

Considering environmental sustainability, will more mines transition earlier in the mining life cycle?

Environmental factors such as cultural heritage, groundwater, land access and use, visual optics, soil disturbance, air quality, biodiversity, and noise levels are typically lower and easier to manage underground. This is amplified when broader ESG strategies (such as renewable energy conversion, underground electrification of fleet, community programmes etc.) are applied. This makes underground mining particularly attractive to investors.

Contact AMC Consultants

Are you in the early stages of mine planning and need to factor in a transition phase? Is your open pit underway, but you will eventually need to go underground? Whatever your situation, contact our mining method transition experts. We have global experience in managing and supporting this transition for some of the biggest names in worldwide mining.

We’re here to help make your transition smart and successful.

Andrew Hall has more than 25 years of mining experience. He is a Chartered Professional (Mining) of the AusIMM and has a Master in Science in Mineral Economics, a Graduate Diploma in Project Management and a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Andrew’s particular expertise focuses on worldwide mining feasibility studies, technical due diligence and projects for metalliferous open pit and underground mines.

Austmine 2023 - Adelaide

Mon, 01 May 2023 04:00:55 GMT

Austmine 2023 - Adelaide

AMC Consultants looks forward to attending the Adelaide edition of the combined Copper to the World and Austmine 2023 Conferences . AMC is a proud sponsor of Session 3 and the Coffee Cart Sponsors. Rob Chesher will chair a session on the future of South American copper production on 9 May. We hope to see you there!

Patrick Smith, AMC's MD and CEO as well as an Austmine director, will be in attendance, along with Rob Chesher, who will chair the "Innovation driving the future of South American copper production" panel on 9 May at the Copper to the Word Conference.

Austmine, with more than 600 cooperate members and more than 30 years of advocating for Australia's MET sector, is looking to bring a focus to this year's key theme of Transform our Future. This focus will include insight into the leading-edge technologies, open innovation and forward-thinking strategy.

Copper to the World Conference

Robert Chesher

Technical Manager – Business Development

Copper to the World Conference - Innovation Driving the Future of South American copper production

On May 9, 2023, Nominated Speaker Rob Chesher will panel a chair at the Copper to the World Conference. Other panel members include:

Rafael Estrada, Manager of Information Systems, Telecommunications, and Process Control, Antamina
Simon Beddow, Stage 2 Development Program Manager, Minera Las Bambas Operada por MMG
Marcelo Medel, Managing Director, Duratray
Eric Zepeda Santander, Vice-President, Sierra Gorda S.C.M.

AMC Consultants is proud to be a sponsor of this talk, as well as the Coffee Cart sponsor for the event.

High-grade gold-copper open pit and underground mine case study

Attendees

Patrick Smith

Managing Director and CEO of AMC Consultants

Deputy Chair, Austmine

Attendees

Robert Chesher

Technical Manager – Business Development

How Electric Battery Minerals Are Changing

Tue, 25 Apr 2023 13:32:36 GMT

Download our complete white paper for more thorough information and insights

How The Global Race For Car Battery Materials Is Changing Mining

With the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, alongside the obvious humanitarian issues, a huge shock was also felt across commodity markets, with far-reaching consequences for the mining sector. Russia is the world’s third-largest nickel producer and eighth-largest producer of copper.

Under the ever-changing lens of geopolitics and ESG shifts, AMC’s world-leading mining consultants explore how the global race for raw materials for electric vehicle battery supplies is changing mining as we know it.

The effect of Russia’s invasion on the global commodity market

Nickel and copper mining in Africa and Asia - new exploration

A race for new electric vehicle battery raw materials exploration is therefore now underway.

Central Asia

Kazakhstan has significant copper production and abundant reserves of other minerals – primarily zinc. Despite prospectivity in that part of the world, it remains relatively under-explored and could therefore push the case for more investment in the Central Asian area.

Pakistan

This country could become a key producer through the recent announcement of a partnership between Barrick and the federal and state Pakistan governments.

Southeast Asia

This region also sees significant projects along the Pacific Rim, with the Philippines being a very important area for future production. Indonesia also remains important, but this is caveated by more prohibitive legislation and political challenges, which means it takes longer for projects to come to fruition.

South America

The big producers are Chile, Brazil, and Peru. However, while commodities may be in rich supply in these regions, mineral deposits are often found in the middle of a rainforest, up a mountain, or in areas only accessible by river transport.

We're likely to see an increase in brownfield expansion. Given large greenfield projects take 10-15 years for development and can take up to 25 years to get into production, there will likely be two speeds that unfold. One is finding metal that is for the long term, and the other is to satisfy this immediate gap. This direction will therefore likely drive existing open pit operations to bigger pits or to transitioning underground to increase or extend production from existing operations.

Download our complete white paper for more thorough information and insights

Electric car battery raw materials & a copper deficit

Copper mine production is not keeping pace with current increases in demand. New demand created by electric vehicles (EV) is increasing, and the market appears set for a large deficit, exceeding what has been observed over the last five years or so. In the short term, the prognosis is bleak.

Thanks

The copper stockpile situation looks set to worsen. Reversing this trend will require a significant increase in spending on exploration, project studies, and new mine development. Improved copper recycling rates are likely to assist in the longer term, but the immediate need is unlikely to be met by scrap recovery due to the long lifecycle of most copper-intensive products.

The effects of geopolitical events on car battery mining

The mining sector must learn to mitigate against geopolitical events exacerbating the price increase in raw materials used for electric car batteries . This includes:

Better due diligence and a higher focus on the risks to achieving project success. Ranking new production in terms of not only cost of production but risks across the whole project.
Price increases will become entrenched, giving investors the confidence to put more money into projects so that they can assess the risk and then mitigate through dialogue with governments, local authorities, and local stakeholders.
Localised risks, such as those seen in South America with issues concerning water supply. It may be that you can develop a project, but you need to invest additional money and infrastructure to ensure local interests are considered.

However, good companies in this sector are fundamentally values-driven. Well-managed companies that have strong values can take on difficult projects.

Improving mining industry profit margin

The production cost of electric battery minerals is starting to rise significantly, so how will this surge threaten to push up prices?

In the copper industry, the price is currently around US$4.00 a pound – double what it was a year or so ago. But in that same two-year period, the price of gold has gone nowhere. If you happen to be in a sector of the industry that has not seen any increase in price, then you're in trouble because the production costs have started to go up already. Moreover, the cost of producing copper involves not just labour, but also transport and power costs.

Drivers of commodity prices are different from those for base metals, which are driven by supply and demand in the EV battery market. AMC’s Advisory division focuses not just on reducing an operator’s cash cost position but improving their productivity and cash flow to improve their margins.

Download our complete white paper for more thorough information and insights

Rethinking exploration of electric battery materials

Despite nonferrous exploration budgets being globally down now, there must be an increase in exploration and resourcing. Everything points to an increase in the gap between electric car battery minerals supply and demand. As a society, for the last 30 or 40 years, we've been used to inflation being driven by demand. But this is now a supply-driven problem.

In general terms, the easy mining has already been discovered. So, not only is less money being spent but there is less success in finding projects with that money. A rethink about exploration will drive the industry towards parts of the world with a history of being ‘riskier’ – countries such as Iran, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and the DRC.

In addition, a fundamental change in the environment of those countries is required to make sure it's a jurisdiction that can be worked in readily. The industry needs to be operating in an ethical fashion and abiding by the international principles that are in operation. It also needs to work with the governments and local populations to ensure that the production benefits everybody.

For additional in-depth reading, AMC explores substitute materials and the state of the Australian lithium-ion batteries market in this article about the influence of geopolitics on battery material exploration .

ESG mining (Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance)

This kind of approach has also seen something of a mining renaissance in countries such as the US and Canada as operators strive to show ethical practices and solid ESG credentials. Areas that have historically provided a lot of the metals are now demonstrating that they can be mined ethically.

As such, we're likely to see big projects in Southwest USA (where there are several copper projects involving AMC), Alaska and Canada. However, many are concerned that given the pressures the industry is currently facing, ESG may again be nudged out of the limelight.

Car battery mining industry revenue and costs

Andrew Hall, Director / Executive Lead - Advisory of AMC highlights an overuse of simplistic measures. He says that typically mines are tied to achieving production targets, and in the short-term options may be limited in terms of changes to capacity and scale. So mines should be looking to make the most money from existing capacity.

“ Consultants that have a deep understanding of how mines make money can be more surgical in their approach. They’ll target the areas that need attention, shifting away from one-size-fits-all unsustainable cost-cutting to instead resolving those issues causing high unit costs and low mineral production in the first place, and it will be more sustainable ,” says Hall.

Contact AMC Consultants for smart mining solutions

With a holistic view of the entire mining value chain – and expertise in the core competencies of resource development – AMC is proving invaluable for our customers. Using our independence to help guide the industry as much as possible to meet community expectations, obligations and guidelines is paramount.

Being a consultant-owned company is a strength and means AMC is independent in thought. Whether your business is focused on mining minerals in electric car batteries or other commodities, tap into our expertise and skills today - reach out to our team for an initial consultation.

RZ Resources Mineral Sands Copi Definitive Feasibility Study Case Study

Tue, 25 Apr 2023 05:01:43 GMT

RZ Resources Mineral Sands Copi Definitive Feasibility Study Case Study

AMC was chosen for this project for our specific mineral sands expertise across both dry and dredge mining. Our expert team was employed for the development and optimization of the Copi Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS).

"AMC consultants were an integral part of our team during the development of the Copi DFS. Their expertise in mineral sands mining, combined with their commitment to working closely with our technical team, made a significant contribution to the success of the project. Their team, including Pier Federici, Colin Sprott, Tate Baillie, and Leon Williamson, were knowledgeable, experienced, and always willing to go above and beyond to ensure that our needs were met. We were particularly impressed with their ability to deliver concrete achievements with numbers attached, such as undertaking the mining component of the DFS, Lerchs-Grossmann pit optimization (LG pit optimization), strategic mine plans, pit designs, coaching our junior mining engineers, and supporting budget costing for mining contractors. They also provided valuable advice on devising a mining strategy to optimize cashflow and improve NPV, as well as developing a tactical schedule approach to incorporate backfilling, reducing haulage, open areas, whilst maintaining pond length. AMC's work was of the highest quality, and we were impressed by their level of professionalism and attention to detail throughout the project. We highly recommend AMC consultants to any mining company looking for a knowledgeable and committed partner."

John Costigan, Chief Operating Officer, GM Operations

Project Facts

Mining method:

Open pit

Location:

Australia, north of Mildura

Commodities:

Rutile, zircon, leucoxene, ilmenite and rare earth element bearing minerals

The target

Devise a mining strategy to optimize cashflow and improve NPV.
Advise on mining contractor costing and engagement.
Develop a tactical schedule approach to incorporate backfilling, reducing haulage, open areas, whilst maintaining pond length.

Project achievements

Undertaking the mining component of the DFS.
LG pit optimization.
Strategic mine plans.
Pit designs.
Identified the wet overburden surface to improve cashflow and NPV by selectively mining overburden with dredges above the ore.
Tactical mine plan with material balance, destination and haulage.
Preparation of Ore Reserve Estimate and provision of Competent Person (Pier Federici).
Coaching client’s junior mining engineers.
Supporting budget costing for mining contractors.

Key staff

Pier Federici, Colin Sprott, Tate Baillie, Leon Williamson. For more information on how AMC can help with with a similar project, please contact us directly.

MINEX Kazakhstan 2023

Tue, 04 Apr 2023 11:12:57 GMT

MINEX Kazakhstan 2023

AMC Consultants looks forward to attending the MINEX Kazakhstan 2023 forum on 19-20 April 2023. Mark Chesher will be attending along with Johann van Wijk, Serik Urbisinov and Nadia Power.

48 companies will be exhibiting at Minex Kazakhstan 2023, with about a third specializing in the production and supply of mining industry equipment for geological prospecting, extraction, processing and transportation of metals and minerals.

Presenting at MINEX Kazakhstan 2023

Mark Chesher

Executive Lead - Business Development

Drivers of Project Development in a Commodity deficient world

On 19 April 2023, Mark will present on the state of global commodities markets for battery-grade materials. He will discuss how environmental, social and political issues have created sustained challenges and uncertainty for the industry.

In this talk, Mark will discuss the importance of a Pre-Feasibility Study in the project development cycle. He will highlight how crucial the results of the study are in directing the ultimate design, operation and success of the project.

Exclusive MINEX 2023 White Paper

Commodities supply and demand: how the global race for battery materials is changing mining

Finding value – and operating smarter – in the worldwide sourcing and supply of battery materials for electric vehicles. Click the button below to download our whitepaper.

Attendees

Mark Chesher

Executive Lead - Business Development

Attendees

Johann van Wijk

General Manager, Adelaide / Principal Geotechnical Engineer

Attendees

Serik Urbisinov

Principal Geologist

Attendees

Nadia Power

Senior Geotechnical Engineer

Geotechnical Issues In Construction Of A Large Diameter Raise Bore Shaft

Mon, 27 Mar 2023 09:48:19 GMT

Geotechnical Issues In Construction Of A Large Diameter Raise Bore Shaft

As part of the Vertical Development presentations at the Eastern Australia Ground Control Group, Ruth Stephenson and Megan Walske, explore a project concerning one of AMC's clients, who were encountering major issues during the back-reaming of a large diameter raise bored vent shaft.

Video: Geotechnical Issues In Construction Of A Large Diameter Raise Bore Shaft

Mon, 27 Mar 2023 09:47:07 GMT

Video: Geotechnical Issues In Construction Of A Large Diameter Raise Bore Shaft

Explore our Geotechnical Services on our Services page

Watch Ian Lipton's presentation on the journey from Mineral Resources to Mineral/Ore Reserves

AusIMM International Women's Day

Fri, 24 Mar 2023 16:19:11 GMT

AusIMM International Women's Day

AMC was proud to be an associate partner of the AusIMM International Women's Day Event .

Attending the event were some of the Perth office: Nadia Power , Jonathon Nortier , Martin Lui , Ezilma Dias and Marina Markova .

The immersive workshops run at the event offered attendees new tools to develop perspectives on psychological safety, immersive bystander training, and diversity and inclusion best practice.

International Women's Day

Every year on 8 March, International Women's Day is celebrated to commemorate and honour women's accomplishments, raise awareness about gender disparities and discrimination, as well as promote global support for women.

Below is a video produced by AusIMM celebrating their successful International Women's Day Event Series for 2023!

Find out more about AMC's Sponsorships and Values on our dedicated page

AMC Brand Assets

Fri, 24 Mar 2023 15:49:45 GMT

AMC Brand Assets

ZIP

The ZIP file provided here provides the following AMC Brand assets:
- EPS files of our branding

- JPEG files of our branding

- Other image based formats of our branding

- PDF of our brand guideline (i.e. how it is to be used)

- PNG (best choice)

- SVG and WMF copies of our branding

Brand Guideline

When using our branding, please follow the brand guideline, which can be accessed via this PDF link. If you have any questions or require anything not provided in this link, please get in touch with us via email .

Video: Towards Mineral Reserves for Polymetallic Nodules in NORI Area D

Tue, 21 Mar 2023 16:46:42 GMT

Video: Towards Mineral Reserves for Polymetallic Nodules in NORI Area D

Ian Lipton's presentation on the journey from Mineral Resources to Mineral/Ore Reserves is now available. This paper, which was originally presented as part of the Deep Sea Minerals conference in Bergen (2022), considers some of the unique issues that must be accommodated in mine planning, including the management of the sediment plume that will be generated from the nodule collector, and optimizing the mining path within the constraints of variations in nodule type, seafloor topography, and seasonal currents.

Towards Mineral Reserves for Polymetallic Nodules in NORI Area D

Tue, 21 Mar 2023 16:42:05 GMT

Towards Mineral Reserves for Polymetallic Nodules in NORI Area D

Underground Operators Conference 2023

Fri, 24 Feb 2023 11:07:21 GMT

Underground Operators Conference 2023

AMC Consultants looks forward to attending the Underground Operators Conference 2023 on 27-29 March 2023 in Brisbane. We will share our knowledge and expertise through a paper we co-authored with our client South32 on their Cannington mine, a Silver/Lead mine in North West Queensland. Led by Mike Sandy, our Global Practice Leader Geotechnical Engineering, our delegation includes experts from our offices in Brisbane, Melbourne, and Perth.

Organized by the AusIMM , the conference brings together mining engineers, mine operators, technical service managers and consultants. The conference will address issues such as the evolution of digital technologies, automation and artificial intelligence and how these innovations are making it possible to mine at greater depths and lower grades.

Presentation Paper: Challenges and solutions for deformation management of Cannington's hoisting shaft

Co-authored by Mike Sandy , and presented by Andrew Clarkson, Senior Project Manager, South32 as part of the Session 3 presentations.

Time : 1.50 PM -2.10 PM

Date : Monday March 27

About the project: Cannington mine consists of an underground hard rock mine and surface processing facility, a road-to-rail transfer facility and a concentrate handling and ship loading facility at the Port of Townsville. In Q4 FY22, South32 transitioned to 100 per cent truck haulage to bring product to the surface.

Recommended White Paper

New technologies in underground mining: promises vs reality

In this paper analyze recent adaptations to mining systems and practices across jumbo development, long-hole drilling, long-haul-dumping and decline trucking. Also examining productivity and cost analyses, this White Paper is set across two generations of mining technology and is an industry must-read.

Meet the team at Underground Operators Conference 2023

Mike Sandy

Principal Geotechnical Engineer, Global Practice Leader Geotechnical Engineering

Meredith Goss

Technical Services Manager / Principal Geotechnical Engineer

Mathew Widelski

Principal Geotechnical Engineer

Mike Sandy

Principal Geotechnical Engineer, Global Practice Leader Geotechnical Engineering

Simon Kusabs

Principal Mining Engineer

Laura Daly

Senior Mining Analyst

AMC at PDAC 2023

Wed, 08 Feb 2023 16:34:55 GMT

AMC at PDAC 2022

AMC Consultants is excited to again exhibit at the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) Conference , and will be present at booth #448 .

Francis McCann , General Manager of AMC's office in Toronto, will be joined by Mark Chesher , who heads AMC's Business Development department, as well as members from our offices in Toronto and Vancouver; including Mort Shannon , Gene Tucker , Abi Saad , and Aneta Niewiadomska .

As the leading voice of the mineral exploration and development community, PDAC supports 719,000 people in direct and indirect employment, and contributes $106 billion to Canada's GDP every year. Their work centers on supporting a competitive, responsible, and sustainable mineral sector.

Exclusive PDAC 2023 White Paper

Commodities supply and demand: how the global race for battery materials is changing mining

Finding value – and operating smarter –

in the worldwide sourcing and supply of

battery materials for electric vehicles. Click the button below to download our whitepaper.

AMC sponsors food and drinks at Mining4Beer

PDAC 2023 is celebrating its 10th Anniversary in Toronto

Location

The Bottom Line 22 Front Street West Toronto, ON M5J 1C4 Canada

Date and time

Sunday 5 March 2023, from 5:00 pm EST

Meet the team at PDAC 2023

Mark Chesher

Executive Lead - Business Development / Principal Mining Engineer

Mort Shannon

General Manager, Vancouver / Principal Geologist

Francis McCann

General Manager, Toronto / Principal Mining Engineer

Gene Tucker

Open Pit Manager / Principal Mining Engineer

Abi Saad

Senior Mining Consultant

Aneta Niewiadomska

Senior Mining Consultant

Commodities supply and demand: how the global race for battery materials is changing mining

Mon, 06 Feb 2023 15:16:37 GMT

Commodities supply and demand: how the global race for battery materials is changing mining

The global commodities markets for battery-grade materials are in a state of flux and facing a period

of sustained challenge and uncertainty since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. While

disruptions to base metals/mineral markets have been less severe than those experienced in other

markets, such as energy and some food commodities, there has been significant disruption to Russia’s

production and exports of aluminium and nickel and other metals used for battery-grade materials in

electric vehicles (EVs). Sanctions imposed by the global community have affected prices, which have risen

sharply, and unleashed a series of knock-on consequences.

While these challenges have been compounded at a worldwide level by reduced production elsewhere, the

situation has also created opportunity for other regions to capitalise upon, but only those mining operators that

adopt a smart and long-term approach will get to realise real value across the chain of supply and demand. This

paper will outline the state of play, challenges, and opportunities at play.

AMC Sponsors Roundup 2023

Mon, 16 Jan 2023 12:52:40 GMT

AMC Sponsors Roundup 2023

AMC Consultants is proud to act as a bronze sponsor to AME Roundup 2023 . Roundup conference represents the mineral exploration industry’s premier opportunity to connect, exchange ideas and inspire new exploration projects: Projects that are critical to a strong economic recovery, supplying materials for a climate-smart future, and sustaining vibrant regional communities for generations to come.

AMC will be attending the conference on Monday 23 to Thursday 26 January. The AMC team will be present at booth #1423. We look forward to seeing you there. AMC is also the sponsor for the Curling Bonspiel on January 23 2023 at 16:00 and 20:00 PST. The Curling will take place at the Vancouver Curling Club at Hillcrest Centre , 4575 Clancy Loranger Way, Vancouver, BC, V5Y 2M4. All are welcome to attend.

Meet the team at Roundup 2023

Mort Shannon

General Manager / Principal Geologist

Mort has 45+ years of diverse geological experience in a variety of mining situations and geological environments. He has managed and contributed to grassroots and brownfields exploration around producing mines, as well as mine exploration replenishing Mineral Resources. He has worked on open pit and underground mine production geology and evaluation work, including Mineral Resource estimation and reporting. He has held chief geologist roles in two substantial producing gold mines, managing large staffs, providing services to operations, and running significant exploration programs.

Mort has extensive international experience through working in many different cultures around the world. He also has co-authored numerous NI 43-101 and transaction-related reports and has significant experience in auditing and reporting Mineral Resources.

Kingsley Hortin

Principal Ventilation Consultant

With 30 years of experience, Kingsley is a principal ventilation consultant who has provided ventilation design, planning, and management expertise to a variety of underground operations. His work has included heat load studies, refrigeration plant sizing, ventilation optimization, ventilation on demand, and network modelling. He has participated in peer and risk reviews for various mining projects. This often includes undertaking site visits to conduct audits of mine ventilation systems.

Randal Olafson

Principal Mining Consultant

With a combined 30+ years of experience in potash, hard rock, and uranium mines with both operators and with engineering consultancies, Randy’s operational background includes development planning, supervision, and oversight of mine and construction contractors. Consulting projects include mine and mechanical design, with extensive time spent at various mine sites. He is a user of Vulcan, Gemcom, Maptek, Surpac, and AutoCAD for 3D Plant Design.

David Warren

Principal Mining Engineer

David has 40+ years of experience in the mining industry acquiring technical expertise at operating mines for over 20 years, from exploration through to operations and processing. He has managed technical teams and work crews in the resource industry and possesses extensive knowledge of state-of-the-art mining engineering and standard mining software. David has spent 15 years working in French-speaking mine operations in Quebec, Nouvelle Caledonie, and Burkina Faso, and four years in Spanish countries including Ecuador, Chile, and Mexico. He also has experience in the oil fields and construction. David’s primary expertise is in evaluating, planning, and developing start-up operations and troubleshooting mining projects, particularly open pits.

Dinara Nussipakynova

Principal Geologist

Kathleen Pathak

Business Support Manager

Liz Duern

Project Administrator

Morgan Morton

Project Administrator

Digging Deeper Digest: December 2021

Mon, 09 Jan 2023 16:16:17 GMT

Digging Deeper Digest: December 2021

Introducing the December issue of the digest, in which we are happy to share with you articles on geometallurgy and productivity of mining enterprises, as well as videos of a master class and live broadcast conducted by AMC experts at the MINEX Russia 2021 forum. We wish you a pleasant reading and watching!

An overview of recent events from Mark Chesher

In the introductory part, Mark sums up the results of the outgoing year, talks about industry trends noticed by our experts, and shares important information about the Moscow office of AMC.

An overview of recent events from Mark Chesher

In the introductory part, Mark sums up the results of the outgoing year, talks about industry trends noticed by our experts, and shares important information about the Moscow office of AMC.

Understanding the challenges of optimizing the processing of refractory gold ores

In this article, chief geometallurgist, Michel Helm, explores the application of geometallurgy in the field of gold processing technology and its important role in such aspects as improving the assessment of the variability of the deposit, the development of technological procedures, the choice of equipment and predictive process indicators of the project.

Understanding the challenges of optimizing the processing of refractory gold ores

Closing the performance gap

In this article by Head of Strategic Business Consulting, Andrew Hall, you'll learn how to achieve sustained performance improvement, the pitfalls and two fascinating real-life case studies of operational performance improvement projects.

Closing the performance gap

Video recording of the AMC master class at the MINEX Forum Russia 2021

AMC's Strategic Business Consulting team delivered a master class on "From Technical Solutions to Profitable Development" covering geometallurgy, strategy optimization and performance diagnostics.

Video recording of the AMC master class at the MINEX Forum Russia 2021

AMC's Strategic Business Consulting team delivered a master class on "From Technical Solutions to Profitable Development" covering geometallurgy, strategy optimization and performance diagnostics.

Recognition of the success of two AMC clients at the MINEX Russia 2021 forum

Two clients of AMC Consultants at once - the gold mining giant Polyus and JSC First Mining Company - were awarded for projects implemented with the support of AMC.

Recognition of the success of two AMC clients at the MINEX Russia 2021 forum

Two clients of AMC Consultants at once - the gold mining giant Polyus and JSC First Mining Company - were awarded for projects implemented with the support of AMC.

AMC Consultants at Mining of Uzbekistan and Central Asia

Mon, 19 Dec 2022 16:13:48 GMT

AMC Consultants at Mining of Uzbekistan and Central Asia

AMC Consultants attended the International Congress and Exhibition: Mining of Uzbekistan and Central Asia last week.

The event brings together more than 200 heads of major mining companies from Uzbekistan and Central Asia with a focus on major investment projects on the construction and modernization of mines, plants, and infrastructure facilities, development of new deposits, as well as opportunities to enhance the efficiency of existing mining companies in the region. This event is aimed at a region that is experiencing significant growth.

AMC's Mark Chesher attended the event in Tashkent. He supported existing clients and discussed important opportunities for new clients, to improve their existing operations and optimize future projects.

AMC Consultants featured on Mining Technology

Thu, 15 Dec 2022 16:40:32 GMT

AMC Consultants featured on Mining Technology

Mining Technology is putting the spotlight on AMC Consultants' Smart Mining strategies .

With several free Whitepapers content, Mining Technology website visitors can explore videos and articles which bring attention to:

- How geometallurgy takes value-based mining to the a new level .

- How mine activity can be tracked using AMC's Smart Data .

- Commodities supply and demand: how the global race for battery materials is changing mining and much more.

Visit Mining Technology or AMC's own Whitepapers page to access this content.

AMC Consultants at Mines and Money 2022

Fri, 09 Dec 2022 11:30:50 GMT

AMC Consultants at Mines and Money 2022

AMC Consultants was excited to return to Mines and Money between 29 November and 1 December 2022.

Nicholas Szebor , General Manager - Maidenhead (UK), Alan Turner , Principal Mining Engineer, and Hugh Shedden , Senior Mining Engineer, were joined by Andrew Hall , Director/Executive Lead - Advisory, for the London conference.

AMC hosted its first European AMC Hill of Value® celebration at Mines and Money with bubbles and cupcakes being served at our booth.

AMC looks forward to Mines and Money 2023!

Andrew Hall

Director / Executive Lead- Advisory

MSc(Mineral Economics), BSc(Civil Engineering), MAusIMM (CP), GAICD, Grad Dip (Project Management)

Meet the team at Mines and Money

Below are some of the senior members of AMC's team who will join Andrew at the upcoming Mines & Money 2022 conference:

Nicholas Szebor

Principal Geologist

Alan Turner

Principal Mining Consultant

Hugh Shedden

Senior Mining Engineer

Ausrock Conference 2022

Wed, 30 Nov 2022 08:10:13 GMT

Ausrock Conference 2022

AMC Consultants is proud to contribute to Ausrock , the Australasian Ground Control Conference, organized by the AusIMM and taking place in Melbourne. The event will be the largest global gathering of ground control professionals, encouraging international collaboration between rock meachnics professionals.

On Thursday 1st of December, AMC's Meredith Goss, Technical Services Manager / Principal Geotechnical Engineer, will present about integrated geotechnical audits and benchmarking for mining operations as part of Session 10b on Mine design – geotechnical considerations. The presentation will take place between 12:25 PM - 12:45 PM at the Eureka 3.

Meet the team at Ausrock 2022

Meredith Goss

Technical Services Manager / Principal Geotechnical Engineer

Meredith has 20 years of geotechnical experience in the areas of both underground metalliferous mines and open pit, coal and metalliferous mines, and specializes in site investigations for mining concept through to feasibility and implementation geotechnical studies. She has managed many studies that include evaluation of rock mass characteristics, ground support design and slope stability analysis, reviews, ground control audits, core logging, mapping, monitoring, ground awareness training, and site supervision.

Nadia Power

Senior Geotechnical Engineer

Nadia has more than eight years of experience in geotechnical engineering, both underground and open pit. Following seven years of practical experience across several operations in Western Australia and Papua New Guinea, as a consultant she has provided technical geotechnical support to projects including numerical modelling and feasibility studies. At Porgera, she assisted with implementing the stabilisation of the highly unstable west wall failure including ground investigation and hydrogeological instrumentation. Her computer program skills include the use of Map3D, RS3 and other Rocscience software programmes.

Caroline Ochocinski

Geotechnical

Consultant

Caroline graduated from Queen’s University with First Class Honours in Geological Engineering. She is experienced in using Rocscience software for the assessment of geotechnical data in both underground and open pit operations. Caroline is proficient in all areas of handling of geotechnical data including data entry, data manipulation and QA/QC.

AMC Consultants at IMARC 2022

Tue, 22 Nov 2022 23:48:41 GMT

AMC Consultants at IMARC 2022

AMC Consultants returned to IMARC 2022 as a proud Silver Sponsor and invited delegates to a celebration launch of AMC Hill of Value ® in Australia with branded cupcakes and bubbles.

AMC's attendance at IMARC 2022 included a keynote presentation by Director and Executive Lead - Advisorym, Andrew Hall entitled Performance in a Time of Squeezed Margins and High Operating Costs .

The presentation covered five key topics:

Adopting a cost Management and control approach (rather than cost cutting approach).
Getting the most out of your production data.
Using Geometallurgy to gain a better understand of the orebody.

Employing robust mine planning practices, and reviewing the cut-off grade policy of operational practices.

AMC celebrates the registration of AMC Hill of Value® trademark in Australia

AMC Consultants (AMC) is proud to announce that the AMC Hill of Value® process has been registered as a trademark in Australia. This is a significant step that recognizes the uniqueness of the process conceived by AMC Mining Engineer and global strategy optimization expert, Brian Hall , and further developed by the consultancy’s Strategy Optimization team.

The trademark registration was celebrated on Thursday 3 ^rd November at the IMARC 2022 conference of which AMC was also a proud Silver Sponsor.

Exclusive IMARC 2022 content

ARTICLE: Margin not cost: why there’s more than one way to skin the margin cat

In this exclusive whitepaper, our experts look at why the global mining industry must change its mindset to reach future profitability during these times of mounting cost pressures.

VIDEO: 20 years of AMC Hill of Value, case studies, and the next chapter.

Recording of a webinar with Brian Hall, global strategy optimization expert and author of the definitive text on the subject, “Cut-off Grades and Optimising the Strategic Mine Plan ”, and otehr AMC experts.

AMC Returns to Mines and Money 2022

Tue, 22 Nov 2022 23:40:06 GMT

AMC Returns to Mines and Money 2022

AMC Consultants is excited to return to Mines and Money between 29 November and 1 December 2022.

Nicholas Szebor, General Manager - Maidenhead, and his team including Alan Turner (Principal Mining Consultant) and Hugh Shedden ( Senior Mining Engineer) will be joined by Andrew Hall, Director/ Executive Lead - Advisory, for the London conference.

AMC will host its first European AMC Hill of Value® celebration at Mines and Money with bubbles and cupcakes being served at our booth.

We look forward to welcoming new and returning delegates to booth D01.

Celebration of AMC Hill of Value ® in London

Join Andrew, Nicholas, and the rest of the AMC team at Mines and Money to celebrate the registration of the AMC Hill of Value ® in Australia. We will mark this event with cupcakes and bubbles, we look forward to seeing you there.

Time: 4.00 PM

Date: Tuesday 29th December

Where: Booth D01

Andrew Hall

Director / Executive Lead- Advisory

MSc(Mineral Economics), BSc(Civil Engineering), MAusIMM (CP), GAICD, Grad Dip (Project Management)

Meet the team at Mines and Money

Below are some of the senior members of AMC's team who will join Andrew at the upcoming Mines & Money 2022 conference:

Nicholas Szebor

Principal Geologist

Alan Turner

Principal Mining Consultant

Hugh Shedden

Senior Mining Engineer

Sundowner October 2022

Wed, 09 Nov 2022 08:25:18 GMT

AMC Sundowner Event October 2022

On Wednesday 19th October, AMC Consultants hosted a Sundowner event at the Melbourne Hotel in Perth.

The event was a success with 86 attendees enjoying a a presentation by the Honourable Colin Barnett, former Premier of Western Australia. The goal of the Sundowner was to further build AMC’s reputation in the WA industry and to provide an excellent networking opportunity for AMC’s consultants and our clients and prospective clients.

Following a brief introduction and welcome from Bruce Gregory , Director and General Manager of AMC Consultants' office in Perth, Colin Barnett made a very interesting presentation for 30 minutes. His main theme was: “don’t underestimate the power and influence of state governments in the Australian mining industry”. He shared numerous interesting anecdotes about his time as Premier of WA, especially in relation to the phenomenal growth of the Iron Ore industry around 2010 to 2012 when Chinese demand grew dramatically. At the same time the demand for LNG was significantly increasing resulting in large projects in WA.

Two key points were:

- The Chinese government is much more interested in negotiating with and trusting government officials than dealing with private enterprise representatives. Colin visited China many times and also hosted numerous Chinese government delegations during the mining investment boom period. This very much helped facilitate the growth in trade.

- Mineral resources are owned by the State and the State Government has the ultimate power to determine if and how resources will be utilised and by whom. Colin’s point here was that many mining industry executives don’t seem to realise the power that can be exercised by the State Government, until this power is exercised. For example the proposed merger of BHP Billiton with Rio Tinto was looking like a real possibility until the State Government decided it wasn’t in the best interests of the State. Additionally, the Mineral Resources Rent Tax was eventually repealed (in 2014) when it was found that the key State Governments did not support it.

Colin’s presentation was followed by a Q&A session facilitated by MC Liam Twigger , Deputy Chair and Executive Director of Argonaut Limited (Also Chair of SolGold Plc (listed on the LSE and TSX) and also Chair of Lunnon Metals Limited (ASX listed)).

After the presentation, attendees moved on to the rooftop for the after party where they sipped on drinks and enjoyed the stunning views of the city.

Closing the performance gap

Tue, 08 Nov 2022 13:39:12 GMT

Closing the performance gap

At the same time as production in the Australian mining industry is rising at an even faster rate, production costs are rising, leaving an ever-widening productivity gap. In a time of “turbulence” due to the spread of COVID-19, businesses are more than ever looking to strengthen profits and maintain profitability. The push for productivity can be seen both in board meetings focused on stock returns and in work teams trying to reduce risk and improve performance. At the same time, performance improvement is often confused with efficiency improvement, which usually negatively affects performance. However, the positive effect of such initiatives is unstable, as they do not systematically work. If performance improvement is not implemented directly through the mine plan, then it is often nothing more than a one-time measure that cannot be integrated into business processes.

Performance or Efficiency

Productivity is a measure of the ratio between inputs of production and output. A faster increase in the volume of inputs compared to an increase in the volume of output means a decrease in productivity. The increase in productivity occurs by increasing the efficiency of the use of initial resources. This is far from a new concept. This term is commonly used in the mining industry. But if the term is widely used, it does not mean that it is well understood. Perhaps the most common misconception in the industry is that efficiency gains are perceived to equate to productivity gains, but this is not always true.

The confusion between productivity and efficiency stems from the obsession with increasing output in the pursuit of maximizing economies of scale. Efficiency is a measure of the achievement of business goals, and companies should always strive to improve efficiency and productivity as a whole. Achieving business goals is an important element of success, but when it comes to productivity with a focus only on increasing capacity based on the volume of output, this is an illustration of the case when the cart is put before the horse. An additional hauler can help increase haulage, exceed targets, and increase efficiency, but if input growth outpaces output growth, you increase efficiency at the cost of reduced productivity.

Comparing 43 mines in AMC's Smart Data™ database over two different periods, it is clear that production has increased significantly. However, they were surpassed by a concomitant increase in operating costs. The mining industry is now producing more than ever, but mine productivity has not kept pace with efficiency.

Case Study

Let's look at a real industry example. One mine decided to improve productivity and efficiency through a strategy that focused on investment. Significant capital investments were made in tunneling operations at the mine: they began to be carried out in a larger volume and at an increased speed.

In the short term, the mine has achieved significant productivity and efficiency improvements. Ropulation efficiency (in meters) increased by 37% and maximum short-term productivity (in meters per day) increased by 33%. The business goals were achieved on time, and, naturally, the project was recognized as a success.

However, a few months later, at the end of the reporting budget period, productivity fell well below the original baseline, followed by efficiency, and operating costs became alarmingly high. What went wrong?

The first problem was that the project was conceived as a response to a growing business problem. Time constraints have limited the scope of improvements to short-term, high-impact decisions that have high costs and have been implemented with minimal quantification of expected benefits.

The second problem was that the project was considered in isolation from the upstream value chain. Little attention has been paid to debottlenecking process interdependencies. After closing the initial productivity gap, tunnelers ran into a hurdle as subsequent processes struggled to keep up with the rate of penetration and the use of mechanized equipment dropped sharply.

The third problem, as shown by the subsequent audit, was that minimal process accuracy was used in this project. Decisions were made in isolation, with little stakeholder involvement, change management was not properly recorded or tracked, and costs were spread across several different items.

If there is one key lesson to be learned from the experience of this mine, it is that all performance improvements must be directly linked to securing and executing the mine plan.

"There's no point in running a 100m in 9 seconds if you're running in the wrong direction."

Seven times measure cut once

The truth is that productivity improvements can actually negatively affect the value of a project if approached in isolation, without thinking about the mining plan or the sustainability of the change. This is often seen when a company approaches productivity improvement through drastic cost reduction, prioritizing production and limiting footage. In the short term, this greatly improves performance. But once production fronts begin to dwindle, the result is often a production bottleneck and reduced productivity. Simply measuring performance is not enough.

"Not all performance is good performance."

To close the productivity gap, any company embarking on a productivity improvement project must be able to accurately quantify the long-term and short-term impact of its implementation on the mine plan. Once these implications are clear and you are ready to start implementing it, a reasonably rigorous methodology should be used to identify all relevant stakeholders, upstream and downstream process interdependencies, resource requirements, and expected benefits.

Progress tracking and reporting should be comprehensive without being burdensome. Reporting must reliably and accurately track performance improvement projects through various metrics and KPIs. For reporting, it is best to use those indicators that can be directly linked to the implementation of the mining plan.

In another real industry example, a mining company used monthly ore production (as opposed to a broader mining plan) as the main KPI for a contractor working at a mine. The contractor took on this indicator too zealously, supplementing the mining plan with the involvement of other available ore reserves in the extraction. The mine consistently outperformed production targets, and the contractor was compensated accordingly: he did what he was asked to do. However, the processing division of the enterprise provided information on discrepancies in the metal content and mineralogy of the ore. The contractor's initiatives had a tangible impact in the subsequent extraction process during processing, which affected the flow of profitability of the mine.

This example once again highlights the need for accurate performance measurements.

Andrew Hall

Director/ Executive Lead - Advisory

Five Key Levers to Improve Margins and Beat the Cost-Price Squeeze

Tue, 01 Nov 2022 17:02:13 GMT

Five Key Levers to Improve Margins and Beat the Cost-Price Squeeze

Keynote presentation

Please submit your contact details to access our exclusive presentation and White Paper on Five Key Levers to Improve Margins and Beat the Cost-Price Squeeze .

Why Five Key Levers?

This presentation brings focus to several low-cost implementations which will typically drive an uplift in the bottom line:

Getting the most out of the available data provides a substantial opportunity to improve productivity and performance. But to do this it’s essential to set the right KPIs to get data working for you.
Developing a robust geometallurgical model is another key lever that results in more predicable ore and enables higher recoveries and reduced cost.
Reviewing the cutoff grade policy and moving away from a break-even grades typically results in higher cash margins today, to buffer against the challenges we are currently facing, and maximizes value over the long-term to de-risk the mine.
Good mine planning ensures you have a sound strategy and that you are achieving your business goals.

Meet your presenter

Deep Sea Minerals conference, Bergen, 26-27 October 2022

Tue, 01 Nov 2022 16:48:28 GMT

Deep Sea Minerals conference, Bergen, 26-27 October 2022

Deep sea minerals have become a focus of government and private sector interest in Norway, as Norwegians prepare to transition from oil and gas production to a decarbonized economy. There is recognition that a new deep sea minerals industry could not only provide jobs and revenue but could also play an important role in ensuring that the world has sufficient supply of copper, nickel, and cobalt to meet the needs of electrification for a green economy.

Nick Szebor and Ian Lipton , AMC Principal Geologists, attended the Deep Sea Minerals conference in Bergen, Norway, in October 2022. Ian has been actively involved in the deep sea minerals sector for a number of years working on projects including the Solwara sea floor massive sulphide deposit and polymetallic nodules in the Clarion Clipperton Zone (CCZ). The deep sea minerals sector has also presented an opportunity for Nick to go full circle and incorporate his degree in Ocean Science with his work as a geologist in the mining sector.

An enthusiastic crowd of marine technologists, marine scientists, geologists, geophysicists, and representatives from oil and gas companies and new start-ups listened to two days of presentations on the exploration and mining potential for massive sulphides on the Norwegian continental shelf, and manganese cobalt crusts and polymetallic nodules in the Pacific Ocean. The importance of minimizing the impact on the marine environment during extraction of minerals was also a consistent theme throughout the conference.

Ian Lipton presented a paper on the journey from Mineral Resources to Mineral/Ore Reserves for the NORI D polymetallic nodule project. AMC has been supporting the project since 2018, through initial assessment and into the prefeasibility phase. The paper considered some of the unique issues that must be accommodated in mine planning, including the management of the sediment plume that will be generated from the nodule collector, and optimizing the mining path within the constraints of variations in nodule type, seafloor topography, and seasonal currents.

Terrestrial mining has a history of several thousand years and mechanized mining has been practiced for about a hundred years. Methods and equipment are tried and tested, and operating parameters are well-known. AMC regularly benchmarks cost estimates for terrestrial mines against a database of other mines with comparable geology and operating environments.

In contrast, there are currently no examples of commercial-scale deep sea mines that can be used as benchmarks. Estimates of productivities and costs must therefore be constructed methodically from first principles and draw on operating experience from marine engineering and operations in other well-established industries such as off-shore diamond mining, deep sea trenching, and the oil and gas sector.

Ian also spoke briefly about the pilot test that The Metals Company (TMC) was executing at NORI D, and nearing completion during the conference. TMC has announced the successful recovery of polymetallic nodules using a self-propelled crawler and an airlift riser system from 4,500 m depth; the first time this has been done since the 1970s. AMC has been advising TMC about data collection during the pilot test and will be using the data the test has generated in the next round of mine planning.

On the second day of the conference, the Norwegian government released an impact assessment of deep sea mineral exploration and extraction on the Norwegian continental shelf, including the proposed regulatory framework for licensing such activities. Announcing the start of a three-month public consultation period, the State Secretary noted that although recycling will be important, it is likely that mining will still be required to provide the metals that are needed for a low-carbon society.

The conference was a great success and highlighted the increasing activity and interest in the marine minerals space. AMC has been actively involved in supporting companies looking to develop deep sea marine mineral projects, and we look forward to continuing to play a leading role in this important new industry.

Meet the team at Deep Sea Minerals

Nicholas Szebor

Principal Geologist

Nick has 14 years of experience within the mineral industry working in roles including consultancy and production. His experience covers a range of commodities, geological settings, exploration and production environments, including underground and open-pit operations. This experience has been obtained across the mining lifecycle from early-stage exploration to production and mine closure. Nick has carried out mineral resource estimates to international reporting codes including JORC, CIM (NI 43-101), and SAMREC.

Ian Lipton

Principal Geometallurgist

Ian has more than 40 years of experience in mining geology, resource evaluation, and exploration. Ian’s mining expertise includes resource estimation, feasibility studies, technical audits and reviews, due diligence studies, Independent Technical Specialist Reports, and valuations. Ian completed the first publicly reported estimate for a seafloor massive sulphide deposit (Solwara 1, Papua New Guinea) and has been a mineral resource consultant for a number of other seafloor projects, including polymetallic nodule projects in the northeast Pacific Ocean and sea floor sediments in the Black Sea.

Margin not cost: why there’s more than one way to skin the margin cat

Tue, 01 Nov 2022 11:21:54 GMT

Margin not cost: why there’s more than one way to skin the margin cat

In early 2023, Andrew Hall and Francis McCann of AMC Consultants sat down to address why the global mining industry must change its mindset to reach future profitability. This whitepaper is a result of their discussion.

Mounting cost pressures are causing the mining industry to rethink its tactics. That’s not such a surprise in a global landscape driven by geopolitical fissures such as war, commodity market uncertainty, pandemic-related supply chain pressures and labour constraints – not to mention sky-high inflation.

According to Andrew Hall, Director/Executive Lead, Advisory at AMC Consultants, high metal prices have triggered a chase for production, compounding a fundamental scarcity in experienced and skilled labour, and pushing up costs for most of the last decade. “But in recent times, cost increases have been accelerating.”

The impact of war

Following the invasion of Ukraine, the world’s communities drew together to express their distress and provide support, but it’s hard to quantify the ramifications for the mining sector. Have there been many implications so far, and are they linked only to the conflict?

Hall isn’t convinced: “Certainly not the most significant factor for metalliferous mines – prices were already relatively high and costs have been increasing steadily for a while.”

The war in Ukraine, which had commenced in February, did not have a negative impact on industrial, base, battery, or precious metals each of which had continued their upward movement and were at a five-year high in May. Energy commodities, oil, gas, and coal, which had fallen to lows during the peak of the pandemic, were experiencing a significant post-covid economic recovery driven price rise before the war.

When sanctions were imposed on Russian oil and coal exports and Russia responded with gas supply restrictions the price of these commodities pushed to record highs. He points out that metallurgical coal prices in July were forecast to average $420 per tonne in 2022 driven by increased levels of steel production but were settling around $270 in September; paradoxically a lower price than thermal coal at the time

Metals present a different story and are perhaps a better indication of what’s happening in global economics, says Hall. After a long run of increasing prices nickel and copper prices fell by 30% and 20% respectively in June, reversing bullish demand expectations in economies recovering from the pandemic. Most recently concerns have shifted to central bank efforts to contain inflation with interest rate rises and the dampening effect this will have on commodity demand.

Whilst prices were rising the costs of mining also increased and if prices continue to fall miners may begin to see their margins squeezed. It was OK when the prices were rising in lock-step, but some commodities are now seeing significantly lower prices but the costs have not fallen as much.

“Iron ore is back down to around $100, from a peak of $225, so people may be thinking: ‘The good days are coming to an end. Prices are falling from their highs’,” says Hall. In terms of precious metals, he asserts that gold has dampened too, off highs of ~$USD 2000, down to $USD 1638 in October.

Many companies incurred cost increases while upping production, with some taking the decision to reopen lower grade mines. As the tide goes out, operators will face an erosion of profits, which they’re keen to prevent. “A lot of miners will be thinking, ‘I got a little slower and heavier, over the good times. Now I need to work out how to get lean and fast again, and I’m not [currently] there’,” says Hall.

The narrative behind cutting costs

So, why is cutting costs labelled as a short-term approach? Firstly, Hall says, it’s worth bearing in mind that “the highest quartile cost producers are the most exposed in a downturn.”

Miners need to keep an eye on their costs in relation to peers and stay competitive. This is because “highest cost producers fall off the cost curve first. Their’ reduced output is the adjustment that’s needed in the global market to restore the balance between supply and demand, after which prices begin to recover.”

Unfortunately, this sometimes translates into simplistic cost reduction strategies, which Hall compares to a blunt instrument. For example, a business unit level percentage operating cost reduction “when a strategic and more targeted approach could be more effective. Other short-term measures such as overburden reduction in the case of an open pit, or development in advance reductions in an underground mine can buy time but at best provide only a temporary solution” he points out.

“With each of these measures the operation is not set up for success; it hasn’t truly reduced its unit costs, just deferred the problem into the future.” Resources are removed and the mine can no longer do what’s required to sustain the operation.

During high commodity price cycles, companies tend to increase their costs too much, then during tough times they cut more than they should, which may look good on paper but it’s deceptive, “because those cuts come back to bite you”, says Francis McCann, General Manager, Toronto, of AMC.

Granted, there may be some areas where minimizing costs is a good idea, but companies usually slash more deeply than necessary, which creates future issues, asserts McCann. “Because you’re cutting back on manpower and maintenance – and, as David says, you may be cutting back on some capital development for open pits or underground mines. And those catch up with you eventually.”

Why a simplistic approach isn’t always best

Hall cautioned against the use of simplistic measures. He points out that most costs are associated with maintaining capacity and capability and are relatively fixed, so simplistic cost cutting measures are often not effective. A mine should be looking to right size. “That typically requires some deeper understanding of how mines work and where the margin comes from. The key point is there are two parts to the cash flow equation: costs and revenue.”

The biggest opportunity comes from getting the mine’s overall capacity right in terms of metal production rather than ore tonnes. This requires consideration of both production and head grade and understanding the two are inversely proportional. Most mines use break-even grades as their cut-off, and as a result when prices go up, they drop their cut-off grade and reduce head-grade. When mines expand to increase production during periods of high metal prices, we typically see the average mined grade fall and higher fixed costs, associated with maintaining greater production, get locked in. So, when prices fall their margins are squeezed.

But the opposite should be happening. There’s a chance to increase margins and de-risk the operation to counter rising costs and falling prices.

“We’re seeing margins being squeezed at the moment, with costs moving up and prices coming down – this is something that happens cyclically in our industry” says Hall.

A measured response

Savvy owners will adopt a more comprehensive approach and select strategies most suited to their unique circumstances. Some operators will try to increase margins when confronting falling prices, predicts Hall. “Operators who develop a deep understanding of their financial drivers will be best positioned to make a change; and then when they do, they’ll be more surgical in their approach.”

Having developed a solid understanding of their revenue and cost drivers they’ll already know the areas that need attention, shifting away from one-size-fits-all unsustainable cost cutting to address the cause of high unit costs in the first place. And in doing that, it will be more sustainable.

“Agile organizations will make improvements very quickly addressing planning deficiencies and lower than benchmark equipment productivities to address the cause of higher than peer costs. When AMC reviews these performance metrics at a mine, we often find opportunity for improvement in the fundamentals such as shift utilization and reduced operating delay,” says Hall.

We also see opportunity in the way mines are exploiting their resources through a better understanding of mining methods, dilution, recovery, and cut-off grade, says Hall. “The way in which the mining process is conducted, mining practices, can be a major contributor toward higher than necessary cost and inefficiency.”

Improvements like these are a small sample of the hundreds of opportunities available to operators seeking to address higher cost and sustain their margins.

Experience pays off

Mature operators are more likely to see sense as they have been here before, asserts McCann. “However, I do caution that even those companies tend to react with, in my experience, an immediate need to reduce costs.” They become too distracted by the numerator of the equation – the dollars being spent, he suggests.

McCann points out that to increase margins beyond focussing directly on costs within the numerator, “you need to improve your denominator, by increasing product produced through improvements in operational productivities, utilizations, and availabilities, for example. However, those do take a bit more time to enact.” Such gains would take around six months to be reflected in reported data as they take time to implement, he says, yet “unfortunately, the way that the markets work nowadays is, ‘No – I need it done in this quarter’. So, they attack the numerator and reduce the dollars.”

This again raises the salient point of cost versus margin improvement. “However, the savvy operator will know that they must always keep themselves fixed on the denominators: those occasions when the ounces and the pounds of material are moved or produced. Those are the drivers,” he says. “They have to keep their eye on the ball and maintain, optimize and maximize during the life of an operation.” Refocusing through a far-sighted lens should be a consistent shift in approach.

As far as AMC’s clients are concerned, Hall’s key advice is to start early and be strategic in these times to avoid knee-jerk reactions presented by cost cutting and other value destroying measures that can be put in place through short-termism. “Our role is to ensure that mines have the right strategy and align their business goals with what is happening at the face, to maximise margin at all points in the commodity price cycle.” This will ensure they’re well-placed to beat any upcoming challenges, he says.

AMC doesn’t claim to predict how prices will pan out going forward, but “with the right strategy, you give yourself the best opportunity to reap the full benefit of high returns during the upswing,” says Hall. He also suggests that selecting the right strategy can also de-risk the operation during downturns as well. “That message is getting through because many mines are feeling the pain at the moment. So, for them, it’s a real opportunity to change their strategy so they continue to prosper.”

1 http://www.kitcometals.com/

2 https://www.iea.org/news/natural-gas-markets-expected-to-remain-tight-into-2023-as-russia-further-reduces-supplies-to-europe

3 https://www.mining.com/coal-price-renaissance-how-long-can-it-last/
4 https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/latest-news-headlines/base-metal-prices-plummet-amid-growing-recession-demand-fears-70933608

AMC Returns to IMARC 2022 as a Silver Sponsor

Fri, 21 Oct 2022 15:41:47 GMT

AMC Returns to IMARC 2022 as a Silver Sponsor

AMC Consultants is excited to return to the International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) as a silver sponsor. This year, IMARC will take place at ICC Sydney between the 2nd and 4th of November 2022. Our program includes a keynote presentation, participation in a panel, as well as a bubbles and cupcakes event at our booth.

Anthony de Veth, General Manager - Melbourne, and his team will be joined by Patrick Smith, AMC’s Managing Director and CEO, and Andrew Hall, Director/ Executive Lead - Advisory, for the biggest event of the year for our office in Melbourne. They look forward to welcoming new and returning delegates to stand N09.

Launch of AMC Hill of Value ® in Australia

Join Andrew, Patrick, and the rest of the AMC team at IMARC to celebrate the registration of the AMC Hill of Value ® in Australia. We will mark this event with cupcakes and bubbles, we look forward to seeing you there.

Time: 4.30 PM

Date: Thursday 3 November

Where: Stand N09

Exclusive IMARC 2022 content

WHITE PAPER: Margin not cost: why there’s more than one way to skin the margin cat

In this exclusive whitepaper, our experts look at why the global mining industry must change its mindset to reach future profitability during these times of mounting cost pressures.

VIDEO: 20 years of AMC Hill of Value®, case studies, and the next chapter.

Our presentations and panel discussions

Keynote presentation

Performance in a Time of Squeezed Margins and High Operating Costs

In addition to welcoming delegates at our booth, Andrew Hall , a world leader in underground mining and benchmarking, will share his insights on how to improve performance in a time of 'squeezed' financial margins and high operating costs.

2.25 PM Thursday 3 November at the Mining Innovation Theatre at IMARC Mines and Resources Conference+Expo ICC Sydney

Andrew Hall

Director / Executive Lead- Advisory

MSc(Mineral Economics), BSc(Civil Engineering), MAusIMM (CP), GAICD, Grad Dip (Project Management)

Participation in panels

Patrick Smith , Managing Director and CEO, will make the welcoming remarks at the Collaboration Theatre and partake in a panel discussion in the Global Opportunities Theatre.

Panel Discussion: Invest in Canada: Opportunities in Canada’s Minerals and Metals Sector

When: 11:15 AM Thursday 3 November

Where: Global Opportunities Theatre at IMARC

Welcoming Remarks: METS Spotlights

Embracing Digital Technology and Mining Innovation

When: 1 PM Thursday 3 November

Where: The Collaboration Theatre

Patrick Smith

Managig Director and Chief Executive Manager

Meet the team at IMARC

Below are some of the senior members of AMC's team who will join Anthony at the upcoming IMARC 2022 conference:

James Stoddart

Principal Mining Engineer

Barnes Fallow

Principal Mining Consultant

Anthony de Veth

General Manager, Melbourne

AMC attends Deep Sea Minerals 2022

Thu, 20 Oct 2022 11:04:19 GMT

AMC attends Deep Sea Minerals 2022

AMC Consultants is proud to contribute to the Deep Sea Minerals 2022 conference in Bergen, Norway from the 26th to the 27th of October 2022. Our globally recognized expert on deep sea mining, Ian Lipton, will present a paper on polymetallic nodules and will be joined by Nick Szebor, General Manager of our office in the UK and also an expert on the topic. They look forward to sharing their knowledge and expertise at this very exciting time for deep sea mining.

With industry professionals, environmental groups, policymakers, the geoscience community, and other stakeholders in attendance, the event is set to address several key issues for the new critical minerals race. As Norway is preparing for the 1st licensing round for deep sea minerals mining, it is currently in a good position to become a leader in the exploration of this type of resource. The conference will address the current challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

On day two of the conference, during session four, AMCs own Principal Geologist Ian Lipton will present the paper "Towards Ore Reserves for Polymetallic Nodules in NORI Area D" which will bring focus to the importance of bringing detailed engineering, metallurgical, environmental, social, and economic assessments for permitting and project development of deepsea mineral deposits.

After their presentation a Q&A session will commence, followed by a lunch and networking event.

Meet the team at Deep Sea Minerals

Nicholas Szebor

Principal Geologist

Ian Lipton

Principal Geometallurgist

AMC Geologist Mark Burnett published by Routledge

Tue, 18 Oct 2022 15:45:40 GMT

AMC Geologist Mark Burnett published by Routledge

"Provides a cutting edge, comprehensive overview of current trends, challenges and opportunities for metal and mineral production and use, in the context of climate change and the United Nation Sustainable Development Agenda 2030."

Routledge Handbook of the Extractive Industries and Sustainable Development on Google Books , Google Play Books and WorldCat-find a library

AMC Consultants congratulates its own Principal Geologist Mark Burnett for being published as part of Routledge's new academic title Routledge Handbook of the Extractive Industries and Sustainable Development (edited by Natalia Yakovleva , Edmund Nickless ).

Mark's contribution to the publication, written in collaboration with Dr Steven E. Zhang, Associate Professor Yousef Ghorbani, Dr Julie E. Bourdeau, Dr Benedikt M. Steiner, Dr James S.K. Barnet and Adjunct Professor and director Glen T. Nwaila, focuses on the development of mineral supply and demand from 1950 to 2020.

"Writing and collaborating on the text book chapter was an interesting and very awarding experience. I need to thank Professors Judith Kinnard and Paul Nex for giving me the opportunity to write the chapter. In addition I must, once again, thank my co-authors for their insights and contributions, the reviewers who added a lot to the success of the paper; however most importantly my wife, Sharon, for her support and encouragement" - Mark Burnett

The Treasure Below

Mon, 26 Sep 2022 13:20:13 GMT

The Treasure Below

Although we have known about vast deposits of polymetallic nodules on the sea floor for nearly 150 years, their exploitation has only recently advanced to a realistic feasibility stage. The story starts in 1873, when HMS Challenger, while conducting a survey of the sea floor, dredged up “several peculiar black oval bodies which were composed of almost pure manganese oxide”. We now know that these nodules also contain significant amounts of nickel, cobalt, copper and rare earth elements.

Subsequent exploration has shown that polymetallic nodules cover vast tracts of the deep ocean floor, as the map (Figure 2) from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography shows. Note the particularly dense occurrence of nodules on the left of the map, in the tropical waters of the north-east Pacific Ocean. This area is known as the Clarion Clipperton Zone or CCZ. The CCZ is a vast tract of sea floor between the Hawaiian Islands and the west coast of Mexico, defined by two major WSW-trending fractures: the Clipperton and Clarion fracture zones. The depth of the ocean in the CCZ ranges from about 4,200 m to 5,000 m.

Largest undeveloped source of battery and rare earth metals

Polymetallic nodules are believed to have precipitated from seawater, growing slowly over a few million years, soaking up metals from the seawater and the seafloor sediments. The CCZ appears to be something of a sweet spot in terms of the supply of metals, conditions for the precipitation of the metals, and conditions for their preservation.

The area covered by nodule fields within the CCZ is huge, extending over millions of square kilometres. The International Seabed Authority (ISA) has estimated that the CCZ contains some 30 billion tonnes of nodules containing 70 million tonnes of cobalt (about 500 years of supply), 400 million tonnes of nickel (about 200 years of supply) and 340 million tonnes of copper. This is a truly remarkable accumulation of metals. In some areas, polymetallic nodules also carry elevated grades of rare earth elements (REEs) that are essential for many modern technologies.

Another remarkable characteristic of the nodule deposits in the CCZ is the low variation in metal grades. Figure 4, on the left, shows a plot of nickel and cobalt grades from a typical nickel laterite deposit. The plot on the right is a similarly scaled plot of nickel and cobalt grades from an area of approximately 25,000 square kilometres in the CCZ. The very low variance of the grades in the CCZ is clear. Importantly, the very low variance means that estimation of grade is very low risk.

Figure 4 Nickel and cobalt grades in a typical terrestrial deposit (left) and deep-sea deposit (right) (Lipton, 2021. Deepsea polymetallic nodules: Geology, exploration and mining. Presentation to the Nickel Value Chain seminar – Nickel Materials & Metallurgical Society of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM). 22 April 2021).

Exploring the ocean floor

For deep-sea mineral deposits, all data must be gathered remotely. There’s no opportunity for geologists to kick the rocks or compile detailed maps of the rock types, geological structures, mineralisation styles and their relationships. And the cost of off-shore drilling and sampling is much higher than on land. These cost pressures favour the use of remotely-sensed data that are not commonly used for the estimation of terrestrial mineral deposits. Specifically, the most commonly used remote exploration methods for deep-sea nodules are:

Multibeam echo sounder
Free-fall grab sampling
Box core sampling
Autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) photogrammetry

Multibeam echo sounder

The multibeam echo sounder is used for mapping the bathymetry—that is, the topography of the sea floor. Multibeam systems are also capable of recording acoustic backscatter data, which can be useful for identifying areas of polymetallic nodule coverage or zones devoid of nodules e.g., seamounts or lava flows.

Free-fall grab sampling

Free-fall grab samplers are used to sample and measure the abundance of nodules on the sea floor. The weight of nodules collected, divided by the area from which they were collected, is the abundance of the nodules in kilograms per square metre.

In free-fall grab sampling, illustrated in Figure 6, the sampler is released from a ship and descends slowly to the sea floor under its own weight and the weight of the ballast—hence the term free-fall. When it lands on the sea floor, spring-loaded net bags close under the sampler, scooping up nodules and sediment. The ballast containers are then opened, dropping the ballast on the sea floor. The sampler now has positive buoyancy and slowly ascends to the sea surface. It has a light and radio beacon by which it can be located and retrieved.

The advantage of free fall grab samplers is that they can be deployed and retrieved independently, without the need for winching, so several samplers can be efficiently deployed without delays. The disadvantage with free fall samplers is that smaller nodules may be lost, and the largest nodules may be too big to be caught in the net bags. So, recovery of the nodules may only be partial.

Box core sampling

The box core sampler is currently the sampler of choice because of the high quality of the samples it produces. Like free-fall grab samplers, box core samplers measure the abundance of nodules on the sea floor. Figure 7 shows the top view of the nodules inside the box core. This illustrates one of the main advantages of the box core: samples are relatively undisturbed, allowing very accurate measurement of nodule abundance and other geological and ecological properties at the sample site.

Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs)

AUVs are also widely used. They are operated a few metres above the sea floor to collect detailed, quantitative photographs of the nodules and small-scale topographic features. Box core sampling is laborious but photographic methods can be used to collect a large volume of data at a fraction of the cost over a large area, in a relatively short period of time.

A predictive relationship can sometimes be established through measurement of each nodule’s long axis and its weight. The graph in Figure 8 shows nodule weight plotted against nodule long-axis length. By measuring the long-axis digitally and using the calibrated relationship, the abundance of nodules within a calibrated area of sea floor can be estimated. The process is known as long-axis estimation (LAE).

A key limitation of photo-based abundance estimation is that, in some areas, sediment cover may mask the nodules, which prevents an accurate estimate. Nonetheless, where this is not a problem, LAE is a valuable, low cost, addition to box core data.

Estimation of polymetallic nodule resources

Mineral resource estimation of polymetallic nodule deposits is a relatively simple, two-dimensional task. The estimation process involves four basic steps, which will be familiar to every geologist:

Identify the limits of the mineralized deposit.
Characterize the density of the mineralization. For polymetallic nodule deposits, nodule abundance fulfils this requirement.
Characterize the grades of the deposit.
Estimate the spatial distribution of grades and abundance within the deposit.

The deep-sea floor is not flat, and definition of the topography is important because there are seamounts and volcanic ridges on which nodules may not have been preserved. Sea floor topography will also likely constrain commercial nodule production. For example, recovery of nodules from the steeper slopes may not be practical.

Having mapped the extent of the areas interpreted to have nodule coverage, the box core samples, free-fall grab samples, and LAE data are used to estimate nodule abundance and mineral resource tonnages and grades. Simple, spatial averaging techniques, such as ordinary kriging, are sufficient to model the spatial distribution of abundance and grades.

Deep sea exploration methods are unfamiliar to many traditional mining stakeholders and unfamiliarity may easily lead to misunderstanding and lack of confidence in the mineral resource estimates. So, thorough, good quality reporting of mineral resource estimates for polymetallic nodules takes on an extra significance. All relevant information must be presented in a clear and balanced manner to inform stakeholders such as exploration companies, their shareholders, regulators, and wider communities.

Mining 5 kilometres down

There has been, as yet, no commercial production of deep-sea polymetallic nodules, but there are several private and government-sponsored research organisations actively investigating production scenarios.

The term “mining” is something of a misnomer in terms of production of polymetallic nodules. The nodules are sitting on the sea floor: no waste rock stripping, no drilling, no blasting. A conceptual mining scenario is illustrated in Figure 9. A collection machine, probably self-propelled, picks up the nodules from the sea floor with minimal disturbance. The nodules are fed into a pumping system, which lifts them to a production support vessel. The production support vessel transfers the nodules to bulk carriers, which in turn transport the nodules to a land-based site for processing.

The technical risks are moderately high at the present time because no full-scale systems have yet been built and operated. The oil and gas industry already operates at depths of several thousand metres, so developing systems to operate at great depths is not an insurmountable engineering challenge. And several small-scale trials of prototype collection machines and pumping systems or skip systems have been successfully completed.

Economic recovery of deep-sea mineral deposits will entail the use of technologies that are new, or adaptations of componentry and systems developed for terrestrial environments, shallower waters, or other industries. Cost estimates for terrestrial mines can be benchmarked against numerous other deposits with comparable geology and operating environments. There are currently no commercial-scale deep-sea mines that can be used as benchmarks, so estimates must be constructed methodically from first principles and draw on practical experience from marine engineering in other well-established industries.

The majority of terrestrial mines operate within significant constraints imposed by the geometry of the ore and the waste rock which typically surrounds and overlies the ore. This places practical and economic limitations on the sequence in which the ore can be extracted and means that there is commonly a significant volume of waste that must be removed and placed into long term storage. In contrast, seafloor mining systems for polymetallic nodules will have high mobility and will not have any waste material to move or store. It is therefore expected that seafloor operations will be highly adaptable and able to respond rapidly to changes in the operating environment.

More work is definitely required to bring nodules projects to fruition, but progress is now rapid and the outlook is exciting.

The ESG argument

The international seabed area is defined as the seabed and subsoil beyond the limits of national jurisdiction. The international authority responsible for overseeing and managing the development of this area is the International Seabed Authority (ISA). Made up of 167 Member States, and the European Union, the ISA is mandated under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea to organize, regulate and control all mineral-related activities in the international seabed area for the benefit of mankind as a whole. In so doing, ISA has the duty to ensure the effective protection of the marine environment from harmful effects that may arise from deep-seabed related activities.

The principles that exploitation of the mineral resources of the deep seabed should be carried out for the benefit of all humanity and that the proceeds from such exploitation should be shared on the basis of equity were recognized from the beginning of discussions in the United Nations. All Member States have the opportunity to sponsor applications for exploration and exploitation licences through their state-owned entities or partnerships with commercial organizations. This provides even small nations, such as Nauru, Tonga, and Singapore the opportunity to benefit from mining of the deep seafloor.

The ISA has published regulations governing the prospecting and exploration of polymetallic nodules, including guidelines for the establishment of baseline environmental data. A legal framework to regulate the exploitation of polymetallic nodules in the international seabed area is also being developed. The aim of the ISA regulations is to balance economic needs with rigorous environmental protection. The current ESG requirements focus on the exploration activities and include:

Which seabed exploration activities are likely to have environmental impacts and to what degree?
What baselines should be used to measure the state of the environment prior to exploration activities and how should subsequent changes be monitored?
What research should be conducted into natural and anthropogenic (human-induced) processes at work?

A significant number of studies of the CCZ have been completed over the last 40 years and are on-going, including ocean currents, phytoplankton and benthic fauna, biodiversity, nutrient chemistry and suspended matter, sediment dispersion, and ecosystem function and recovery from past dredge tracks and impact experiments. The studies indicate that exploration and mining activities can be conducted in a manner that minimises both the disturbance in areas outside of the mining areas and long-term impacts on the marine environment.

Implementation of appropriate environmental management systems and management plans will be necessary to provide the overall framework for environmental management and monitoring. It is expected that the mobility of the seafloor production systems will be advantageous when using adaptive management systems to control environmental impacts.

There are likely to be few negative social impacts in many of the prospective deepsea areas because they are far from human habitation or fishing areas. Mining of deepsea nodules is not expected to require tailings ponds or other large-scale waste storage, either offshore or onshore, and the concentration of harmful elements in the nodules is very low.

The transition to green energy and the associated electrification of the world will require a vast quantity of copper, cobalt, and nickel. This demand cannot be met from terrestrial mines without further competition for land and water use and impact on communities and the environment. The potential for mining of deepsea nodules presents an alternative that will have, in many respects, significantly lower social and environmental impact. These are the choices that must be considered and made by the world in the very near future.

About AMC Consultants

Through our work on several deep-sea projects in recent years, AMC has developed a thorough understanding of the technologies, opportunities and risks involved. If you want to learn more about this fascinating topic, AMC Principal Geologists Ian Lipton and Nick Szebor will be happy to guide you along the path.

Curious to find out more bout how AMC can help you with your deep sea mining project?

AMC exhibits at the 5th International Conference on Block and Sublevel Caving

Tue, 26 Jul 2022 21:19:46 GMT

AMC exhibits at the 5th International Conference on Block and Sublevel Caving

AMC Consultants is proud to bring together caving experts from its offices in Adelaide, Melbourne, and Perth at the Fifth International Conference on Block and Sublevel Caving , 30 August - 1 September in Adelaide. Led by Johann van Wijk, General Manager of AMC's office in Adelaide, the team looks forward to welcoming delegates to booth #11.

Our caving team includes experienced mining engineers, geologists, geotechnical engineers, modellers and consultants. We have completed more than 500 projects for caving operations across the globe. We know what - and who - will deliver smart and successful sub-level and block caving operations and outcomes.

Hosted by the Australian Centre for Geomechanics (ACG) , the conference is the only dedicated cave mining international event globally. It will provide a platform for mining companies to be kept informed of the latest technological developments and caving research carried out by industry and academia.

Johann van Wijk

General Manager, Adelaide /

Principal Geotechnical Engineer

Mike Sandy

Principal Geotechnical Engineer/ Global Practice Leader Geotechnical Engineering

Livestream about caving challenges and opportunities

AMC is pleased to offer the first ever livestream on the topic of caving with globally recognized expert, Mike Sandy. The livestream will feature the General Manager of our office in Adelaide, Johann van Wijk, and will be held by Mark Chesher, Executive Lead - Business Development and will give viewers the opportunity to ask live questions.

When? Wednesday 31 August 1.10 PM

Where? Directly from our booth #11 and across all our Social Media channels LinkedIn , YouTube , Twitter , and Facebook .

Meet the team at Caving 2022

Liam Johnson

Senior Geotechnical Engineer

Andrew Proudman

Principal Consultant / Geology Manager

Marc English

Principal Mining Engineer, Underground

Location

Want to learn more about AMC's caving capabilities?

AMC exhibits at the 18th GMUSG Conference & Trade Expo

Thu, 21 Jul 2022 13:47:22 GMT

AMC exhibits at the 18th GMUSG Conference & Trade Expo

AMC Consultants will exhibit at the 18th GMUSG Conference on 16-18 August in Port Pirie. Led by Johann van Wijk, General Manager of AMC's office in Adelaide, the team looks forward to welcoming delegates to booth #44 .

The conference will gather players from the resources, energy, manufacturing, defence and infrastructure to hear how and where more than $3 billion is being spent in the Upper Spencer Gulf and Far North of South Australia. The mining industry is well represented with BHP, Nyrstar, OzMinerals, and SACOME being sponsors.

Johann van Wijk

General Manager, Adelaide /

Principal Geotechnical Engineer

Geopolitics and the supply and demand of battery materials

Tue, 12 Jul 2022 17:13:14 GMT

Geopolitics and the supply and demand of battery materials

In part two of a short series exploring the impact of the war in Ukraine and wider geopolitical challenges on commodity markets, Mark Chesher, Executive Leader Business Development, and Rob Chesher, BD Technical Manager, of AMC Consultants (AMC), consider the ramifications on the supply and demand for battery materials.

In our previous report Commodities, costs and the consequences of geopolitical impacts, Mark Chesher, Executive Leader Business Development, and Rob Chesher, Technical Manager, Business Development of AMC Consultants (AMC), posited how modern mining must adapt to the fallout of the invasion of Ukraine. Soaring prices of several metals including copper and nickel, have seen commodity markets in a tailspin, while the world contends with a short-term deficit in copper and nickel supplies.

Meanwhile, a continuing shortfall in exploration for new deposits in other regions of the world does nothing to alleviate the impact of such geopolitical upheaval and is, worryingly, “widening the supply and demand gap, not narrowing it,” according to Rob Chesher. Copper mine production is not keeping pace with current increases in demand, and with “new” demand created by the EV revolution increasing, the market appears set for a substantial deficit, exceeding what has been observed over the last five years or so.

What then is the impact on the demand for battery materials, primarily for use in electric vehicles (EVs), which are seeing production scaling up massively in order to meet ambitious horizons established by automakers and various national governments?

The short-term prognosis is not positive, says Rob Chesher. “The copper stockpile situation looks set to worsen, and reversing this trend will require a significant increase in spending on exploration, project studies, and new mine development. Other commodities are in a similar situation,” he says. “Improved recycling rates for copper are likely to assist in the longer-term, but the immediate need is unlikely to be met by scrap recovery due to the long lifecycle of most copper-intensive products.”

Substitute materials

“The vehicle battery market is just getting started. There was initially a lot of pressure on the major car manufacturers to phase out internal combustion engines (ICEs) by a certain date. But regardless of the desired outcome, changes require significant new investment in capacity and it appears that several companies just don't believe it's possible to achieve those targets. They're concerned that they're going to commit themselves to an objective that just can't be met,” says Mark Chesher, who also highlights the role technical advancements in batteries will have on meeting this demand. “As this push for ICE phase-out gains momentum, we will see lighter, more efficient and chemically stable batteries developed relatively quickly. It is likely that these newer batteries may need different metals. So I think we'll see substitution into the future as this situation develops.”

A great example of that, says Rob Chesher, is cobalt. While technically viable to use, it comes with some baggage as a material “significantly tainted”, in its association with non-ethical harvesting in African mines. But cobalt, he says, is “eminently substitutable”. Manufacturers, he says, are already finding ways to replace the alloys that require cobalt, rather than having to prove that raw materials (such as cobalt) required for a technically preferred battery configuration have been ethically-sourced. “People have decided to look at other systems and are constantly looking for alternative possibilities. But some parts of the system are difficult to substitute. Regardless of the materials used in manufacturing, the batteries need to be hooked up to the system – and for now that means copper and nickel.”

The usage of copper in EVs can be up to four times more than in conventional ICE cars, says Rob Chesher. “It's everywhere: it's in the charging station; it's in the car’s power system wiring and in the electronic control systems. In battery construction, regardless of the material of construction of the electrodes, there is a substrate that supports and connects the electrode. And the substrate is almost always nickel. Even if the electrode is a nickel alloy, or if it has cobalt or manganese in it, the substrate that it sits on is usually a piece of nickel. So, nickel is a big winner (with copper) when it comes to adding up how much metal it takes to build an EV.”

Australia leads the high-grade lithium market

The lithium-based battery system has got substantial traction in the marketplace, currently. While it might be possible to build a battery that doesn’t require lithium, according to Rob Chesher, “I don't think that's happening anytime soon. But the good news for lithium is it responds well to conventional mining and processing techniques, and there’s plenty of it around for recovery.”

Crucially, in mining terms, lithium is also not difficult to locate. Rather, it’s more a matter of “who's got the best lithium?” says Rob Chesher. “And, at the moment, Australia is one of the leaders and has two advantages: it commenced mining approvals quickly – so the Australian mines are already in place; and it has substantial deposits of spodumene, one of the highest-grade minerals containing the lithium ion. So, the Australians are winning the race for now, but they're not in it on their own. There's a lot of lithium available in primary, hard rock deposits and in secondary salars - underground lakes containing various dissolved salts including lithium, to be found in the world and the market will become increasingly competitive as more players enter the race.”

Conversely, Australia does not currently boast battery manufacturing on any reasonable scale. While plans for construction of an AUD$3 billion (£1.6bn) 18 GWh lithium-ion battery plant have seen feasibility studies approved in the coastal city of Townsville, there are no live gigafactories in Australia, which is still focused on building the first two stages of lithium production (spodumene concentrators and lithium carbonate plants).

“The mentality of mining companies in Australia was to make money quickly,” says Rob Chesher. “It was a case of direct ship ore (DSO) [Direct Shipping Ore – mined and transported without upgrading] for a long time, which gives virtually the whole value chain away. Then it became a case of making a 6% Li2O concentrate in Australia prior to shipment overseas. Unfortunately, Australia is a late comer to downstream processing, but we're trying to encourage our government to change this approach. Lithium upgrading and eventual battery manufacture are tailor-made for Western Australia; for instance in the Kwinana and Bunbury areas,” he says.

“An exciting recent development is the construction by Albermarle of a lithium hydroxide plant at Kemmerton just north of Bunbury in WA. The plant is designed to produce 50,000 tpa LiOH however management is already talking about x2 and x4 expansions. Albermarle expects first production in June 2022. Everything needed for EV battery manufacture is close by these plants, including Australia’s first nickel sulphate plant at BHP’s Nickel West refinery in Kwinana.” This is in stark contrast to the UK, where several new players are making bids to get manufacturing plants off the ground.

Experienced help for newcomers

While worldwide copper mine exploration and production has stagnated, and demand has increased in the meantime, AMC’s insight and expertise in this area can certainly help, says Mark Chesher. “We find prospects and help turn them into successful projects. That whole mine production chain is our bread and butter. That's what we do for a living. The market has been in deficit five or six years in a row, but there is no doubt that the market is now attracting new players. Our corporate teams assist with valuations and review of existing projects and documentation. There has always been a reticence around people coming into an industry that they're not used to, and unfortunately, some have been burned in the past when they have come in and don't understand how to invest in mining. That is where we can help astute investors.”

AMC not only conduct feasibility studies for new projects, but remains involved through the whole life of projects. “Once construction starts, we often play an owner's representative role for companies across all facets of a project, monitoring the performance of project construction contractors and ensuring adherence to scope and budget. We've got multiple specialists throughout the organization that can help investors understand what's going on when they come into the industry and help them to review studies that have been done to assess the quality of the work,” says Mark Chesher.

That insight helps investors to identify areas where AMC can improve the outcomes for a company, whether they be financial, or even environmental outcomes. “We can identify a company’s objectives, and make sure that projects are meeting those objectives. It's all the way through this value chain, right from someone coming to us with a database of drill hole data, through to turning the switch and the plant starting to produce,” says Mark Chesher.

“We don't get into design of plants, or the engineering side. We stick to our core competency of resource development: that's geology, geotech, mine planning, metallurgy and process flow sheet development. We are happy to recommend and partner with experts in these areas. We help people to develop and coordinate ideas. There might be three or four different consulting companies contributing to a project from different angles, so an investor gets multiple sets of ideas from quality professionals across the industry. Helping to merge these into the viable plan is the goal.”

For Rob Chesher, the most exciting recent development for AMC in this space is the ability “to incorporate Predictive Geometallurgy™ into our whole enterprise optimisation. We start from undisturbed ground and then design the drilling programme as the basis to develop geometallurgical modelling of the resource in the ground. Then, using that very specific data that goes block by block for the whole deposit, we can apply our optimisation routines. This way, we have the ability to model all the way from in-the-ground, through mining, through to processing, and to develop and test optimized mining and processing solutions.”

A holistic view of mining

This attention to detail can make a difference to investors of “hundreds of millions of dollars” through “avoiding fundamental mistakes about how you set the mine up in the first place. It's just amazing how many times our industry doesn't get that balancing act correct. Plants are built at the wrong size, so you can have a quarter of a plant idling because it's too big or chronically undersized and unable to deliver the promised performance. Our ability to optimize the capital spend creates significant value for the project stakeholders,” says Rob Chesher.

Another benefit of optimisation planning is that operators can accurately measure and manage their carbon footprint. “We can incorporate various algorithms across the 3D model that estimates how much carbon is produced for a kilogram of metal produced, and this too can be optimized.” says Mark Chesher. This also applies to estimates of water usage, power consumption, or any other factor that can be defined by fields in the model.

“That enables operators to then choose the objectives that they would like to achieve as part of a project. Where water or power are a problem, you can run algorithms on water or power usage. You're moving outside of just mining and processing to looking at a project in a holistic way to achieve the full spectrum of objectives set by the board at the start of the project.”

With the world facing a plethora of challenges in sourcing battery materials and beset by geopolitical pressures and an increasingly fragile supply chain, having a holistic view of the whole mining value chain – and expertise in the core competencies of resource development – is proving invaluable for AMC’s customers.

Commodities, costs, and the consequences of geopolitical impacts: how modern mining must adapt

Mon, 11 Jul 2022 17:25:49 GMT

Commodities, costs, and the consequences of geopolitical impacts: how modern mining must adapt

Mark Chesher, Executive Leader Business Development, and Rob Chesher, Business Development Technical Manager, of AMC Consultants (AMC), address how the mining industry must deal with fluctuating commodity prices, easing production lags, and navigating the Russia challenge.

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, a huge shock was registered, not only in the minds of millions of people across the globe, but also across its commodity markets. The consequences, aside from those on a humanitarian scale, are far-reaching for the mining sector.

Russia is the world’s third largest nickel producer, while its copper mine production was estimated at 820 thousand metric tons in 2021, making it the eighth-largest producer of copper worldwide. As sanctions against Russia start to bite, the impacts on the global commodity markets have been far-reaching , with soaring prices of several metals including copper and nickel, due to global supply concerns. Ukraine, by extension, is seeing huge disruption in the export of its substantial coal, iron ore, and uranium products.

So, what are the likely long-term consequences of the invasion of Ukraine on global production – and prices? “Governments around the world are concerned about this in a similar way to the concerns about gas and oil,” says Mark Chesher, Executive Leader Business Development, AMC Consultants. “Fundamentally, many people would like to stop the consumption of Russian products and exports. But in reality, that’s going to be a very difficult thing to do, without having major impacts on the rest of the world.”

Russia, says Chesher, is largely self-sufficient in “many of their products, or outputs” and, consequently, is “not reliant on too much coming into the country. Its copper output has been relatively low – eighth in the world – but it currently has some of the largest new copper projects coming online. It’s going to be interesting to see how this unfolds,” he says.

Chesher believes the war will contribute to a short-term deficit in copper supply in the near term. As for nickel, Norilsk is one of the major mining houses in the world with approximately 10% of the world’s nickel supply. “Supply contracts take a long time to work through the system. But if the sanctions are applied strictly, it will bite hard in the metals market across the world,” he says.

Russian nickel projects are also well-developed for growth, says Rob Chesher, BD Technical Manager, of AMC. “We talk a lot about ‘prospectivity’: projects that are being developed further into the future, but currently in the study or early study phase. There are many targets following these trends throughout Eastern Siberia. Taking those out of play for the major explorers will only exacerbate the problem.”

The race for new exploration

It’s a concern for Rob Chesher and his colleagues that there remains a shortfall in fundamental exploration for new deposits elsewhere in the world to compensate for the impact of unprecedented major geopolitical upheaval. “There’s been a significant gap for the last decade, and now it’s widening, not narrowing,” he says.

Will mining regions worldwide benefit from the fallout of the Ukraine invasion, with production being ramped up elsewhere? “People often say, ‘this is the time for Africa to shine,’” says Mark Chesher, “but we’ve also seen that in the past three or four cycles. We have observed increased production in Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo throughout the Copper Belt, and I think that will continue to push up. But it is also seen as a higher political risk investment.”

Central Asia is also emerging. Kazakhstan has significant copper production and abundant reserves of other minerals – primarily zinc. “There’s a lot of prospectivity in that part of the world. And they’re relatively under explored, says Mark Chesher. “It could really push the case for more investment in the Central Asian area.”

Pakistan could be a key producer through the recent announcement of a partnership between Barrick and the federal and state Pakistan governments. This further highlights the development potential in former Soviet ‘Stan’ countries in the region. “We have many Russian speakers across our offices, so we’re pivoting now to use that expertise in Central Asia,” he says.

Southeast Asia is also seeing significant projects along the Pacific Rim. “The Philippines is a very important area for the future that that will see significantly more production. Indonesia remains important as well,” says Rob Chesher, although this is caveated by more prohibitive legislation and political challenges that can mean it takes longer for projects to gestate.

Another problem remains that, while commodities may be in rich supply in these regions, ease of access to them is another matter entirely. Mineral deposits are often found in the middle of a rain forest, up a mountain, or in areas only accessible by river transport. “There’s a world picture emerging where the risks to successful development are increasing, where deposits are located deeper, where the metallurgy required is getting more difficult and where a full spectrum of ESG (environmental, social, governance) issues and risks must be identified and managed through the design phase for a project to proceed. These can often be the deciding factors and make the geology and mining technical risks pale by comparison,” says Mark Chesher.

That’s the case in South America, where the big producers are still Chile, Brazil, and Peru. “What we’re likely to see is an increase in brownfield expansion. Large greenfield projects take 10-15 years for development and can take up to 25 years to get into production,” says Mark Chesher. “So, there’s going to be two speeds here. One is finding metal that is for the long term, and the other is to satisfy this immediate gap. That’s likely to drive existing open pit operations to bigger pits or to transitioning underground in order to increase or extend production from existing operations.”

Due diligence, price fluctuations and ranking risk

With geopolitical events exacerbating the price increase in minerals, the mining sector must learn to mitigate against this, says Mark Chesher. “Everybody has to do better due diligence and have a higher focus on the risks to achieving particular project success. We’ll end up ranking new production in terms of not only cost of production, but risks across the whole project. That way, you evaluate the trade-off between risk and margin in producing the metal from different parts of the world and under a wide range of risk factors.”

Price increases will “become entrenched,” says Mark Chesher. “That will help to give investors the confidence to put more money into these projects, so that they can assess the risk and then mitigate those risks through dialogue with governments, local authorities, and local people to get them on board for these projects to proceed for everyone’s benefit.”

Aside from the large-scale geopolitical risks that garner global optics, there are also plenty of localised ones too, such as those seen in South America with issues concerning water supply. “The local people are interested in project plans and how operators are going to utilise local resources,” says Rob Chesher. “It may be that you can develop a project, but you are going to have to put in additional money and infrastructure to ensure that the interests of the locals are taken into consideration.”

While the current shortage in supply is accelerating commodity prices, those prices also need to give sufficient return to investors to drive investment. “We had seen manufactured goods prices consistently falling in real terms for 10 to 20 years – and in response there’s been a major drive for efficiency gains that has caused a flatlining of salaries, while input product and input prices have been relatively flat or falling. I suspect we’ll see a reversal of that as inflation starts to take hold,” says Rob Chesher.

That being said, good companies in this sector are fundamentally value driven. “It’s a big deal,” says Rob Chesher. “You’ve got to understand what your values are. Well-managed companies that have got strong values can take on difficult projects, provided they stay true to their values and address the concerns of locals correctly and in good faith. A value proposition that places value and generated wealth in correct proportions for all stakeholders is what you’re looking for. You’re not after a bonanza or, conversely, giving it all away. But somewhere in the middle is a project that’s good for everybody.”

Mitigating the squeeze on margins

With the cost of production starting to rise significantly, how much is this surge threatening to keep driving up prices? “There are two parts to it,” says Rob Chesher. “In the copper industry, the price is currently US$4.10 a pound – it’s double what it was a year or so ago. So, if your cost of production goes up significantly, the margins are probably not too bad – there’s a bit more margin available for new projects to pay back capital cost. So, things are alright. But in that same two-year period, the price of gold has gone nowhere. If you happen to be in a sector of the industry that has not seen any increase in price, then you’re in trouble because the production costs have started to go up already.”

This is, of course, starting to squeeze margins. And many factors driving costs are not always directly related to the product being mined. The cost of producing copper involves labour, transport, and power costs, for example. “There is a lot of energy involved and if those cost items are not offset by the increase in commodity prices, it’s going to be an issue, says Rob Chesher. “The fuel bill for a low-grade gold miner in Western Australia is through the roof at the moment and yet his commodity price is not moving at all.”

The drivers of the price of a commodity are not the same as for base metals, which is being driven by supply and demand in the electric vehicle battery market. “We have a division in AMC that looks after operational improvement – the focus is not just reducing an operator’s cash cost position but improving their productivity and bringing the net unit cost down so that they improve their margins,” says Mark Chesher. The demand for investigations has been increasing significantly over the last six months, he says. “We’re receiving queries almost daily. The boardrooms of these companies are looking for reduced costs and improved productivity.”

Rethinking exploration investment and productivity

On the question of exploration, while nonferrous exploration budgets are globally down at the moment, will more money now start flowing into the resourcing side of things? And an increase in exploration?

“It has to,” says Mark Chesher. “Everything is pointing to an increase in the gap between supply and demand. As a society for the last 30 or 40 years, we’ve been used to inflation being driven by demand. But this is now a supply-driven problem. We have to see more exploration – there’s no doubt. The exploration dollars being spent are not resulting in the same levels of finding new metal or new prospects. In general terms, the easy stuff has already been discovered. So, not only are we spending less money, we’re less successful in finding projects with the money we do spend. There needs to be a rethink in how we go about exploration”.

“Those exploration dollars are largely being spent in areas of the world classed as “non-risky environments,” says Mark Chesher. “A really nice objective for a company board is to say, ‘We want to find a project in a tier one country where there’s low risk, and great returns.’ However, it’s not as easy to do that anymore.” This, he says, will drive the industry towards parts of the world which have a history of being ‘riskier’. Countries such as Iran, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and the DRC.

Rob Chesher continued “We need to have some fundamental change in the environment of those countries to make sure it’s a jurisdiction we can work in readily. The mining industry is good at that – we’ve always had to deal with deposits that are in difficult places, but it comes back to the values again. We need to be operating in an ethical fashion and abiding by the international principles that are in operation and working with the governments and local populations to make sure that the production benefits everybody.”

This kind of approach has also seen something of a mining renaissance in countries such as USA and Canada as operators can demonstrate ethical practices and solid ESG credentials. “In the US, for the last 15 years, mining has been really frowned upon – from a political point of view everybody has really enjoyed bashing the miners,” says Rob Chesher.

“But areas that have historically provided a lot of the metals are now demonstrating that they can be mined ethically. So, we’re likely to see big projects in Southwest US, where there are a number of copper projects rolling that we’re involved with. There are plenty of studies going on in Alaska and Canada too. As the need becomes more imperative, there’s the opportunity for somebody to seek a breakthrough in overall risk management.”

ESG to remain front and centre

ESG has been an omnipresent, transformative factor in mining in recent years, but many are concerned there is a chance that, given the pressures the industry is currently facing, it may again be nudged out of the limelight. Might we see long-term, considerate planning get short-circuited or mindful ESG principles railroaded in order to get project timelines compressed and online quicker?

“It’s a key issue for us,” says Mark Chesher. “We have our internal AMC values around being professional and producing the best possible outcomes for a project and not just selecting options that make the most money. That’s important – to make sure our projects are satisfying stakeholder requirements. But there’s also been a shift in the last 10 years or so where shareholders and the groups that represent them have become more vocal in in the way they analyse projects and motivate boards that act on their behalf to improve conditions as well as produce an attractive economic outcome.”

Another critical challenge facing project developers in the forthcoming months and years involves changing the supply mix of energy required. “We can’t just flick a switch and turn on green energy immediately. It’s about finding a balance that shifts over time to the desired endpoint,” says Mark Chesher. “We’ve got to look to our governments to take leadership on difficult things such as transitioning away from coal-fired generation of power.”

There are also, says Rob Chesher, professional international organisations that AMC belongs to that represent industry professionals, develop guidelines and recording codes, as well as helping investors. “Having that collective support from the industry, at a professional level, just helps us to improve the way companies look at these projects, and to improve their own ESG performance”.

Regardless of the challenges ahead, the mining industry will continue to adapt to changing environments, as it has for centuries past. Mark Chesher believes that, for AMC, “It’s important to try and use our independence to help guide the industry as much as possible to meet the community expectations, obligations and guidelines wherever we operate.”

Being a consultant-owned company is a strength, he says, and means AMC is independent in thought. “There have been occasions where we have walked away from projects if we believed a company was not abiding by the values we hold, or if those values have been compromised.”

With the commodities market – and the mining sector generally – facing such unprecedented challenge, this kind of integrity cannot be underestimated.

20 YEARS OF AMC HILL OF VALUE® STRATEGY OPTIMIZATION

Mon, 13 Jun 2022 13:28:32 GMT

On 9 June 2022, Brian Hall, global strategy optimization expert and author of the definitive text on the subject, “Cut-off Grades and Optimizing the Strategic Mine Plan,” presented a webinar on 20 years of the AMC Hill of Value®, case studies, and the next chapter. He was joined by Andrew Hall, Executive Lead - Advisory; Jayson Tolley, Advisory Lead - Strategy Optimization; and David Sahota, Senior Mining Analyst, Strategy Optimization.

Andrew Hall

Director/Advisory Lead - Advisory

Brian Hall

Principal Mining Engineer

Jayson Tolley

Advisory Lead - Strategy Optimization

AMC at PDAC 2022

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Sat, 28 May 2022 14:06:32 GMT

AMC at PDAC 2022

AMC Consultants looks forward to welcoming delegates to booth #448 at the PDAC Conference in Toronto 13-15 June 2022. As a special treat for this year's conference, our team has put together a full program that includes a webinar, a launch event, a livestream, and a TechFast BreakFast on the topic of AMC Hill of Value™ and strategy optimization.

Brian Hall, global strategy optimization expert and author of the definitive text on the subject, “Cut-off Grades and Optimising the Strategic Mine Plan” , will travel to Toronto for these events. Francis McCann, General Manager Toronto and Mort Shannon, General Manager - Vancouver will be joined by Karl van Olden, Executive Lead - Operations, Steve Hunt, Executive Lead - Technical, Andrew Hall, Executive Lead - Advisory, and other members of AMC's team from Canada and across the globe.

Webinar: 20 years of AMC Hill of Value® : Case Studies and the next chapter

In this webinar, Brian Hall, the creator of the AMC Hill of Value® process will look at lessons learnt from 20 years of application of the process and the future of this revolutionary approach.

He will be joined by AMC's Strategy Optimization team to explore exclusive case studies on the application of the AMC Hill of Value® process at three current high-profile operations.

Time: 10 am (EDT)

Date: Thursday 9 June 2022

TechFast BreakFast: Cut-off Grade and Strategy Optimization

Getting your cut-off grade and other operating strategies right can add more value than other business improvement initiatives, often increasing the value of an operation in excess of 30%. To expand on this, AMC Consultants’ office in Toronto is pleased to present this face-to-face executive summary by internationally-recognized expert in optimization of mine plans and strategies, Brian Hall. Places strictly limited. PLaces have now been allocated.

Time: 8.30-11.30 am (EDT)

Date: Wednesday 15 June 2022

Livestreamed launch of AMC Hill of Value® trademark

AMC will gather Brian Hall and AMC leadership to celebrate the registration of the AMC Hill of Value® as a registered trademark in Australia (pending approval in Canada). This also marks the next chapter for the process, with the product reaching a level of maturity that allows the next generation of experts to continue with this important work. The celebration will take place within our booth #448.

When? Tuesday 14 June at 2pm

Where? Directly from our booth #448 and across all our Social Media channels LinkedIn , YouTube , Twitter , and Facebook .

Andrew Hall

Director/Advisory Lead - Advisory

Brian Hall

Principal Mining Engineer

Need a break from the show floor?

Join us for drinks and snacks at this year’s Mining4Beer PDAC event sponsored by AMC Consultants.

Time: 5.00-11.30 pm

Date: Monday 13 June

Venue: The Bottom Line

Meet the team at PDAC 2022

Steve Hunt

Executive Lead - Technical

Karl van Olden

Executive Lead - Operations

Mort Shannon

P.Geo., General Manager / Principal Geologist

Francis McCann

General Manager, Toronto / Principal Mining Engineer

Mo Molavi

Director / Mining Services Manager/ Principal Mining Engineer

Dinara Nussipakynova

Principal Geologist

Aneta Niewiadomska

Senior Mining Consultant

Johnny Mercer-Royce

Senior Mining Analyst

AMC presents and the Open Pit Operators Conference 2022

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Tue, 24 May 2022 16:58:49 GMT

AMC presents and the Open Pit Operators Conference 2022

AMC Consultants is pleased to return to the AusIMM Open Pit Operators Conference that will take place in Perth 21-22 June 2022 at Crown Perth .

As part of our committment to continuing to develop our industry, AMC Principal Mining Engineer, Jonathon Nortier, will present the paper "A tailored solution to determine plant capacity using strategic analysis" on Tuesday 21 June. This and all other presentations will de available on demand after the conference.

Presentation: A tailored solution to determine plant capacity using strategic analysis

This paper discusses the benefits of completing strategic mine planning to identify project configuration options to assist in the selection of the processing plant throughput rate (Capacity Study) for a large greenfield open pit gold mine. The processes described in this paper allowed for the basis of design to then be set for subsequent studies at a risk profile acceptable to the owner.

When? Session 3: Tuesday 21 June 2.20-2.35 pm

Abstract: Click here to access the abstract.

Jonathon Nortier

Director/ Principal Mining Engineer

AMC sponsors Mines and Money Connect London Conference 2022

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Wed, 13 Apr 2022 07:57:04 GMT

AMC sponsors Mines and Money Connect London Conference 2022

AMC Consultants is proud to be a sponsor of the Networking Drinks Reception at the Mines and Money Connect Conference 2022 in London 4-5 May 2022.

Led by Nick Szebor, General Manager of AMC's office in the UK, our strong global corporate consultancy capability will be well represented. Nick will be joined by Principal Mining Engineer, Alan Turner. They look forward to discussing how AMC helps investors and the financial sector with presence in Eurasia & Africa with their reporting.

Mines and Money Connect will bring together mining corporates and qualified investors to participate in hundreds of lucrative meetings and two invaluable networking days. Click here to view the full program.

Meet the team at the Minines and Money Connect 2022

Nick Szebor

General Manager, Maidenhead/ Principal Geologist

Nick has more than 12 years of experience within the mineral industry, working in roles including consultancy and production. Nick previously worked as the senior mine geologist for an iron ore operation in Norway, Sydvaranger Gruve AS, managing the company’s geological department, including grade-control systems, its Resources and Reserves estimates, and reporting. His experience covers a range of commodities, geological settings, exploration and production environments, including underground and open-pit operations. This experience has been obtained across the mining lifecycle from early-stage exploration to production and mine closure. Nick is a Competent Person and Qualified Person and has carried out Mineral Resource Estimates to international reporting codes including CIM (NI 43-101), JORC, and SAMREC.

Alan Turner

Principal Mining Engineer

Alan has 15 years of experience in both operations and consulting in gold and base-metal mining across Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Former Soviet Union. Alan specializes in mine optimization and planning in underground and open-pit mining. Alan is experienced providing technical solutions for strategic planning, optimizations, pit design, and scheduling. He is also experienced developing cost and cashflow models. Alan has worked on NI 43-101 studies on the client-side for Lydian International’s Amulsar Project, and in a consulting role for various projects, including Cameco’s Kintyre pre-feasibility study, Woulfe Mining Corp’s Sangdong feasibility study, and Zenit’s Kiziltepe feasibility study. During his career, Alan has worked on multiple operations in Armenia and has developed Armenian and Russian language skills.

Conference venue

AMC at the CIM Convention 2022

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Wed, 13 Apr 2022 05:41:18 GMT

AMC at the CIM Convention 2022

AMC Consultants looks forward to welcoming delegates to booth #1451 at the CIM Convention and Ex po 1-4 May 2022. The much-anticipated event will be the first face-to-face conference we attend in Canada since the start of the pandemic. To celebrate this, Patrick Smith, Managing Director and CEO, Mark Chesher, Executive Lead - Business Development, and Francis McCann, General Manager Toronto will join Mort Shannon, General Manager - Vancouver and this team at the conference.

As a special treat for this year’s conference, AMC will host a livestreamed Q&A on productivity and costs featuring Tony Grice, Kingsley Hortin, and David Vink, three globally recognized experts in their disciplines.

The theme of this year's conference is What's NEXT in mining for future generations and will explore the state of flux the mining industry currently finds itself in with electrification, digitalization, market turns, and culture shifts, and how to best respond to this.

Livestream: Productivity and costs with Tony Grice, Kingsley Hortin, and David Vink

Q&A featuring globally recognized leaders in ventilation, backfill, and business improvement discussing the topic of productivity and costs, which will become more and more relevant as mining costs continue to increase.

When? Monday 2nd May at 2pm

Where? Directly from our booth #1451 and across all our Social Media channels LinkedIn , YouTube , Twitter , and Facebook .

David Vink

Advisory Lead - Operational Excellence

Kingsley Hortin

Principal Ventilation Consultant

Tony Grice

Global Leader – Backfill / Principal Mining Consultant

Meet the team at the CIM Convention Vancouver 2022

Patrick Smith

Managing Director and CEO

Mark Chesher

Executive Lead - Business Development

Mort Shannon

P.Geo., General Manager / Principal Geologist

Francis McCann

General Manager, Toronto / Principal Mining Engineer

Mo Molavi

Director / Mining Services Manager/ Principal Mining Engineer

Gene Tucker

Open Pit Manager / Principal Mining Engineer

Gary Methven

Underground Manager / Principal Mining Engineer

CIM Convention venue

Short interview with Opening Keynote Speaker Dr. Beau Lotto

Appointing an iron ore consultant

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 15:33:35 GMT

Appointing an iron ore consultant

Appointing iron ore mining consultant: Your due diligence capability checklist

So, how does your due diligence sort the iron from the clayore?

Based on almost four decades of working in this demanding field, our team here at AMC has consolidated the following checklist to help you make the right decision for your business.

Questions you should ask when vetting an iron ore mining consultant

These questions will enable you to very quickly identify the calibre of consultant you are considering:

For how long has this consultant been operational in iron ore mining and how many projects have they led over this time?
What can the consultant do to de-risk your project and hedge against future market volatility?
How can this consultant objectively demonstrate that they are trusted by the industry?
How can this consultant objectively demonstrate their reputation in the industry?
What is the level of transparency in this consultant’s work and how will they keep me abreast of progress?

Iron ore mining consulting - general capability checklist

The following are non-negotiable, broader capabilities your consultant simply must be able to demonstrate:

Thorough experience with initial scoping studies yielding technical risk assessments to definitive feasibility studies.
Ability to produce accompanying cost estimates to bankable standards.
Preparation of independent technical reviews for proposed transaction along with relevant financial advice.
Ability to undertake geological, geotechnical and mining engineering aspects of studies.
Experience in Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve estimation.
Sound knowledge of contract tender evaluation.
Strategic analysis and optimization..
Ability to produce independent reports in accordance with the JORC Code (or equivalent) and advice on ASX stock exchange listing- related matters.
Experience in preparing Ore Reserve audits and mine planning reviews.
Ability to undertake Owner vs Contract mining studies and produce support and equipment reviews.
Mining cost estimation and analysis.
Geotechnical assessment.
Provision of trade-off studies, including options analysis to determine the most appropriate mining method and mode of material transport for mines.

With the above serving as a broad-base foundation, an experienced iron ore mining consultant needs to demonstrate even more specific skill sets. These include:

Iron ore geology expertise

Mineral resource estimation and preparation and publication of JORC Mineral Resource Statements and NI 43-101 Technical Reports.

Exploration and production support and advice.
Grade control, blending strategies, reconciliation.
Independent exploration valuations and reviews.
Exploration targeting and country/region reviews.

Iron ore mining engineering expertise

Scoping, bankable feasibility, pre-feasibility, feasibility and strategic studies.
Pit optimization, strategic scheduling, financial evaluation and benchmarking studies.
Life of Mine (LOM), operational production scheduling, pit and waste designs.

Iron ore

Cut-off grade analysis, product mix strategy, mining loss and dilution studies.
Ore Reserve estimation and preparation and publication of JORC Ore Reserve Statements and NI 43-101 Technical Reports.
Site support for various operational, mine planning, management and benchmarking/operational improvement roles.
Risk assessments – mining and project risk.

Iron ore geotechnical and metallurgy expertise

Geotechnical slope stability and risk assessment.
Open-pit geotechnical monitoring, management, advice and site secondments
Operational process performance improvement.

Why appoint AMC Consultants for your iron ore mining project?

Our frontline iron ore mining experience is second to none

AMC's iron ore experience around the world

Would you like to discuss the map below in more detail or learn more about AMC's Iron Ore capabilities? Book a time with Peter!

Peter Fisher

Principal Mining Engineer

Iron Ore Commodity Champion

We are iron ore mining consultant specialists

We pioneered AMC Hill of Value® and Smart Data™ System

AMC’s ground-breaking AMC Hill of Value® strategy optimisation process has been in continual development for more than 20 years. We know that every mining operation is unique and we apply AMC Hill of Value® to comprehensively assess all the practical input and scenario combinations available to you. As a result, you can make assured, confident decisions. Moreover, every report we prepare is founded on data run through our Smart Data™ System, which captures mining cost and productivity data across mining methods, commodity types, geographies, and more.

The mining sector trusts us

We’re not advisors perched on the periphery of the mining sector - we’re on the frontline, as is demonstrated by our presence on the JORC Code Committee:

AMC Executive Lead - Technical, Steve Hunt , is the present JORC Code Committee Chair
AMC General Manager, Roderick Carlson , is a JORC Committee ex-officio member
AMC Principal Geologist, Peter Stoaker OAM, is JORC Code Deputy Chair
AMC Director / Executive Lead, Andrew Hall , is a JORC Committee non-executives

Contact us

If your business requires iron ore mining consultants with an outstanding pedigree and proven results, contact AMC today.

New technologies in underground mining: promises vs reality

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Tue, 05 Apr 2022 12:37:28 GMT

New technologies in underground mining: promises vs reality

We analyze recent adaptations to mining systems and practices across jumbo development, long-hole drilling, long-haul-dumping and decline trucking. Also examining productivity and cost analyses, this White Paper is set across two generations of mining technology and is an industry must-read.

Download the article by filling in the form below.

Planning for an underground transition

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Tue, 05 Apr 2022 12:37:25 GMT

Planning for an underground transition

Deciding where to end the open pit and start the underground operation has received considerable attention in the literature since the 1980s. Some believe that you should mine the biggest open pit you can. Others take a strict cost analysis approach to determine the depth at which the transition occurs. However, the “optimal” depth of an open pit typically lies somewhere between these two limits. There are numerous technical and non-technical factors that need to be considered.

Setting upper and lower transition zone limits

We start by setting the upper and lower limits of the transition zone. The lower limit is set by the Lerchs-Grossman ultimate pit. That is, the deepest you can economically mine the orebody using open pit methods, without considering an underground operation.

The upper limit is set by the minimum depth you can mine the orebody using underground methods. This is typically at the base of the weathering profile (i.e. the top of fresh rock).

Once the upper and lower limits are understood, we can then restrict the Lerchs-Grossman pit by using the opportunity cost of each block to determine the pit limit (instead of the profit), where the opportunity cost is the difference in the value of the block when mined by open pit or by underground. The underlying assumption here is that if a block can be mined by either method, if it is not mined by open pit, then it will be mined by underground.

The restricted (opportunity cost) pit is typically smaller than the ultimate Lerchs-Grossman pit shell. It should be noted that the restricted pit does not necessarily align with a particular phase in the ultimate pit as the basis for calculating the block values is quite different.

That gives the theoretical upper and lower limits to positioning the base of the pit. The optimal position lies somewhere in this transition zone. The “sweet spot” depends on a wide range of factors, both technical and non-technical.

Factors that influence transition zone limits

Factors that might influence the decision include the level of knowledge you have about the deeper parts of the orebody, the availability of underground mining skills, the availability and feasibility of obtaining ore from other sources, the suitability of the current mill to process potentially different ore types at a lower feed rate, the timeframe for developing an underground operation, and the numerous environmental, safety, and social impact aspects of open-pit vs underground operations.

The point here is that it is vital to understand every factor that might influence the success of an underground operation so that management are fully informed and, in a position, to make the best possible decision.

Planning for an underground transition

Ideally, planning for an underground transition should start at the feasibility stage of the project and not as an afterthought. If the underground operation is considered an optional extension, the planning process is often deferred, particularly if the level of knowledge about the orebody at depth is low or the company doesn’t have the skills in-house to plan an underground mine.

The timeframe for an underground transition is often underestimated, particularly when additional orebody knowledge is required to support detailed designs and approvals. When you consider the time needed to complete the required drilling programs, test work, technical studies, approvals, construction, commissioning, and production ramp-up, a transition timeframe of 10 years is not unheard of. If the transition timeframe is underestimated, shortcuts may be taken to assure production continuity. And with every shortcut comes added risk that the design is not realistic, compromising the longer-term future of the mine.

Underground transitions - technical factors

The successful development of any mine, open pit or underground, relies heavily on the extent and quality of the technical data available to the project team. One of the primary sources of that data is exploration drilling. As depth below surface increases, the density of drilling in both the orebody and host rocks typically reduces, due to increasing cost and availability of drill sites (due to the open pit footprint and ongoing mining operations). With reduced drilling, there is less drill core available for logging and samples for test work. This reduces the confidence planners have in a wide range of key design parameters, including geology, mineral resource estimates, ground conditions, selection of the mining method, potential production rates, mined grade, metallurgical recoveries, and costs.

This data will largely determine the technical and economic feasibility and scale of any potential underground operation, which in turn determines the position of the transition from open pit to underground mining. The transition can be highly sensitive to variations in this key technical data. At a conceptual level of design, assumptions will need to be made based on the existing data, much of which will be interpolated or inferred from the open pit experience.

But as the project matures and access to the deeper parts of the orebody improves, the continued measurement and collection of geological, rock mass quality and other geotechnical data, metallurgical, and other key design parameters will be critical to reducing the risks associated with developing the project.

Underground transitions - non-technical factors

According to PwC, mining companies with higher ESG (environmental, social and governance) ratings consistently outperformed the broader market during the peak of the COVID-19 crisis, delivering 34% average total shareholder return in 2019–20.

Environmental sustainability, social licence to operate (SLO), net zero emissions, resource rent, and tax transparency (to mention a few) are all key ESG metrics. And when companies are looking to attract investment, its ESG strategies on energy, infrastructure, and community are increasingly scrutinised by socially and environmentally aware investors.

Customers, employees, communities, governments, and suppliers now expect companies to create value that is sustainable. This will support the sector to be more transparent about the taxes and rents they pay and the social benefits these contributions deliver, such as hospitals, schools, and infrastructure.

Underground vs open pit and the environment

The environmental advantages of an underground vs open-pit operation might also bring forward the transition irrespective of what the cost analysis tells us. The environmental impacts of an underground mine, including land use, visual amenity, soil quality, cultural heritage, surface water, air quality, noise, and biodiversity, are generally lower and more manageable than an open pit. When that’s coupled with strong ESG strategies, such as community programs, converting to renewable energy generation, electrification of the underground fleet, and reduced energy consumption per tonne of processed ore (less waste hauled, lower production rate, smaller mill), it creates a positive image for investors.

The drive towards ESG accountability has created significant challenges and costs for mining companies, but it has also presented companies with an opportunity for genuine, transformational change. The past year has demonstrated how putting ESG at the core of a strategy is crucial for delivering growth. Investors will continue to be increasingly drawn to companies that openly embrace sound ESG policies.

AMC can help

When considering the potential for and timing of an underground transition, it is important to start the planning process as early as possible, especially when you consider that a typical development timeframe may be up to 10 years. But before any detailed planning work can begin, even at a conceptual level, you need to gain a thorough understanding of the development and production strategies that produce the best outcomes for an identified risk profile.

AMC’s approach to strategy optimization is all about finding practical solutions for complex problems, rather than simplistic mathematical optima. AMC’s Hill of Value® (HOV) provides owners with a unique way of looking at their operation, enabling them to identify and evaluate the strategies that produce the best outcomes for an identified risk profile. HOV is ideal for analysing the complex interactions between a mine’s production strategy, ESG strategies (energy, community, environmental), and strategic risk profile.

The focus in the early years of an open pit is necessarily on short- and medium-term planning and day-to-day production issues. AMC can provide a dedicated and experienced underground mine planning team that can deliver a timely conceptual underground transition plan designed to assure production continuity and continue life beyond an existing open pit operation. Leave it too late and you run the risk of taking one too many cutbacks or perhaps even premature closure of the operation.

What level of mining equipment automation is right for you?

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Tue, 05 Apr 2022 12:37:20 GMT

What level of mining equipment automation is right for you?

Automation is increasingly popular in the mining industry. In the past, fully autonomous mining equipment was only viable for tier-1 miners. As the technology evolves, it is becoming more reliable and affordable, making it a viable option for smaller operators.

What is mining equipment automation?

Automation is the use of technology to operate a piece of equipment with reduced human intervention. Automation can be seen in a variety of forms and scales in open-pit and underground mines. Remote operation centres centralise operations and remove operators from hazardous areas. Driver-assist features improve safety and productivity for equipment operators. Driverless haul trucks remove human interaction entirely. Autonomous light vehicles and drones improve safety and productivity for maintenance fitters and surveyors.

What are the benefits of mining equipment automation?

Traditionally, the drivers behind automation have been operational: increased safety, reduced operating costs, and increased productivity, in particular. Companies have also reported additional, unexpected benefits to community wellbeing, environment, and heritage. Automation can also provide a solution to a lack of operators in remote areas.

Where can you use full mining equipment automation?

Full automation is suited to less dynamic mining methods, such as open-pit, underground long wall, or block caving. However, every mine has a unique set of operating conditions: just because it works in one mine does not guarantee it to work in another. Project conditions must be well understood to be able to make informed decisions about which technologies to implement.

Automating mining equipment versus retrofitting existing machinery

In general, it’s best to automate modern, efficient equipment. This maximises the return on the investment and mitigates the risk of obsolescence as the technology evolves. Retrofitting conventional mining equipment in a brownfield operation is also time-consuming and can be more expensive than introducing a new autonomous fleet in a greenfield operation.

Mining equipment automation challenges

But automation isn’t without its problems. The cost of hiring the highly skilled labour required to maintain automation systems is often underestimated. And implementing full automation in a community-sensitive area can be challenging. Some companies have even had to abandon automation projects and revert to conventional equipment.

Unfortunately, the benefits and cost savings of automation are often exaggerated by the equipment manufacturers and spruikers. And assumptions made in project appraisals and studies tend to be overly optimistic with regard to productivity and cycle times. To make a realistic assessment of the benefits of automation, you need reliable data and independent advice.

Why AMC?

AMC provides its clients with independent and impartial advice on the suitability and optimisation of automation solutions. AMC draws on the SmartDatatm benchmarking system and experience from over 1,000 mines around the world when reviewing assumption made in automation project appraisals. AMC will make a comprehensive assessment of all possible equipment and mining options to identify the preferred strategic position that is aligned to your business goals and risk profile.

How to Maximize Mining Productivity

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Tue, 05 Apr 2022 12:37:18 GMT

How to Maximize Mining Productivity

While production levels in the Australian mining industry continue to climb, the cost of production is rising at an even faster rate, leaving an ever-widening productivity gap. Companies are looking to strengthen margins and sustain profitability more than ever during the turbulence of COVID-19. The drive for productivity improvements runs all the way from board rooms focused on shareholder value, down to teams at the work face trying to reduce risk and improve efficiency. However, these initiatives are consistently observed failing to deliver sustained benefit. When productivity improvements are not directly linked to enabling and executing the mine plan, they often dissipate as a one-off activity, unable to be incorporated into business processes.

Mining productivity vs performance

Productivity is a measure of the ratio between inputs and outputs. If your inputs increase more than your outputs, then your productivity has decreased. Productivity improvements come from improving the efficiency of input utilisation. It is not a new concept. The term is ubiquitous throughout the mining industry. But just because a term is prevalent doesn’t mean it’s well understood. Perhaps the most widespread misconception in the industry is that improved performance equates to improved productivity, though this is not always true.

The confusion between productivity and performance stems from the obsession with increased output, and efforts to maximize the economies of scale. Performance is the measure of achieving business goals, and companies should always be striving to improve performance and productivity in unison. Achieving goals are essential to success, but when talking about productivity, focussing solely on output driven capability improvements is the very definition of putting the cart before the horse. Adding another truck to the system may help move more tonnes, exceed budget targets, and improve performance, but if your inputs increase more than your outputs, you are improving performance at the cost of productivity.

When comparing 43 mines from AMC’s SmartData™ database over two distinct periods, it is clear that production levels have increased significantly. But they have been surpassed by the accompanying increase in operating costs. The mining industry is producing more than ever, but productivity is not keeping pace with performance.

Mining productivity case study

Looking at a real-world example, one mine set out to improve productivity and performance with an investment-led strategy. They spent significant capital on increasing system capabilities to develop further and faster.

In the short term, the mine achieved a significant improvement in productivity and performance. Development performance (metres advanced) increased by 37% and maximum instantaneous productivity (metres advanced per day) increased by 33%. The business milestones were completed on time, and naturally, the project was hailed a success.

Months later though, at the end of the budget reporting period, productivity had dropped significantly below the initial baseline, performance was following suit, and operating costs were alarmingly high. So what went wrong?

The first problem was that the project was conceived as a reactionary response to a growing business challenge. The constrained timeline limited the scope of improvements to short-term, high-impact opportunities, which incurred a high cost and were implemented with minimal quantification of the expected benefit.

The second problem was that the project was considered in isolation of the mining value chain. Little thought was given to debottlenecking downstream process dependencies. Once the initial gap had been closed, the development unit hit a barrier as downstream processes laboured to keep pace and mechanical utilisation dropped sharply.

The third problem, as shown in a later audit, was that the project demonstrated minimal process rigour. Decisions were made in isolation with insufficient stakeholder engagement, change management wasn’t adequately captured and tracked, and costs were allocated to a number of different cost centres.

If there is one key point to take away from their experience, it is that all productivity improvements must directly link back to enabling and executing the mine plan.

“There’s no point being able to run 100 metres in 9 seconds, if it’s in the wrong direction.”

Measure twice and cut once

The truth is that productivity improvements can actually erode value when approached in isolation, with no thought given to the mine plan or sustainability of the changes. This is often seen when a company approaches productivity improvement through austere cost-cutting, prioritising production and constraining development. This will significantly improve productivity in the short-term. But once production fronts start to be exhausted, the result is often a production bottleneck and loss of productivity. Simple measurements of productivity are not enough.

“Not all productivity is good productivity.”

To start closing the productivity gap, any company embarking on a productivity improvement project must be able to precisely quantify the long-term and short-term effects it will have on delivery of the mine plan. Once the effects on the project are understood and you are ready to proceed, a sufficiently rigorous methodology needs to be used to identify all relevant stakeholders, upstream and downstream dependencies, resource requirements, and the expected benefits.

Progress tracking and reporting needs to be comprehensive but not onerous. Reporting should reliably and accurately track productivity projects with a variety of metrics and KPIs. The best measurements to use for reporting are those that can be related directly back to delivery of the mine plan.

In another real-world example, a mining company used monthly ore production (as opposed to the broader mine plan) as the main KPI for the contractor operating the mine. The contractor took this incentive and ran with it, supplementing the mine plan with other available production sources. The mine consistently exceeded production targets and the contractor was rewarded accordingly: they had done what they were asked to do. However, variance in contained metal and mineralogy of the ore was reported by the processing department. The contractor’s initiatives had resulted in tangible downstream impacts to processing recoveries, which had impacted the mine’s revenue stream.

This once again highlights the need for precise measurements of productivity and adherence to the mine plan. What the company needed were KPIs that tracked the right volume, from the right source, with the right quality – changes that were retrospectively incorporated.

Delivering sustainable mining productivity improvements

As uncertainties from the current pandemic continue to suppress markets and business fundamentals, sustainable productivity improvements are a must to survive the challenges of today and allow your company to thrive when it emerges on the other side.

Productivity should not be approached as a reactionary measure. When developing a vision and communicating intent to the workforce, companies need to focus on optimising inputs, rather than focusing on output. Many companies have already taken tangible steps down the productivity improvement path. For everyone else, it’s just a question of how long it will take them to follow suit.

The increased attention on productivity improvement in the industry has seen further development and maturation of productivity improvement practices. Most now operate using a traditional process improvement methodology. Many companies also have implemented a centralised centre of excellence to develop and test improvements and disseminate learnings. This progression is key to closing the productivity gap, as the process rigour that has long been missing from productivity initiatives is now applied.

Most importantly, the purpose and target of a productivity initiative must be aligned with a company’s strategy and mine plan to achieve a positive outcome. These may change in response to changing business conditions, but experience shows that well optimized strategies tend to remain stable.

The key to sustainable productivity improvements is to adopt a steady-state approach to mine plans, keeping processes in equilibrium, with periods of logical, well planned, and targeted ramp-up. Investments in innovation, reducing operating costs, and developing operational readiness are all admirable goals. But every initiative must sustainably contribute to the bigger picture. When a change in business strategy is warranted, productivity improvements should be re-evaluated and prioritized accordingly.

Big Data Means Big Opportunities For Mining

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Tue, 05 Apr 2022 12:37:14 GMT

Big Data Means Big Opportunities For Mining

A modern mining operation produces vast quantities of data. The data comes from almost every facet of the operation, from traditional exploration, production, and enterprise data to so-called “big data” streamed in real time from the multitude of instruments installed in the mine, plant, and mobile equipment. While many miners are already taking advantage of the big data revolution, data analytics remains one of the biggest opportunities in the mining industry to drive better and faster decisions.

“The industry’s greatest opportunity is how best to use big data”, contends Andrew Hall, Director and Advisory Executive Lead at AMC Consultants. “There’s a lot of it, and it’s easy to lose focus on the real value drivers.” says Hall.

In Papua New Guinea, Freeport Resources deployed Minerva Driver artificial intelligence (AI) solution at their Star Mountains project to enhance surface and subsurface exploration. The Driver AI software delivers new insights into exploration data by evaluating all elements returned by modern laboratories, not simply the elements of direct economic interest, Freeport says. The work this requires is too time-consuming and complicated to be carried out by project geologists using conventional database tools and statistical methods.

Big data mining case studies from around the world

In Mongolia, Shenbao Energy and Aerospace Heavy Industry successfully tested five 5G autonomous trucks in extremely cold conditions at their Baorixile coal mine.

And in Russia, Alrosa installed an automated wireless monitoring system and wearable devices for employees at its Aikhal division.

Accessing big data remotely

The COVID-19 pandemic has made it difficult to visit many mine sites. But the extensive amount of data and new technologies now available have allowed AMC to complete a significant number of 10X Performance DiagnosticsTM studies remotely. Drone footage and surveys, and comprehensive production datasets have enabled detailed review and benchmarking of work quality, time-usage, activity costs and productivity to determine the mines' full potential. Undertaking site visits always provides greater insights but having access to the large amount of data we do today makes it possible to undertake meaningful analysis remotely like never before explains Hall.

These applications are diverse, but they all have one thing in common: they rely heavily on the generation, collection, organisation, and analysis of huge quantities of data.

What is big data analytics?

Big data analytics involves the use of advanced analytic techniques—such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, predictive analytics, data mining, and statistics—on very large, diverse data sets.

What are the types of big data analytics?

In general, big data sets are of a size or type that are beyond the ability of traditional relational databases to capture, manage and process with low latency—that is, at a practical speed. The data is diverse, comprising structured, semi-structured and unstructured data, sourced from every facet of the operation.

Data types can include geochemical, geophysical, geological, geotechnical and hydrological properties of samples; chemical and physical properties of concentrates; mine design and surveying; mobile and fixed equipment condition monitoring; GPS tracking; consumption rates of fuel, energy and additives; plant feed rates and metallurgical recoveries; personnel safety monitoring; environmental monitoring; and much more.

Because of the extreme volume or unstructured nature of the data, big data is often difficult or expensive to capture and store and, as a consequence, is often discarded or ignored. However, analysis of big data allows companies to gain new insights from previously untapped data sources, particularly when done in combination with traditional production and enterprise data.

“It’s about understanding the reality of every layer of the business and ensuring data is shared so that there is one source of truth.” says Jayson Tolley, Advisory Lead - Strategy Optimization at AMC.

Maximising your mine’s big data

The potential cost and revenue drivers in a mining operation are as diverse as they are numerous. Energy consumption, rock hardness, ore and waste chemistry, feed grade, reagent levels, flow rates, mineral recovery, effluents, temperature, road surface, wear rates, warehouse capacity, time usage, shift cycles, lost-time injury frequency, operator competency, and supervision levels are just a few of the multitude of factors that can flow through to the cost of production.

The better you are able to understand the relationships between these drivers, the more opportunity you have to design and operate in ways that will maximise your margins. In particular, ore bodies are intrinsically variable on every scale from kilometres at the tectonic scale right down to micrometres at the mineral grain scale. But only a tiny fraction of an orebody can be sampled before it is mined.

At the feasibility stage, data is sparse, which makes development of predictive relationships and forecasts difficult. But modern data science and machine-learning are enabling step-change improvements in predictions. The more accurately you can predict ore behaviour, the more opportunities you have to manage the natural variability of the ore—for example, by developing smarter blending and scheduling techniques.

Big data challenges

While some mining companies have embraced data, many haven’t made it past basic spreadsheets. But before you rush off and start a conversation with the IT department, you need to do a bit of planning. To be successful, you need to understand what data needs to be collected, how it’s going to be collected and stored, which tools you’ll need to analyse it, and, above all, what you can realistically expect to gain from analysing the data once you’ve captured it.

The companies that are benefiting the most from data are the ones that have implemented data collection and analytics throughout their organisation, from the drill rig to the processing plant. “Many big mining companies have invested heavily in data collection and then use specialist data science to identify the root cause of problems that are not identifiable by simply looking at spreadsheets”, says Tolley.

Good data management practices and processes are vital to realising the full potential value of the data. You also need to make sure that the data is clean and representative. If data isn’t collected, stored, and managed efficiently, or if the right tools or metrics aren’t used to analyse it, you run the risk that the project will not only fail to realise the targeted improvements, but may instead make things worse, exposing the operation to greater risk. Damian Peachey, AdvisoryRegional Lead and Principal Engineer at AMC, agrees. “Some try collect so much raw data they risk ending up down a rabbit hole”, says Peachey.

Big data and the need for expert analysts

It takes more than just the data. Due to the vast size of the data, conventional methods of data analysis are impractical. To encompass the entire volume of data flowing from the operation, specialist data science is needed. And it takes specialist knowledge to know where to look and what the most appropriate tools are.

Put simply, data is meaningless without expert analysis. Strong collaboration is required between every discipline to provide a holistic view of the operation. Without experience and deep-domain understanding, the data itself won’t help.

Effective data analysis needs to be timely and requires an experienced analyst. “A proper understanding of context is crucial to correctly identify the root causes of a problem. Then, armed with that knowledge, you can make informed, practical decisions that provide sustainable outcomes”, Peachey agrees.

“Increasingly, the thread that runs through every aspect of a mining operation is data”, says AMC’s Andrew Hall. “If you understand the data and choose the right methods to extract information and insights, then information from each part of the mining process can be used to inform and improve the performance of the whole. That’s how smart data adds value to a mine.”

Talk with the experts

Companies around the world are tapping into AMC’s deep-domain expertise to unlock the value hidden in their data. Using a range of unique proven tools and processes, underpinned by SmartData™ , the world’s most extensive, site-sourced, independently validated mining database, AMC Advisory helps mining executives make data-backed strategic and operational decisions.

To learn more about how to extract the maximum value from your operation’s data, fill in the contact form below and a representative from AMC Advisory from your local AMC office will be happy to set up a meeting.

Strategy Optimization For Miners Explained

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Tue, 05 Apr 2022 12:37:11 GMT

Strategy Optimization For Miners Explained

Strategy optimization has become something of a buzz word in the mining industry, but the term is often misunderstood. Just because your operation is technically feasible and economically viable doesn’t mean it’s optimal. The truth is that you might be leaving a large amount of that value behind.

How optimal is optimal?

We spoke with experts at AMC Consultants, Jayson Tolley and Brian Hall, about what strategy optimization means and the common pitfalls in current industry practice. In the paper “Strategic Decision-making in Mining - Business Optimization Using Flexible Evaluation Models” [ link ], AMC gives a detailed overview of the strategy optimization process and how it can be used to unlock the hidden value in a mining operation.

What is the goal of strategy optimization?

Tolley and Hall explained that the primary goal of strategy optimization is to unlock hidden value in a mining operation. This hidden value can be enormous, but many mining projects are leaving significant value behind, even those that are using so-called “optimization” techniques.

Jayson Tolley, Advisory Lead - Strategy Optimization, explained “The optimization we’re talking about is holistic and covers the entirety of the system. That means everything from administration and purchasing through to geology, mining and processing.”

This holistic approach to optimization helps to avoid technical siloing, in which each part of the business optimizes their performance in terms of their own goals. Sounds logical, but those goals aren’t always compatible, and the end result for the business is often sub-optimal. To be truly effective, strategy optimization must focus on what drives the business and builds value rather optimizing a simplistic KPI or target. When done correctly, strategy optimization looks at much more than one solution to one problem.

Short-term goals vs long-term optimization strategy

Effective optimization can only occur when the business gains a thorough understanding of the diverse range of factors and the opportunities and risks they pose to business value.

KPIs and goals, such as increasing productivity, improving efficiency and balancing costs are important, but they are often short-sighted and can be counterproductive if not considered within an overall optimization framework. “Key decisions are made that demonstrably move away from the optimum for value optimization because they’re being measured against sub-optimal targets, like reducing costs or arbitrary production increases” said Tolley.

Optimization also needs to be implemented with a long-term perspective. Where the business is driven by short-term (i.e. daily to monthly) production targets, it is essential that a long-term strategy framework is established. Operating within the framework of a comprehensive optimal strategy can have substantial benefits.

The biggest opportunity for miners is to recognise the value of early-stage, long-term optimization. Tolley emphasised that “the ideal time to do a long-term optimization study is at the concept or pre-feasibility stage”. However, according to AMC Principal Mining Engineer Brian Hall, companies are often tempted to get the project up and running first and worry about optimization later.

Unfortunately, delaying optimization often results in a significant portion of value being “locked out” by the final design. Unlocking that value later can be difficult and needlessly expensive. Early optimization always results in the best overall value.

Addressing the needs of every stakeholder

A properly optimized strategy considers the interests of all stakeholders. The relationships between stakeholders are typically complex, creating potential for multilateral conflicts of interest. For example, the interests of landowners might coincide with the operations in some areas but conflict in others.

By way of example, Hall described a recent AMC optimization project for a large open pit in a developing country. The study identified over 30-plus stakeholders comprising three joint venture partners, three levels of government, numerous local and federal government agencies, and six categories of landowner.

AMC’s strategy optimization methodology enabled the operation to identify goals for each of the 30-plus stakeholders, with the aim of removing conflict and providing a better end-result for all stakeholders and for the operation. As in this case, the optimal result is often a range of options, rather than a single solution.

Why strategy optimization requires specialist human knowledge and software

Tolley and Hall contend that optimization cannot be implemented without specialists. Many associate the term “optimization” with a mathematical algorithm or software program. “Optimization is a deep-domain knowledge problem,” said Tolley, “not just a maths problem.”

Over-reliance on mathematics and software typically results in solutions that struggle to deal with complexity and risk. “Anyone can do the maths,” Hall summarised, “but unless you have the domain expertise to actually make sense of it in a practical mining sense, you’re not going to get the best result.”

Instead, the focus needs to be placed on the specialist, not the specialized software. AMC does not lock itself to any particular software package. “We’ve got to stop focusing on the software.” said Tolley. “We don’t value the quality of their software when an engineer designs a complex mine: we value the skill of the engineer in how they use their software.”

Tolley went on to say that AMC’s approach is to use expert systems, not just software packages. Optimization software is just one component of an expert system, which ensures that the solution isn’t constrained by the design choices of software developers.

AMC Hill of Value®

AMC’s optimization process is called AMC Hill of Value®: a robust way to uncover and assess all available opportunities. The AMC Hill of Value™ approach looks at more scenarios and variables than other systems, giving a comprehensive range of strategic options.

Other optimization methods are narrowly focused and only consider the “top of the hill”. Before climbing to the top of the hill there’s one fundamental question that should be addressed: are we on the right hill? Complex systems and sites are over-simplified in an effort to fit into off-the-shelf software. “It’s not just the top of the hill but the shape of the hill, and how the hill responds to a multitude of changes that’s important”, contended Tolley.

AMC's Hill of Value® can be customized to work for any mine site. By taking a holistic view of the operation, AMC Hill of Value® breaks down technical silos and helps the business to identify conflicted KPIs. In this way, AMC Hill of Value® enables companies to make better informed decisions that align with the corporate strategy.

As proof of their assertion, Tolley and Hall cite that AMC, using the AMC Hill of Value® optimization process, has unlocked more than $2 billion of value for its clients over a period of six years. That gives a reliably exceptional ROI on the cost of conducting an optimization study.

Let AMC help unlock your mining operation's full value

AMC’s paper poses an exciting proposition for many mining operations: just how much value can they unlock? Regardless of whether your project is at the conceptual, pre-feasibility, feasibility, construction, or operations stage, the gains can be enormous.

If you would like to learn more about how AMC’s deep-domain expertise can unlock the value in your operation, fill in the contact form below and a representative from AMC Advisory, from your local AMC office, will be happy to set up a meeting.

AMC sponsors the Mining Investment Asia Conference 2022

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Thu, 24 Mar 2022 07:09:31 GMT

AMC sponsors the Mining Investment Asia Conference 2022

AMC Consultants is proud to be the Silver Sponsor of the Mining Investment Asia Conference and Exhibitio n in Singapore and online 30-31 March 2022.

Adrian Penney, Director and Technical Manager of AMC's office in Singapore will be joined by Mark Chesher, Executive Lead Business Development and Rod Carlson, General Manager of our office in Brisbane in representing AMC at this important event. Rod, who is also a JORC Committee ex-officio member and Director of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists, is also one of the featured speakers at the conference.

As a special treat for this year’s conference, AMC will host a livestreamed Q&A on the JORC Code update featuring special guests.

The conference is South East Asia’s largest strategic mining investment & capital raising conference and exhibition and is expected to bring more than 350 senior level executives, including over 200 investors and 40 mining companies ranging from explorers, juniors to mid-tier producers and majors.

Livestream on the JORC Code update with Steve Hunt, Peter Stoker, and Rod Carlson

Q&A featuring JORC Committee Chair, Steve Hunt, Deputee Chair, Peter Stoker, and Rod Carlson, JORC Committee ex-officio member, on the upcoming updates to the JORC code and what they mean for South East Asia.

When? Wednesday 31 March at 10 am

Where? Directly from the conference floor and across all our Social Media channels LinkedIn , YouTube , Twitter , and Facebook .

Meet the team at the Mining Investment Asia 2022

Adrian Penney

Adrian is Director, the Technical Manager of AMC's office in Singapore, and a principal geotechnical engineer. His expertise lies in underground and open pit metalliferous rock engineering, specializing in mining concept studies and feasibility studies, geotechnical audits, and assistance across operations of all mining styles. Adrian specializes in site investigations and rock mass characterization, ground support selection and design for dynamic conditions, mining method selection and sequence optimization, geotechnical instrumentation programs, ground awareness training, numerical modelling, and seismic data analysis.

Rod Carlson

Rod is Geology Manager (Brisbane), as well as the General Manager of AMC's office in Brisbane. A principal geologist with extensive management and consulting experience, Rod is highly experienced in areas including resource evaluation and audit, mine to mill reconciliation, geochemistry, drilling interpretation, and regolith mapping. Rod has worked across numerous commodities including gold, copper, bauxite, platinum, and coal. He has extensive international experience, having worked on projects in Australia, Russia, Indonesia, Malaysia, China, Colombia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, and Oman.

Mark Chesher

Mark is Executive Lead - Business Development at AMC Consultants. He has the task of leading AMC's Business Development function. In this role, Mark brings together 20 years experience in mine operations as a mining engineer and operations manager, and 20 years experience as a consultant advising clients on a range of operational aspects and in preparing feasibility studies in a variety of settings and commodities.

AMC sponsors the International Mining Geology Conference 2022

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Mon, 28 Feb 2022 01:52:50 GMT

AMC sponsors the International Mining Geology Conference 2022

AMC Consultants is proud to be a Gold Sponsor of the International Mining Geology Conference 2022 in Brisbane, Australia and online 22-23 March 2022.

Led by Rod Carlson, General Manager of AMC's office in Brisbane, our strong geological capability will be well represented at booth #15 . In addition, Phil Micale, Principal Consultant, will present the paper "Y ou don't know what you don't know" on the first day of the conference.

As a special treat for this year’s conference, AMC will host a livestreamed Q&A on the JORC Code update.

The conference is expected to bring more than 450 attendees and will focus on maximizing orebody value and driving productivity in mining geology. Click here to view the full program.

Steve Hunt

Executive Lead - Technical at AMC Consultants and JORC Committee Chair

Livestream on the JORC Code update with Steve Hunt and Rod Carlson

Q&A featuring JORC Committee Chair, Steve Hunt and Rod Carlson, JORC Committee ex-officio member, on the upcoming updates to the JORC code.

When? Wednesday 23 March at 11 am

Where? Directly from our booth #15 and across all our Social Media channels LinkedIn , YouTube , Twitter , and Facebook .

Meet the team at the Mining Geology Conference 2022

Rod Carlson

Alex Virisheff

Alex is Principal Geologist with more than 45 years of experience in the minerals industry including 23 years in consulting roles in Australia. He is experienced in geological modelling, resource estimation, and geostatistics. In addition to these core mining skills, he is proficient in technical audits, reviews, and due diligence studies over a wide range of commodities including iron ore, gold, silver, copper, base metals, tungsten, vanadium, lithium and mineral sands within a broad range of geological settings. He has significant international experience, having worked on numerous mining projects in Africa, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, South America and Russia.

Maree Angus

Maree is a principal geologist with more than 25 years’ experience in the mining industry. Her primary areas of expertise are 3D geological modelling, QA/QC, technical data collection protocols, geostatistical analysis, resource estimation, grade control reconciliation and resource project management. Maree has strong experience in resource audits for precious metal and base metal projects.

Brett Nielsen

Brett is a professional geoscientist with more than 11 years’ experience in multiple deposit styles in differing mining environments. He has experience in exploration and operations in a range of commodities. Brett is focussing on resource geology and has worked using a range of estimation techniques for gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc. In mining, he has a proven track record in managing both open pit bench, and underground narrow vein stope and pillar operations.

Phil Micale

Phil is a Principal Geologist with more than 18 years of mining industry experience. He has held technical roles in both open cut and underground operations along the East Coast of Australia and has operational experience in a range of different commodities (dominantly gold) in a variety of geological settings. His production experience has been supplemented by 8 years consulting experience where he has supported clients on operations both in Australia and overseas. Phil’s resource geology experience spans more than a decade.

The range of Phil’s geological skillsets includes exploratory data analyses, sampling, QA/QC, database management, grade control, mineral resource estimation / reporting, project management, reconciliation, and technical auditing / due diligence.

About the paper "You don't know what you don't know" by Phil Micale

Tuesday, March 22, 2022

4:35 PM - 5:35 PM

Abstract

Consultants in the mining industry have the opportunity to visit interesting deposits all over the world. Each deposit has its own set of challenges to face when it comes to defining and understanding the deposit geology and theeconomics to make itviable for extraction. Some of the challenges can include appropriate data capture, sampling techniques, structural characteristics, geochemistry, geophysics, lithology definition, and economic boundaries.

Panel discussion on geometallurgy and its applications at Mines & Money London 2021

Thu, 16 Dec 2021 01:02:16 GMT

Published November 2021

Panel discussion on geometallurgy and its applications at Mines & Money London

Direct from our Mines & Money 2021 booth, AMC hosted a livestream discussion on geometallurgy featuring Tungsten West’s Technical & Operations Director, James McFarlane, and two of AMC’s experts on the topic, Ian Lipton and Michelle Helm. The conversation took place was live streamed live on Facebook , LinkedIn , Twitter , and YouTub e and at our booth.

AMC at MINEX Russia 2021

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Fri, 10 Dec 2021 11:43:40 GMT

AMC at MINEX Russia 2021

AMC Consultants (AMC) returned to MINEX Russia with a jam-packed program including a podium presentation with Polyus and livestreams with our global experts direct from our booth #14 . The conference took place 5-7 October in Moscow at the Radisson Slavyanskaya Hotel . Led by Moscow-based Mark Chesher, Executive Leader Business Development, our team opened this year’s MINEX with a masterclass on bridging technical solutions to commercial outcomes.

Our presenters covered the use of performance diagnostics in unlocking value, geometallurgical modelling, strategy optimization, and the AMC Hill of Value™. This masterclass is the seventh instalment of what has been a very well-received masterclass series that has brought experts from AMC’s global offices to Moscow. To complement the masterclass, Senior Geologist at AMC’s office in Moscow, Olga Almendinger, was joined by Exploration Manager at Polyus, Gennady Vursiy for a podium presentation exploring the Sukhoi Log. Project history.

For the first time this year, we had a livestreamed Q&A series featuring experts from our masterclass and the incoming Technical Manager of AMC’s office in Moscow, Rob Chesher. The converdsation took place on Facebook , LinkedIn , Twitter , and YouTube and at our booth.

MASTERCLASS: USING DATA TO ADVANTAGE

Tolstoy Hall, Tuesday 8 October 2021, 9.00 – 10.30 AM

Presentation 1: Introduction by Mark Chesher

Presentation 2: Unlocking value with performance diagnostics by David Vink

Presentation 3: Making your geometallurgical model a success by Ian Lipton

Presentation 4: Strategy Optimization and the AMC Hill of Value™ by Jason Tolley

PRESENTATION IN THE MAIN FORUM: Sukhoi Log. Project history till recent days by Olga Almendinger, Senior Geologist, AMC Consultants and Gennady Vursiy, Exploration Manager, Polyus

Tolstoy Hall, Technical Session 4: Current state and opportunities for increasing the efficiency of renewal of the mineral resources in Russia.

Wednesday 7 October 2021, 11.20 – 13.00 PM

Moderated by Mikhail Leskov, Business Development Director, Institute of Geotechnology

Sukhoi Log is one of the largest undeveloped gold projects in the world. The gold mineralization that underpins this project was identified several decades ago and there have been many research projects to improve the knowledge of the deposit.

Polyus secured management of the project in 2017 and has spent four years collecting new information, as well as verifying and testing the historic data. The result has led a current report to the London Stock exchange of a Mineral Resource of 1,110 million tonnes grading 1.9g/t for 67 million ounces ¹ . Studies continue and an Ore Reserve has been estimated and reported according to the JORC Code.

In this paper, PJSC Polyus and AMC Consultants discuss the history of exploration, recent exploration programmes, data collection procedures and solutions to challenges presented during estimation of the resources.

¹ As at 31 December 2020 – JORC Table 1 can be found at https://polyus.com/en/operations/reserves_and_resources/

Meet the team at MINEX Russia 2021

Mark Chesher

Technical Director – Russia

Mark is a mining engineer with almost 40 years’ experience in the mining industry. Mark has broad experience in planning and management of gold and base metal (aluminum, nickel) operations. He has been responsible for Ore Reserve reporting, equipment selection and specification, pit design, scheduling and budgeting and operations management.

Ian Lipton

Advisory Lead – Geometallurgy

Ian Lipton has 40 years of experience in mining geology, resource evaluation, geometallurgy, and exploration, covering a wide range of commodities and mining operations. Ian has been promoting geometallurgy for project improvement for 20 years and has been involved in a variety of geometallurgical projects predicting ore processing response characteristics for commodities such as gold, copper, lead-zinc, nickel and iron ore. As Advisory Lead – Geometallurgy, Ian is responsible for designing and managing geometallurgical studies to reduce risk and improve outcomes in feasibility studies and operating mines.

David Vink

Advisory Lead – Operational Excellence

David has 30 years of experience including mining executive, chief operating officer and group general manager for underground and open cut mining operations. He is an accomplished underground and open cut mine operations management and development specialist who has been responsible for mineral infrastructure projects of $0.9b, operating budgets of $500m/yr, and workforces of up to 1,000 employees.

Jayson Tolley

Advisory Lead – Strategy Optimization

Jayson Tolley is a highly-proficient mining engineer with experience-based predominantly in underground hard-rock mines across multiple commodities and numerous mining methods. The unique skill set that Jayson brings to an organization is the ability to manage a team on any given project and utilize his capabilities with strategic analysis, technical design and financial modelling, together with a key understanding of the key project drivers to deliver top-quality projects to clients. As Advisory Lead – Strategy Optimization, Jayson is responsible for managing strategy optimization projects focused on maximizing mining asset value while balancing internal and external risks.

Olga Almendinger

Senior Geologist

Olga is a geologist with more than 20 years of experience in the mining industry. Olga’s primary area of expertise is in exploration and mine geology. Her broad experience within the mining industry includes underground mine geology, early-stage exploration projects and project development. In consulting, she has focused on review of grade control operations, geological due diligence, resource estimation, and now extending her expertise to structural modeling and geometallurgy areas. Olga has worked on a wide variety of deposit styles and mineral types, covering a wide range of commodities.

More events

AMC celebrates Bruce Gregory's 25 years of service

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Thu, 09 Dec 2021 06:52:59 GMT

AMC celebrates Bruce Gregory's 25 years of service

AMC Consultants congratulates Bruce Gregory for his 25 years of dedicated service to AMC.

Bruce is recognized by his colleagues and clients for his dedication and high-quality work during his initial 25 years with the business.

Fortunately, he has confirmed he will be around for many more years to come.

Bruce’s strong leadership in AMC's office in Perth has made this team an important component of the AMC;s global business, with a very good outlook for the future.

His contribution to setting the company’s strategic direction as Director has shown that he is committed to the long-term success of our company.

Bruce Gregory

Director/ General Manager, Perth

Bruce's primary expertise is in open-pit mine planning and management, equipment selection, valuations, project management and cost estimation. His broad experience within the mining industry includes management of feasibility studies and mining operational improvement.

Other news

“Perilya operates two underground lead/zinc/silver mines in Broken Hill (NSW Australia). Southern Operations is a remnant operation targeting 1.5Mt per annum of ore. Potosi Operation is a brownfield operation targeting 0.4Mt per annum of ore.

In the period from 2008 to 2012, AMC Consultants annually reviewed the estimation of the Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve for Perilya’s Broken Hill Operations.

AMC’s scope was to provide an independent technical review of the Mineral Resource an Ore Reserve in terms of data quality, process, methodology and with a view to identifying any significant concerns or risks. To meet the scope, AMC engaged with site personnel during the estimation process to ensure that there would be no unresolved issues at the time of public reporting and that the estimates would be reportable in accordance with the JORC Code. Issues identified during the reviews were addressed during the process and recommendations for improvements were implemented in subsequent years.

AMC provided constructive input to the estimation process and assisted site personnel in their roles as competent persons.

AMC’s role was acknowledged in the public reporting of Perilya’s Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve. Perilya found AMC to be professional, competent, and thorough in the provision of this service.”

Justin Woodward – Mine Planning Superintendent, Perilya Broken Hill Limited

“I had twice the opportunity to work with the AMC Mining Consultants Ltd. performing technical audits of our mining operations in Chile.

It is of great advantage to Anglo American that the AMC Mining Consultants Ltd. has a wide range of mining expertise from exploration and evaluation of mineral resources through mine planning, mining schedule optimization to geotechnical assessments in both operational environments: open cast and underground mining.

Indeed, the AMC group met our expectations carrying out its work diligently, with enthusiasm and technical excellence. In the execution of works, the company AMC was exceeding our expectation — proposing solutions and assessing us with eagerness and commitment. The objectives and deadlines were always achieved.”

Tomasz Wawruch – Mineral Resources Manager, Copper Division of Anglo American in Santiago, Chile

Greenfields projects: A time of opportunities

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Thu, 02 Dec 2021 10:21:30 GMT

Greenfields projects: A time of opportunities

With mineral exploration expenditure in Western Australia at its highest since 2012 at $2.1 billion in 2020-21, an increase of 20 per cent from 2020, the topic of greenfields projects is more relevant than ever.

Although mining investment is not yet at 2012 levels, the current value of mining projects committed or under construction in WA is quite strong at about $20.5 billion (with $12B in iron ore) with another $31 billion worth of projects being currently planned ($5B iron ore).

Projects recently moving into the construction phase include:

Strandline’s Coburn mineral sands project.
Red 5’s King of the Hills project.
The Bellevue Gold project .
Newcrest’s Havieron gold and copper project near Telfer.

Some of the exciting new projects currently being evaluated in WA include:

Chalice’s Julimar project.
De Grey Mining’s Mallina Gold project.
Musgrave’s Minerals Cue project.
Medallion Metals’ Ravensthorpe Gold project.

AMC’s main interest in this subject stems from our involvement in mining studies whether they be:

Scoping studies
Pre-feasibility studies
Feasibility studies or
Expansion studies

Figure: Stages of project development

AMC is currently very active in this space and across the whole project life-cycle. Requirements for study content are changing, especially in relation to ESG aspects, for example and this was discussed in the evening’s presentation and panel discussion.

In addition to AMC traditional study services focussing on geological, geotechnical and mining engineering aspects, AMC offer a unique suite of services provided by AMC’s Advisory group which is made up of a team that specialises in:

Strategy Optimization – using AMC’s Hill of Value™ methodology
Predictive Geometallurgy and
Benchmarking

All these services are very beneficial in maximizing the value of new projects when implemented during the study phases.

Some examples of local WA projects AMC has contributed to in recent years, include:

Gold Road and Goldfields Gruyere project – AMC contributed mining-related parts of the PFS and DFS.
Strandline’s Coburn project – AMC contributed mining aspects of the Scoping Study, DFS, and now providing ongoing commissioning support.
Pilbara Minerals – AMC contributed mining aspects of the Pilgangoora expansion PFS and DFS and now provides ongoing support.
AngloGold Ashanti’s Tropicana Mine – AMC contributed Feasibility Study mining costs, mining contract tender management and then mining performance diagnostics extending into the production years of Tropicana.

Want our help with your greenfields project?

AMC at Mines & Money 2021

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Thu, 25 Nov 2021 16:49:18 GMT

AMC at Mines & Money 2021

AMC Consultants was pleased to finally return to the Mines & Money London Conference, 1-2 December at the Business Design Centre. Led by the General Manager of our office in the UK, Nick Szebor, our team was pleased to welcome delegates at booth D01 to talk all things mining.

Direct from our booth, Nick will hosted a livestream discussion on geometallurgy featuring Tungsten West’s Technical & Operations Director, James McFarlane, and two of AMC’s experts on the topic, Ian Lipton and Michelle Helm. The conversation took place at 11 am on Thursday 2nd December on Facebook , LinkedIn , Twitter , and YouTub e and at our booth.

Meet our Mines & Money London 2021 livestream panelists

James McFarlane

Technical & Operations Director

James holds a MSc from the Camborne School of Mines in Mining Geology and has worked as both a production and exploration geologist in the UK, Ireland and Australia, and as a principal mining consultant across a range of commodities globally. He was formerly Mining Technical Services Manager at Hemerdon under Wolf Minerals.

Ian Lipton

Principal Geometallurgist

Ian has 40+ years of experience in mining geology, resource evaluation, geometallurgy, and exploration, covering a wide range of commodities and mining operations. He has been promoting geometallurgy for project improvement for 20 years and has been involved in a variety of geometallurgical projects.

As Global Practice Leader for Geometallurgy, Ian is responsible for designing and managing geometallurgical studies to reduce risk and improve outcomes in feasibility studies and operating mines. Ian is the author of a variety of technical papers on resource estimation, density, mining geology, and geometallurgy. He has presented Mine Geology and Grade Control and Geometallurgy training courses to professionals in Australia, Sweden, Tanzania, Brazil, and Indonesia.

Michelle Helm

Principal Geometallurgist

Michelle is a geometallurgist and metallurgist with 19 years’ experience in the mining industry. With experience spanning consulting, technical, research & development and operational roles, Michelle brings deep orebody knowledge and process understanding together from multiple disciplines to drive geometallurgical insights that deliver improved project performance and value. When combined with her mining reconciliation experience, Michelle’s domain knowledge ensures the most appropriate geometallurgical parameters are defined, and continually assessed. Her experience covers a range of commodities including gold, copper, iron ore, nickel, mineral sands and rare earth minerals. Michelle is an authority on the characterization of carbonaceous gold ores and the downstream impact on gold ore processing, and the author of several technical papers on this subject.

Meet our team at Mines & Money 2021

Nicholas Szebor

General Manager, Maidenhead

Nigel Walls

Principal Mining Engineer

Nigel is a Chartered Mining Engineer with some 34 years of international experience in operations, due diligence, project evaluation, operational readiness, feasibility studies, and technical auditing. He has several years of experience developing mineral projects through various stages of studies to FEED, detailed engineering and implementation, and always with an emphasis on the financial return of a project rather than just production. Nigel has a strong entrepreneurial background having previously owned his own mines and contracting company.

Narina Shorland

Senior Mining Engineer

Andrew Narina’s has nine years' experience in mining consultancy and a year at an open-pit tungsten mine. Her primary expertise is in all aspects of mine design, long-term and short-term planning and optimization, equipment selection and evaluation of Ore Reserves in accordance with the JORC code (2012). Prior to joining AMC, Narina worked for Wolf Minerals in the UK as a mining engineer. Prior to Wolf Minerals, Narina worked as a mining engineer at the Wardell Armstrong International consultancy, where she was involved in a wide range of projects, starting from scoping- to feasibilitylevel studies.

Johnny Mercer-Royce

Senior Mining Analyst

Johnny is a Senior Mining Analyst with eight years’ experience in the mining industry and two years’ experience in management consultancy. With experience across both underground and open pit Johnny’s key skills include financial analysis, market/industry analysis, and business improvement. These skills are all supported by technical experience in underground production engineering. Johnny’s experience in gold mining is split across engineering and business analysis with time spent in underground operations for St Barbara as well as business analysis for Eastern Goldfields.

Venue

Recommended insights

In the period from 2008 to 2012, AMC Consultants annually reviewed the estimation of the Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve for Perilya’s Broken Hill Operations.

AMC provided constructive input to the estimation process and assisted site personnel in their roles as competent persons.

Justin Woodward – Mine Planning Superintendent, Perilya Broken Hill Limited

“I had twice the opportunity to work with the AMC Mining Consultants Ltd. performing technical audits of our mining operations in Chile.

Tomasz Wawruch – Mineral Resources Manager, Copper Division of Anglo American in Santiago, Chile

AMC at SAEMC 2021

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Mon, 22 Nov 2021 16:49:32 GMT

AMC at SAEMC 2021

AMC Consultants is proud to be the Lunch Sponsor of the South Australian Exploration and Mining Conferenc e (SAEMC) on Friday 26 November in Adelaide. Now in it's 18th year, SAEMC is an annual collaborative event that brings together the exploration and mining industries in South Australia. It will feature speakers from Barton Gold , BHP , Code Minerals , Hillgrove Resources , OZ Minerals , and Western Areas to name a few. AMC continues its tradition of supporting this event by also having an exhibition table where delegates can meet our team and talk all things mining in South Australia. The General Manager of our office in Adelaide, Johann van Wijk will lead our efforts at this important event and will be joined by Senior Mining Engineers Ali Abedi and Kathryn Lee, Geology Manager, Andrew Proudman, and Executive Lead - Operations, Karl van Olden. Having completed more than 250 projects in South Australia, AMC's team looks forward to sharing their local and global expertise with delegates.

Meet the team at SAEMC 2021

Johann van Wijk

General Manager, Adelaide /

Principal Geotechnical Engineer

Johann is the General Manager of AMC’s office in Adelaide and a Principal Geotechnical Engineer and has been in the mining industry for more than 35 years. He has held a variety of production, mine planning, technical and management roles through his career and has specific expertise in project management, geotechnical engineering, rock mechanics, risk management, and management of technical teams, in underground and surface mines. Johann has experience in a variety of mining methods and commodities. His geotechnical expertise includes the design, management and review of geotechnical aspects related to shafts, drifts, stopes, longwalls, bord and pillar mining, partial pillar extraction and surface mining excavations.

Ali Abedi

Senior Mining Engineer

Ali is a mining engineer with more than 15 years of operational and consulting experience in underground and open-pit operations and projects in Australia, Mongolia, Iran, and Africa (DRC and South Africa). He has specific expertise in underground and open-pit operations and project developments, from mine design and optimization, planning and scheduling, reserve and resource estimation, to capital and operating cost estimation and review, financial modelling and project evaluation. Ali has worked on a range of precious and basic metals such as gold, silver, platinum group metals (platinum, palladium, rhodium), copper, zinc, and other industrial minerals.

Andrew P roudman

Geology Manager / Principal Consultant

Andrew has more than 30 years of experience in the mining industry, including in open-pit and underground mining operations in Australia and internationally. He has experience in a variety of commodities including gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, graphite, iron ore, and coal. Andrew's technical expertise is in mine geology, resource estimation, and geotechnical engineering. His broad experience includes mine geology and mine production, resource estimation and modelling, grade control, rock mechanics, pit slope design and underground support, mine planning and development, and exploration, as well as audits, valuations and due diligence.

Kathryn Lee

Senior Mining Engineer

Kathryn is a mining engineer with more than 10 years’ experience, mostly in underground mining. Her core areas of expertise are in underground hard rock mine design, scheduling and statutory reporting. In addition to her support roles in various consulting projects, Kathryn has held a number of operational roles, taking responsibility for stope and development designs, firing plans, and stope-filling activities for a large sublevel open-stoping operation. She has the ability to conceptualize mine designs and operational changes. She is an expert user of Deswik and Datamine, and a proficient user of Studio 5D Planner, EPS, and MineSight 3D.

Recommended insights

In the period from 2008 to 2012, AMC Consultants annually reviewed the estimation of the Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve for Perilya’s Broken Hill Operations.

AMC provided constructive input to the estimation process and assisted site personnel in their roles as competent persons.

Justin Woodward – Mine Planning Superintendent, Perilya Broken Hill Limited

“I had twice the opportunity to work with the AMC Mining Consultants Ltd. performing technical audits of our mining operations in Chile.

Tomasz Wawruch – Mineral Resources Manager, Copper Division of Anglo American in Santiago, Chile

AMC at Iron Ore 2021

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Thu, 04 Nov 2021 15:45:25 GMT

AMC at Iron Ore 2021

AMC Consultants is proud to be the App sponsor and an exhibitor at the Iron Ore Conference 2021 , taking place in Perth and online 8-10 November. Arranged by the AusIMM and the CSIRO , the event will explore the latest developments and challenges in the iron ore industry under the banner of "Sustainability in a Changing World". The forum will cover genesis, geology, exploration, mining and processing of iron ores, and solutions to address the carbon footprint of iron and steel mining. We look forward to welcoming you at booth 21 to meet our team led by Peter Fisher, Principal Mining Consultant, Jason Jurg, Principal Mining Engineer, David Varcoe, Principal Mining Engineer, and Roslyn Dioth, Principal Mining Engineer, and Bruce Gregory, General Manager - Perth.

AMC's Iron Ore capabilities

Whether you’re a bank, financier, independent advisor, or a producing companies, AMC’s unrivalled reputation in iron ore will help you unearth hidden value. With 520+ projects in 35+ countries over the past 10+ years covering all iron ore deposit styles in all the major iron ore provinces globally. We have participated in a wide range of consulting work across technical disciplines.

Our Integrated Mine Plans include Mining Fleet Selection, Hematite DSO Blending, Magnetite Beneficiation, Stockpile Grade Control, Overburden Profiles, Pit Backfill , and Progressive Closure.

Meet the team at Iron Ore 2021

Peter Fisher

Principal Mining Consultant

Peter has more than 35 years of diverse experience in the mining industry, holding executive management and consulting roles in BHP, Rio Tinto, NAB, Hancock Prospecting, Vale, Bechtel, AMC Consultants, CSR, Talbot Group, and HWE Mining. He has served as Director of private mining companies and CEO of listed and unlisted companies, with extensive experience in large-scale mining, rail/port/road logistics and contract mining. He has operated in Australia, USA, China, Europe, Brazil and Mozambique. Peter’s core capabilities are developing and implementing complex strategies, managing commercial, risk, organizational and technical solutions in the mining industry.

David Varcoe

Principal Mining Engineer

David has more than 30 years' experience in the mining industry. He has extensive mine technical and managerial experience across a number of commodities including gold, iron ore, copper, diamonds, coal, uranium and rare earths. He has worked on projects based in Australia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, USA, Russia, Vietnam, South America, and Iran. He is experienced in executive, operations management as well as project management and consulting. David has worked with both large mature organizations and newly formed junior companies. David is also a director of an ASX listed gold exploration company.

Jason Jurg

Principal Mining Engineer

Jason has more than 24 years of experience within the mining industry, in a variety of technical, operational and senior management roles, throughout Western Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland. Having a strong contracting background Jason is proficient at cost modelling, risk management and operational performance monitoring. He is also skilled in the Microsoft suite, Surpac, Whittle 4X, Shotplan 2000, JDE/Corvu/Pronto systems and Pronto/MYOB programs.

Roslyn Dioth

Principal Mining Engineer - Open Pit

Roslyn is a mining engineer with almost 30 years' industry experience. Her expertise is in the mine planning and scheduling areas as well as pit optimization, open pit design and scheduling and Ore Reserve reviews. Her experience within the mining industry includes mine planning, grade control and mine production. Her iron ore projects include Yandi Iron Ore Mine, BHP Pty Ltd; Roy Hill, Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd; Wabush, Iron Ore Company of Canada Inc.

Recommended insights

In the period from 2008 to 2012, AMC Consultants annually reviewed the estimation of the Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve for Perilya’s Broken Hill Operations.

AMC provided constructive input to the estimation process and assisted site personnel in their roles as competent persons.

Justin Woodward – Mine Planning Superintendent, Perilya Broken Hill Limited

“I had twice the opportunity to work with the AMC Mining Consultants Ltd. performing technical audits of our mining operations in Chile.

Tomasz Wawruch – Mineral Resources Manager, Copper Division of Anglo American in Santiago, Chile

SUNDOWNER OCTOBER 2021

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Mon, 01 Nov 2021 16:04:10 GMT

SUNDOWNER OCTOBER 2021

On 13 October 2021, AMC Consultants hosted a Sundowner event at the Melbourne Hotel in Perth.

The event was very successful with 75 attendees enjoying a keynote presentation by AMC Principal Consultant, Peter Fisher followed by a stimulating discussion featuring a panel of industry experts .

Brilliantly guided by Liam Twigger, the panel discussion was captivating due to the breadth, depth, and calibre of the expert opinions shared by the panellists, based on their extensive industry experience.Prompted by the current buoyancy of the mining industry in Western Australia, AMC's team opted for “Establishing Greenfields Mining Projects – challenges, trends and solutions” as the topic for the evening's discussion.

Curious to find out more about establishing greenfields projects and AMC's approach to it?

The main points raised in the discussion were:

The activity in the WA mining sector is evidenced by 70 IPOs in 2021 up to October.
The level of M&A activity is increasing with some hostile takeovers emerging.
Skills shortages.
Measures being taken to deliver zero emissions by 2050.
Some optimism expressed regarding carbon reduction because of rapid technological development and intense industry focus.

Another main area of discussion were the challenges in developing new projects, which include:

Raising the initial money.
Managing a successful feasibility study and allocating sufficient time and money to risk management during the study phases.
Boards allowing for upside potential in the mineral resource.
Starting the approvals process early enough and allowing for sufficient funds for that process.
Lending institutions trending towards more rigorous environmental standards than those traditionally required in WA.
Sufficient mine closure planning, and financial allowances early in the life-of-mine planning process.

The panel discussion was followed by networking, drinks, and canapes at the hotel's rooftop bar offering attendees stunning skyline views.

Meet our featured experts

Catherine

Galli

Director and Founder of Rescology Environmental Consultants

Ken

Brinsden

Managing Director and Chief Executive Manager of Pilbara Minerals

Mike

Spreadborough

Executive Co-Chairman of Novo Resources Corp

Liam

Twigger

Deputy Chair and an Executive Director of Argonaut Limited

Bruce

Gregory

Director / General Manager, Perth

Peter

Fisher

Principal Mining Consultant

Recognition of the success of two AMC clients at the MINEX Russia 2021 forum

Thu, 14 Oct 2021 13:27:13 GMT

Recognition of the success of two AMC clients at the MINEX Russia 2021 forum

The 15th Russian Mining Award, also known as the Mining Oscar, took place at the MINEX Russia 2021 forum. Two clients of AMC Consultants at once - the gold mining giant Polyus and JSC First Mining Company - were awarded for projects implemented with the support of AMC.

The prestigious Russian Mining Award 2021 went to Polyus for the project to develop one of the world's largest gold deposits, Sukhoi Log, in the nomination "For Outstanding Achievements in the Development of the Mineral Resource Base in Russia". AMC completed mineral resource estimate and subsequent updates in accordance with the JORC Code, and also prepared a mineral resource model, conducted a number of other studies and additional mine planning activities.

JSC "First Mining Company" became a gold medalist in the MineGeo 2021 competition for the project for the development of the Pavlovskoye silver-bearing and lead-zinc deposit. AMC held mineral resource estimate of this field, which was emphasized during the presentation of the award. Cooperation with AMS on this project continues, resulting in the publication the first estimate of the ore reserves of the deposit in the beginning of December.

Video recording of the AMC master class at the MINEX Forum Russia 2021

Fri, 08 Oct 2021 13:29:14 GMT

Video recording of the AMC master class at the MINEX Forum Russia 2021

AMC's Strategic Business Consulting team delivered a master class on "From Technical Solutions to Profitable Development" covering geometallurgy, strategy optimization and performance diagnostics.

NEWS

Recommended for viewing

Fri, 08 Oct 2021 13:20:58 GMT

Recommended for viewing

For the first time, we conducted a live Q&A session from the AMC booth at the MINEX Russia 2021 forum with our strategic business consulting specialists speaking at the master class.

NEWS

Congratulations to the project teams awarded at the MINEX Russia 2021 forum

Fri, 08 Oct 2021 12:30:15 GMT

Congratulations to the project teams awarded at the MINEX Russia 2021 forum

In 2021, AMC once again presented its annual program of events at the MINEX Russia Forum in Moscow. After the limited format of online events last year, it was a great pleasure to once again take part in the forum in person. Of course, there is a special value in discussing topical issues face to face with our existing and potential clients.

As one of the sponsors of the event, AMC made a significant contribution to the course of the forum. The most significant event was the presentation of the progress report on the Sukhoi Log gold deposit, published this year. AMS Lead Geologist Olga Almendinger made a presentation on the results of modeling and resource assessment based on the results of field exploration. The presentation was prepared jointly with Gennady Vursiy, Exploration Manager at Polyus. The project has been in the works for four years and to date, a Mineral Resource of 1,110 million tonnes has been estimated at 1.9 g/t for 67 million ounces of gold. Dean Carville, who signed the assessment as a Competent Person, served as the main author of the presentation. This project is truly unique, details of the field evaluation can be found in the Polyus press release dated April 29, 2021.

Section through the Sukhoi Log deposit

The number of our clients is constantly growing as more professionals in the industry learn about how we work and what help we can offer them. This year, two of our clients received awards at the Minex forum in the following categories:

1. The Polyus Sukhoi Log project received the Russian Mining Award “For outstanding achievements in the development of the mineral resource base”

2. The project of the First Mining Company "Pavlovskoye" received the award "The best project for the development of the mineral resource base"

We congratulate both winning teams for receiving awards that have been earned through hard work and diligence, resulting in the highest quality results.

AMC once again hosted a master class this year dedicated to bridging the gap between technical solutions and business drivers that drive our operations in the mining industry. In my opinion, in order to determine the VALUE of a project being implemented, technical and commercial factors must be evaluated together. Such an integrated approach allows a wider range of company targets to be taken into account when planning mining operations. AMC also uses this approach to include environmental, social and administrative considerations during the project feasibility study stage to ensure that all aspects of the project are assessed and optimal endpoints are used to ensure cost balance is as high as possible - in particular because changes to more later stages, after design is complete and construction has begun, can be very costly.

The presentation once again builds on AMC's key Masterclass cycle "Plan-Do-Check-Act" that has been their hallmark for seven years now.

David Wink, Ian Lipton, and Jason Tolly of AMC's Strategic Business Consulting made presentations via video link:

1. Mine & Processing Efficiency Lead David talked about our approach to using performance diagnostics to unlock the VALUE of deposits by increasing the productivity of mines and concentrators to increase margins. At the heart of operational improvement programs, SmartData™ is used for a variety of purposes, including setting performance benchmarks based on best practices; regular performance evaluation to achieve goals; acquisition or sale of assets; improving the results of feasibility studies at all levels.

2. Head of Geometallurgy Ian is again participating in a series of workshops to talk about his recent experience in conducting research on predictive geometallurgy and applying 3D models. Ian shared information about the achievements achieved so far in the course of the projects, and made an important point that all specialists from different disciplines in the project team should work together to achieve the optimal result.

3. Strategy Leader Jason discussed strategic planning and the role of the so-called AMC Hill of Value™ concept. He described AMC's approach to carefully and comprehensively evaluating multiple combinations to identify all available strategic options using the AMC Hill of Value™ process to help understand potential trade-offs, allowing for much more informed decisions and the confidence to select a preferred strategic position.

The AMC Hill of Value™ concept has been a key tenet of AMC's strategic planning for many years, and with the ability of today's systems to accumulate more data and evaluate more options, this process is only getting more relevant and meaningful.

The employees of the Moscow branch also did an excellent job answering all questions and establishing contacts between potential clients and our specialists in other offices. AMC was not able to invite specialists from Australia or Canada to the event, but the conference was attended by lead mining engineer Narina Shorland from our UK office, who helped to understand the issues of mine planning. Olga Almendinger and Ekaterina Pelenkova were also present at the booth to help with geology questions.

Although our English-speaking experts were not able to attend the conference in person, thanks to modern technology they were able to present the master class online, and I was able to live the event, which was broadcast on our social networks. All our presentations are available in both English and Russian. If you are interested in something, please let us know and we will send you the necessary materials. You can also visit the new AMC website at:

www.amcconsultants.com

For Sofia Korsakova, this was the first Minex conference. We are pleased to welcome her to the team as a translator.

Mark Chesher

Director of Business Development

Mark is a mining engineer with over 35 years of experience in the mining industry. Mark has extensive experience in planning and managing gold and non-ferrous metals (aluminum, nickel) mining operations. His responsibilities included ore reserve reporting, mining equipment selection and specification, quarry design, mine planning, budgeting, and facility management.

Mark has led feasibility studies in Russia (Polyus Gold International Limited and MBC Resources), Australia and other countries (including Mozambique, Finland, Eritrea and the Central African Republic) on projects related to the extraction of gold, platinum, non-ferrous metals, uranium , magnetite, phosphate and mineral sands. In addition, he conducted audits and expert assessments of a number of mining enterprises. Mark is a Competent/Qualified Person for JORC and CIM Solid Mineral Reserve reporting.

AMC at Open Pit operations Conference 2021

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Fri, 02 Jul 2021 08:35:26 GMT

AMC at Open Pit operations Conference 2021

About the presentation

AMC Consultants is pleased to participate in the AusIMM’s Open Pit Operators Conference that will take place in Perth, Australia and online 26-27 July 2021. The conference brings together industry, suppliers, innovators, marketing personnel, regulators, and all stakeholders to collaborate new ideas and recent learnings to deliver improved outcomes for open pit operations.

On the Monday at 2:30 PM, Jon Nortier (Principal Mining Engineer) will present the paper “A tailored solution to determine plant capacity using strategic analysis”, which he authored with his colleague Jon Dray.

About the presentation

There are significant opportunities to improve a project’s outcomes by conducting strategic mine planning to assist in making key decisions such as processing plant capacity. It is important that the study team defines the objectives for the strategic mine planning at the beginning of the study to understand what type of decisions will need to be made. Specialist software skills and experience will be needed to meet these objectives and are often required to achieve the best outcomes.

The relationship between the orebody, processing plant, mine, market and other constraints can be assessed holistically to rank options based on a range of metrics, rather than considering the processing plant as a standalone entity, thus enabling the plant size decision to be tailored to the project and corporate objectives.

As part of the Capacity Study, multiple strategic life-of-mine schedules were developed that allowed the effect of varying multiple parameters to be quantified and incorporated into the plant capacity decision. The key parameters that were assessed included: mining bench height and selective mining unit (SMU) size, associated mining dilution and ore loss, cut-off grade, mining equipment, pit staging and final pit stage selection, stockpiling strategy, vertical rates of advance in the pit, preproduction mining duration, and mining and processing rates and ramp-ups. The Capacity Study also considered both the inclusion and exclusion of Inferred Mineral Resources to understand the risk associated with current resource uncertainty and its impact on the plant capacity decision.

Identifying and selecting the plant capacity is a key decision to be made for all projects. Not only does it have a material effect on the project’s upfront capital cost, but also a long-felt effect on future cashflows. It can change the way in which a mine is operated, and ultimately the overall project value. Understanding the physical and financial risk associated with plant capacity is essential for the informed stakeholder.

Adopting the described approach to determine plant capacity ensures key decisions are given adequate consideration and are underpinned by a systematic approach with defendable outputs, rather than it being a decision based on inadequate analysis.

Jonathan Dray

Principal Mining Engineer

Mo Molavi

Mining Services Manager

Principal Mining Engineer

Jonathon has 15 years’ experience in the planning, evaluation and operation of open pit mines. He has wide-ranging exposure to open-pit mining operations including, truck and shovel management, drill-and-blast, fleet management systems, pit development and sequencing. He is also experienced in pit optimization, mine design, strategic scheduling and the use of a variety of software packages including Datamine, Whittle and Minemax.

Polyus reports Ore Reserves of 104 Million Ounces Gold

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Thu, 29 Apr 2021 15:48:38 GMT

Polyus reports Ore Reserves of 104 Million Ounces Gold

Press Release 29 April 2021
PJSC Polyus
Polyus reports Ore Reserves of 104 Million Ounces Gold

PJSC Polyus (LSE, MOEX — PLZL) (“Polyus”, the “Company”) announces its Ore Reserves and Mineral Resources estimates as at 31 December 2020, in accordance with JORC Code 2012.

The Company’s total Proved and Probable Ore Reserves have increased 71% to 104 million ounces of gold, compared to 61 million ounces of gold as at 31 December 2019. The updated estimate primarily reflects the inclusion of Ore Reserves for Sukhoi Log as well as additions at several operating mines, derived from a comprehensive drilling program across the Company’s asset portfolio launched in 2018.

The Measured, Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resources are estimated at 204 million ounces of gold, compared to 188 million ounces of gold as at 31 December 2019.

Pavel Grachev, Chief Executive Officer of PJSC Polyus, commented:

“Polyus is now confirmed to have the largest reserve base globally, with approximately 97% of these reserves attributable to our operating mines and our flagship greenfield project, Sukhoi Log, where we plan to complete the Bankable Feasibility Study and make a final investment decision on the project in 2022. This is further confirmation of the Company’s ability to maintain long-term sustainable gold production. We will proceed with exploration activities across the group aimed at expanding our resource base.”

Ore Reserves Highlights

Polyus’ Ore Reserves are estimated at 104 million ounces of gold, up from 61 million ounces of gold as at 31 December 2019 and allow for mining depletion. This increase mainly reflects:
The addition of a maiden Ore Reserve estimate of 40 million ounces of gold for Sukhoi Log.
Revisions to Ore Reserve estimates for Blagodatnoye Kuranakh and Verninskoye, following mining studies update and preparation of new resource models for Blagodatnoye and Kuranakh as a result of a comprehensive exploration program initiated in 2018.
At Blagodatnoye, the completed drilling program allowed for pit shell expansion down to -160 mrl from -70 mrl, resulting in an increase of 3.6 million ounces of gold in the Ore Reserve estimate, before accounting for mining depletion.
At Kuranakh, Polyus conducted more than 200 kilometres of drilling at several mines of the Kuranakh ore field in 2018-2020. This facilitated more accurate definition of gold mineralization and allowed to update resource models of these mines, resulting in an increase of 2.4 million ounces of gold in the Ore Reserve estimate, before accounting for mining depletion.
At Olimpiada, Natalka, and Alluvials Polyus only reported mining depletion.
58% of the Company’s estimated Ore Reserves of gold are located within its operating assets:
Polyus Krasnoyarsk has the largest share of the Company’s Ore Reserves among operating assets, with 23 million ounces of gold at Olimpiada and 12 million ounces of gold at Blagodatnoye.
Natalka has an estimated Ore Reserve of 14 million ounces of gold.
Ore Reserves at Kuranakh, Verninskoye and Alluvials contain 6.4 million ounces, 4.5 million ounces and 0.54 million ounces, of gold respectively.
38% of the estimated Ore Reserves are attributable to Polyus’ key greenfield project, Sukhoi Log
An average gold grade in the Company’s Ore Reserve estimates stands at 1.9 g/t, compared to 1.8 g/t as at 31 December 2019.
Approximately 1,506 million tonnes of Ore Reserve, containing 97 million ounces of gold out of the total 104 million ounces, are expected to be mined by conventional open pit truck-and-shovel or underground mining methods at a gold grade of 2.0 g/t.
The remaining Ore Reserve totalling 234 million tonnes is lower grade and stored in stockpiles or in situ at the Alluvial operations.

Mineral Resources Highlights

The Company’s Mineral Resources are estimated at 204 million ounces of gold, compared to 188 million ounces as at 31 December 2019. This increase mainly reflects:

Updated Mineral Resource estimates for Olimpiada, Blagodatnoye, Verninskoye, Kuranakh and Sukhoi Log, following mining studies update and preparation of new resource models.
Approximately 60% of the Company’s Mineral Resources are attributable to operational mines:
Olimpiada’s Mineral Resource is estimated at 49 million ounces of gold.
Natalka’s Mineral Resource amounts to 32 million ounces of gold.
Blagodatnoye’s Mineral Resource stands at 17 million ounces of gold.
Verninskoye and Kuranakh Mineral Resources are estimated to be 14 million ounces and 11 million ounces, of gold respectively.

2021 Exploration Highlights

The Company continues its deep levels exploration program of Olimpiada and plans to drill approximately 35 kilometres in 2021.
Polyus is also proceeding with exploration activities at Kuranakh. In 2021, the Company expects to drill more than 100 kilometres, while exploration activities at Kuranakh will continue in 2022 and 2023.
At Sukhoi Log, Polyus is progressing with its deep-level and flank exploration drilling campaign. As the Sukhoi Log ore body extends below the limits of the verification and exploration drilling, Polyus has initiated additional deep-level drilling aimed at estimating resources below the current exploration horizon. Flank exploration is focused on the Northern and Eastern parts of the ore body in order to define its dimensional limits and explore potential satellite ore formations. The Company plans to drill 40 kilometres at Sukhoi Log in 2021.

Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve estimates

The Company’s Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve estimates are summarized in the Tables below. The effective date for the estimates is 31 December 2020.

Since the 2019 Polyus Annual Review, there have been material changes to some individual Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve estimates. JORC Code Table 1 disclosures for all estimates are available on the Polyus website and can be accessed using the following link: https://polyus.com/en/operations/reserves_and_resources/

Competent persons

The Ore Reserve and Mineral Resource estimates are classified and reported according to the JORC Code reporting requirements. The Competent Persons responsible for each estimate of Ore Reserves and Mineral
Resources are:

Mr Dean Carville, AMC Principal Geologist (Mineral Resource for Olimpiada open pit and underground, Verninskoye open pit, Sukhoi Log open pit, Bamskoye open pit);
Mr Alex Virisheff, AMC Principal Geologist (Mineral Resource for Blagodatnoye open pit);
Mr Mohan Srivastava, consultant, Red Dot 3D (Mineral Resource for Natalka open pit and underground);
Mr Mark Burnett, AMC Principal Geologist (Mineral Resource for Alluvials);
Mr Nick Szebor, AMC Principal Geologist (Mineral Resource for Razdolinskoye);
Mr Ingvar Kirchner, AMC Principal Geologist (Mineral Resource for stockpiles for all projects; Titimukhta open pit, Kuranakh open pits, Panimba open pit, Chertovo Koryto and Medvezhy Zapadny open pit).
Mr Mark Chesher, AMC Principal Mining Engineer (Ore Reserves for open pits at Olimpiada, Verninskoye, Chertovo Koryto, Kuranakh, Blagodatnoye, Titimukhta, Natalka, Sukhoi Log, Panimba and all stockpiles);
Mr Anthony Cameron, Principal Mining Engineer Cameron Mining Pty Ltd (Ore Reserves for Alluvials);
Mr Leo Dawson, AMC Principal Mining Engineer (Ore Reserves for Olimpiada underground).

All Competent Persons are Members of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, the Australian Institute of Geoscientists, or approved Recognized
Professional Organisations, and have sufficient experience relevant to the style of mineralization and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which is being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Persons as defined in the JORC Code.

In reporting the Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves referred to in this public release, AMC, Cameron Mining Pty Ltd and Red Dot 3D have acted as independent parties, have no interest in the outcomes of Polyus projects, and have no business relationship with Polyus other than undertaking those individual technical consulting assignments as engaged, and being paid according to standard per diem rates with reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses. Therefore, AMC, Cameron Mining Pty Ltd, Red Dot 3D and the Competent Persons believe that there is no conflict of interest in undertaking the
assignments which are the subject of the statements.

Polyus

Polyus is the world’s fourth-largest gold mining company by production volumes and the largest gold miner in terms of attributable gold Ore Reserves. The company demonstrates the lowest production costs among major global gold producers. Its principal operations are located in Siberia and the Russian Far East: Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk and Magadan regions and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).

Enquiries

Investor and Media contact

Victor Drozdov, Director

Communications & Investor Relations (CIR) Department

+7 (495) 641 33 77

drozdovvi@polyus.com

Forward looking statement

This announcement may contain “forward-looking statements” concerning Polyus and/or Polyus group. Generally, the words “will”, “may”, “should”, “could”, “would”, “can”, “continue”, “opportunity”, “believes”, “expects”, “intends”, “anticipates”, “estimates” or similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements relating to future capital expenditures and business and management strategies and the expansion and growth of Polyus’ and/or Polyus group’s operations. Many of these risks and uncertainties relate to factors that are beyond Polyus’ and/or Polyus group’s ability to control or estimate precisely and therefore undue reliance should not be placed on such statements which speak only as at the date of this announcement. Polyus and/or any Polyus group company assumes no obligation in respect of, and does not intend to update, these forward-looking statements, except as required pursuant to applicable law.

the estimates for all deposits are presented on a 100% ownership basis.
any minor discrepancies for sums in the table are related to rounding.
Gold price assumptions:
US$1,350/oz for those deposits where new mining studies were conducted during 2020 (Blagodatnoye, Kuranakh, Verninskoye, Sukhoi Log, and Panimba)
US$1,250/oz for Olimpiada, Titimukhta, Natalka, Alluvials, Chertovo Koryto.
for the Alluvials, cubic metres (m3) have been converted to tonnages using the general bulk density factor of 1.85 t/m3 strictly for the purpose of the summary accumulations. Gold grades have been adjusted from g/m3 to g/t accordingly. Contained gold estimates are not affected.
5Using a gold price assumption of US$1,250/oz
6- the estimates for all deposits are presented on a 100% ownership basis.
7- any minor discrepancies for sums in the table are related to rounding.
8- Gold price assumptions:
US$1,650/oz for deposits with new resource models in 2020 (Verninskoye, Blagodatnoye, Kuranakh, Sukhoi Log, Panimba, and Razdolinskoye)
US$1,500/oz for Olimpiada, Natalka, Chertovo Koryto. Bamskoye, Medvezhy
9- for the Alluvials, cubic metres (m3) have been converted to tonnages using the general bulk density factor of 1.85 t/m3 strictly for the purpose of the summary accumulations. Gold grades have been adjusted from g/m3 to g/t accordingly. Contained gold estimates are not affected.
10 – Measured, Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resources 2020 estimate for Razdolinskoye includes estimates for Svetloye, Zmeinoye, Antoninovskoye, and Poputninskoye deposits.
11 – Measured Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resources 2019 estimate for Razdolinskoye includes estimates for Zmeinoye and Poputninskoye deposits.

This is an exact reproduction of Polyus’ Press Release. Download PDF of Press Release here.

Insights into achieving high performance in underground hard rock mining

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Fri, 26 Feb 2021 15:03:11 GMT

Insights into achieving high performance in underground hard rock mining

Author name

Watch Andrew's Presentation

AMC has compiled the largest validated database of hard rock mine productivity and cost information through undertaking performance diagnostics at hundreds of operations world-wide. In this presentation, Andrew Hall measures the impacts of the application of new technologies and practices on mine performance, and provides some insights into achieving high performance in underground hard rock mining.

About Andrew Hall, Director / General Manager Melbourne

Andrew Hall is a Director of AMC Consultant s and Executive Lead – Advisory. With more than 25 years of experience in the mining industry, Andrew’s primary expertise is in managing feasibility studies, technical due diligence and business improvement projects for metalliferous open-pit and underground mines world-wide.

He is a Chartered Professional (Mining) of the AusIMM and amongst other qualifications holds a Master in Science in Mineral Economics and a Graduate Diploma in Project Management. Andrew is also a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

AMC at PDAC 2021

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Wed, 17 Feb 2021 12:12:58 GMT

AMC at PDAC 2021

AMC Consultants is pleased to announce our participation in the PDAC 2021 Conference, featuring the latest installment of the MineSmarter series. This year, we are proud to offer a complimentary webinar led by Ian Lipton, a renowned expert in Geometallurgy. Additionally, attendees will have the opportunity to enter a raffle for a private 2-hour executive summary presentation on strategy optimization, conducted by Brian Hall, the architect of the AMC Hill of Value™ process.

Our team, including Francis McCann, General Manager, Toronto, Patrick Smith, Managing Director and CEO, and other specialists from our offices in Toronto, Vancouver, and the United Kingdom, will be available to engage with delegates.

In response to current health and safety considerations, this year’s conference will be held entirely in a digital format. We look forward to welcoming delegates to our virtual booth, where you can engage in meaningful discussions about the mining industry through our chat and video capabilities.

WEBINAR: Resource drilling for geometallurgy and mineral processing plant design

Join Ian Lipton, a leading expert in Geometallurgy, for a complimentary pre-PDAC webinar on March 3. This session will explore how drill hole data can enhance traditional metallurgical test work, offering valuable insights and greater confidence for investment decisions.

RAFFLE: Private executive summary presentation of strategy optimization

We invite delegates to visit our digital booth to enter our exclusive raffle. The grand prize offers a unique opportunity for a private two-hour executive summary presentation on strategy optimization with Brian Hall, the architect of the AMC Hill of Value™ process.

This tailored presentation, accompanied by a Q&A session, is designed for up to ten members of the winning company’s management team.

Additionally, the winner will receive ten digital copies of Brian’s influential publication, “Cut-off Grades and Optimising the Strategic Mine Plan,” published by the AusIMM.

Ian Lipton

Advisory Lead/ Principal Geologist

Ian has 40 years of experience in mining geology, resource evaluation, geometallurgy, and exploration, covering a wide range of commodities and mining operations. He has been promoting geometallurgy for project improvement for 20 years and has been involved in a variety of geometallurgical projects.

Brian Hall

Principal Mining Engineer

Brian Hall is an internationally recognized leader in optimization of mine plans and strategies for underground and surface mines. With almost five decades of experience in the mining industry, he is a sought-after advisor and speaker on the topic.

Since coining the term Hill of Value™ 20 years ago, Brian has specialized in the optimization of cut-off grades and strategic mine plans. He presents workshops on project evaluation, the theory and practical application of cut-off grades, and mine and business strategy optimization. He authored the authoritative textbook, Cut-off Grades and Optimising the Strategic Mine Plan, published by the AusIMM in 2014.

Brian is also a sessional lecturer at Curtin University in Perth, where he presents a unit in the Master of Mineral and Energy Economics programme at the Curtin Graduate School of Business three times a year.

Meet the team at PDAC 2021

Francis (Frank) McCann

Frank is Principal Mining Engineer and General Manager of AMC’s office in Toronto. He has more than 28 years of industry experience and possesses extensive international experience across the Americas in open pit strategic mine planning development and execution. Frank has strong technical and analytical abilities combined with a solid business acumen. In his current capacity as General Manager, he is involved in open pit and underground projects and studies, in project management, writing NI 43-101 technical reports, due diligence activities and Pre-Feasibility and Feasibility studies.

Patrick Smith

Patrick Smith is the Managing Director and CEO at AMC Consultants, a global consultancy firm dedicated to helping miners find smarter ways to unearth hidden business value. AMC works with mining leaders to evaluate opportunities, solve hidden productivity challenges, and improve performance across the mining cycle. Prior to his current role, Patrick served as General Manger of the Brisbane office, then CEO of AMC. He has worked on mining studies, technical reviews and valuations for projects in five continents. Patrick holds a degree in mining engineering and is a chartered professional of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.

Mort Shannon

Mort is General Manager and Principal Geologist at AMC’s office in Vancouver. He brings to AMC more than 40 years of diverse geological experience in a variety of mining situations and geological environments. On the exploration side, Mort has managed and contributed to grassroots and brownfields exploration around producing mines, as well as mine exploration replenishing Mineral Resources. He has worked on open pit and underground mine production geology and evaluation work, including Mineral Resource estimation and reporting.

Bryan Pullman

Bryan, Principal Mining Engineer and the General Manager of AMC’s office in the UK, has acquired more than 19 years of experience in many facets of underground and open-pit mining operations and projects. His mine engineering proficiency is in mining methods, equipment and systems productivity, mine design, scheduling, and mining geotechnical. Bryan has extensive experience with strategic planning, risk assessment, and financial analyses. He is experienced at determining production rates, cut-off grades, and Net Smelter Return calculations. Bryan is also well-practised at estimating capital and operating costs, generating project cashflow models, and identifying the key variables for sensitivity analyses for many commodities.

Paul Salmenmaki

Paul is a mining engineer with more than 20 years of experience in mine engineering services, mining operations, explosives and blasting consulting, and all levels of studies from scoping to feasibility. His expertise has largely been developed in the field of underground copper-nickel mines, industrial minerals, narrow vein precious metal deposits, and aggregates. He has also worked on numerous technical studies and authored an article in the E&MJ for dilution mitigation, which examined narrow vein drift and fill, as well as longhole open stoping mining methods, and suggested improvements for drill and blast designs, and equipment utilization of existing and proposed fleets.

Randal Olafson

AMC Sponsors National Symposium on Miners' Mental Health

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Sun, 22 Nov 2020 16:43:38 GMT

AMC Sponsors National Symposium on Miners' Mental Health

As part of the National Mental Health Month 2020 in Australia, AMC Consultants is proud to be a sponsor of the National Symposium on Miners’ Mental Health on 30 October at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre.

The conference aims to discuss the mental health miners face, what services are available when they require assistance, what can be done to improve these services, and what they require as a community.

AMC is committed to having a positive effect on our beloved industry by helping to make it a sustainable one for those working in it every day and their communities.

Business as usual at AMC: Our approach to COVID-19

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Fri, 12 Jun 2020 15:50:02 GMT

Business as usual at AMC: Our approach to COVID-19

12 June 2020

With the outbreak of COVID-19 affecting businesses all around the world, AMC’s COVID-19 Team has been closely monitoring the situation and adapting to the rapidly changing conditions. We are committed to playing our part in reducing the risk of people being exposed and containing the spread of the virus. In mid-March, we held all meetings remotely where possible and enabled at-risk staff to work from home. Shortly after, our entire staff moved over to virtual office mode. In early May, our team in Perth went back to the office, followed by our office in Brisbane a couple of weeks later, and our office in Adelaide at the start on June. All three are using a Team A/B approach and observing strict social distancing measures. Staff from these offices in the at-risk category or who share a household with people in the at-risk category will continue to work from their virtual offices until deemed safe to return to our physical offices. This also applies to all staff in our other five offices as per the recommendations of local health authorities.

While the health and safety of all AMC employees and clients is our number one priority, business continuity is also a priority. At AMC, it is business as usual and we are focused on helping our clients to solve problems by delivering successful projects. We are fortunate to have the ability for 100% of our staff to work from home and attend all meetings via Skype and Teams. This, along with a strong remote work culture due to the flexible working arrangements we offer our staff and the global nature of our project teams, has meant that our staff has been able to apply self-isolation procedures where appropriate without any disruptions to our work.

We are working hard to maintain the high levels of collaboration that exist when our staff is in the office through initiatives like virtual lunchtime catch-ups, virtual pub and Friday night drinks , and virtual birthday celebrations. In addition, our project managers are working with clients to ensure project delivery in the context of COVID-19 and finding solutions to any concerns they may have.

As this virus and the world’s response to the virus continue to evolve and more information is published by the World Health Organization and Government sources, AMC’s policies and procedures may change, and additional measures may be applied. Our COVID-19 Team will meet at the end of each week to review the evolving situation, the current policies and procedures and discuss any required changes. More frequent meetings and communications will occur if required.

We thank our staff and clients for their support in implementing the above measures that will assist in the containment of COVID-19 while maintaining business as usual.

Patrick Smith

Managing Director and CEO, AMC Consultants

Managing temporary suspension

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Mon, 25 May 2020 12:23:47 GMT

Managing temporary suspension

Editorial: Hard times, low grades, more efficient mines

The COVID-19 crisis is driving most forms of business to improve efficiencies, transform operating practices, and learn what really can be done when employees are working and helping children learn from home. In this editorial, Peter McCarthy explores some of the ways in which this pandemic will shape our industry in the years to come.

Editorial: Hard times, low grades, more efficient mines

Infographic: A way forward

In this interactive infographic, Bryan Pullman shares some aspects to consider during this period of uncertainty to help you get your mine ready for when restrictions are lifted.

Infographic: A way forward

In this interactive infographic, Bryan Pullman shares some aspects to consider during this period of uncertainty to help you get your mine ready for when restrictions are lifted.

Geologist: Professional Reducer-of-Uncertainty?

In this article, veteran geologist Chris Arnold, re-defines the role of geologist as Professional Reducer-of-Uncertainty, a very fitting task in these particularly uncertain times.

Geologist: Professional Reducer-of-Uncertainty?

In this article, veteran geologist Chris Arnold, re-defines the role of geologist as Professional Reducer-of-Uncertainty, a very fitting task in these particularly uncertain times.

Featured webinar: Reduce dilution in narrow vein mining

In this free webinar, NVM expert, Paul Salmenmaki, used a case study to explore three areas that should be monitored to optimize dilution for mechanized NVM methods in operating mines. Attendees will come away with a list of actionable recommendations for use in both longhole open stoping (LHOS) as well as mechanized cut and fill (CAF) mining methods.

Featured webinar: Reduce dilution in narrow vein mining

COVID-19 and Plan B

In this article, mine planning expert, Bryan Pullman, discusses how the current situation has highlighted the importance of having a Plan B when it comes to mine planning.

COVID-19 and Plan B

In this article, mine planning expert, Bryan Pullman, discusses how the current situation has highlighted the importance of having a Plan B when it comes to mine planning.

Infographic: Temporary suspension

Are you facing a temporary suspension of operations? This infographic by Meredith Goss suggests some areas of consideration to facilitate an orderly re-start to your mining operation.

Infographic: Temporary suspension

Are you facing a temporary suspension of operations? This infographic by Meredith Goss suggests some areas of consideration to facilitate an orderly re-start to your mining operation.

On-demand webinar

Continuing on the topic of dilution, in this on-demand webinar, Wayne Rogers, explores the stochastic model as a tool to aid in reducing blast-induced ore loss and dilution.

On-demand webinar

Continuing on the topic of dilution, in this on-demand webinar, Wayne Rogers, explores the stochastic model as a tool to aid in reducing blast-induced ore loss and dilution.

Welcome to the team!

We welcome Principal Mining Engineers Pooya Mohseni and Gener Tucker to the global AMC team. Together they bring almost four decades of mining industry experience.

Welcome to the team!

We welcome Principal Mining Engineers Pooya Mohseni and Gener Tucker to the global AMC team. Together they bring almost four decades of mining industry experience.

Plan the mine, mine the plan. But which plan?

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Fri, 08 May 2020 16:15:24 GMT

Plan the mine, mine the plan. But which plan?

AMC advises on becoming the lowest-cost zinc producer in the world.

The work completed has increased the ore treatment from approximately 1 Mt to in excess of 5 Mt of ore processed per year — resulting in it becoming the lowest cost zinc producer in the world.

The relationship AMC developed has led to the parent company engaging AMC for all of their operations around the world.

Mine Planning and the mining engineer: Not mutually exclusive

Mine planning is widely used as an adjective to describe activities that outline a list of tasks to achieve an objective. There are mining practitioners, mostly degreed mining engineers, that lead and undertake mine planning. Mine planning requires skills and knowledge to complete a mine plan. Planning cannot be completed in isolation. Mine planning is a team sport. A fully developed mine plan requires input from several specialists including geotechnical, maintenance, processing, and geology. The mine planner collects that information and uses it as inputs to the mine plan. I do despair when I see or hear of mining schedules produced by an engineer versus a planning team. It is a multi-disciplinary effort.

Is a mining engineer necessarily the mine planner? They are but one crucial player in a larger team. The deliverable at the end of mine planning is a schedule. The mining engineer is the keeper of that schedule and, hopefully, the cost and cashflow models that justify the plan. The more specialist sources of information driving the plan, the more likely it is to achieve the objectives. This is part of the de-risking process of a plan.

What is a mine plan?

How long is a piece of string? There are opinions as varied as the practitioners. My definition of a mine plan is:

A schedule that integrates a layout or design with the resources required to complete the design. The design will be the result of inputs from geological, geotechnical, and other disciplines. The schedule of activities and production outputs form the basis of a business plan that accounts for all costs and revenues to achieve the end design.

A mine, and any element of it, is a construction project. The end point is not simply an excavation, but (hopefully) a profitable enterprise that justifies the on-going excavation that is the mine. What is key to the definition is that it is scalable. As a philosophy, it can apply to a stope and a life-of-mine plan. Infrastructure including sumps, workshops, or refuge chambers are a part of the plan and ultimately support delivering the business plan. The infrastructure is as important as the supporting resources and reserves to achieving the cashflow targets for the mine.

Mine plans come in many shapes and sizes. I refer to four classes of mine plan:

Strategic
Long-term
Medium-range
Short-range

The four plan classes are listed in order of decreasing time scale. A strategic plan is a life-of-mine plan that establishes the mining methods, designs production rates and scale of the operation. The strategic plan will define what the mine will look like. It will have costs and revenues included in it. A strategic plan may be part of a feasibility study or developed by an operations team. The long-term plan is similar in scope and scale to the strategic plan, however many of the decisions that drive the design will have been made as part of strategic planning. It may be of a fixed time period (five years for example) or be a life-of-mine plan. The long-term plan will be focused on designs, production schedules, and have an indicative cashflow model attached to it. These plans are too forward looking to justify budget-detailed cost estimates. We cannot forecast commodity prices much further than a few weeks or months in advance. Why would we go to great lengths to estimate capital costs 15 years from the time of the study when the commodity prices will have gone through two or more cycles? Some may disagree but the mining industry puts too much energy into life-of-mine cashflow models and not near enough into start-up scheduling and cost estimating. For whatever reason, we give 20 weeks into a project similar emphasis as 20 years out.

The short-range plan will be extracted from the medium-range plan. Costs and other value inputs will be updated to be as current as practical. The designs will be finalized for issue to crews and the plan will have specific crews and equipment assigned to each task. This is the plan that will be executed with the objective of achieving the production and revenue targets.

The types of plans can be as varied as anything else you can imagine. The common characteristics to the plans are:

Design of sufficient detail to extract a bill of quantities to support a cost estimate.
Current operating and capital costs and commodity prices.
A schedule of activities.
A cost model that accounts for productivities and the current costs.
A cashflow model that demonstrates the economic viability of the schedule.
Some level of risk assessment of the plan. Mitigations need to be defined.
Alternatives and options.

All scales of mine plans should include cost estimates and commercial analysis to justify the plan. Stopes and bench blasts need to undergo repeated assessments to determine the ultimate excavation limits that will produce a profit. There are exceptions of course.

Plan B

You now have a plan and it makes cash – so now what?

Anyone that has worked at an operation of any description knows that situations can change very, very quickly. I am sure many of us have delivered mine plans to crews that were obsolete before they got to cage. It happens. Equipment failures, absenteeism, falls of ground can all upset the best of plans. The business plan must be achieved so an alternative must be in place to keep to that plan. That tonne of ore not delivered cannot have its commodity sold. It drives up the unit costs across the mine and may impact resource (such as equipment) utilization. The fixed costs per unit produced then increase as well.

Without an alternative in hand the plan will not be achieved. Time is not on the planning team’s side. A means to recover production needs to be in hand. This is why the medium and short-range plans need to inform one another. It is also why the risk assessment is crucial. It is only as good as the knowledge available at the time it is completed but it will identify known challenges to achieving the plan. It is the best you can do with the information you have.

This is why Plan B, the contingency plan, needs to be developed in parallel to the base plan. The commercial risks must be mitigated just as the technical risks need to be. The mine planning team needs to be armed with the price and cost information to quickly appraise alternatives when things do change.

So, which two aspects would occupy my mind during the quiet time of the COVID-19 pandemic? Risk assessments and alternative analysis of the mine plans.

Bryan Pullman P.Eng. (AB)

General Manager, Maidenhead

Geologist: Professional Reducer-of-Uncertainty?

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Wed, 06 May 2020 17:17:47 GMT

Geologist: Professional Reducer-of-Uncertainty?

Sometime in ancient history I went to university and studied geology. I then joined the minerals industry and became a “Professional Reducer-of-Uncertainty” (PRU). And I’ve remained a PRU ever since.

Sure, I’ve had the titles of Geologist, Senior Geologist, and Principal Geologist, even Technical Manager – Geology. These roles have entailed exploration geology, resource definition geology, mining geology, resource evaluation geology, and geological due diligence. But, in reality, the titles and functions have been misleading. More correctly, I should substitute every case of ‘geologist’ with ‘reducer-of-uncertainty’, and ‘geology or geological’ with ‘uncertainty reduction’.

OK, what’s going on here? Surely I’ve trained and practised as a professional geologist, and that’s what I should be called? Fair point, until I need to answer this question “What is my purpose in the minerals industry?”.

So here it is:

The sole purpose of a minerals geologist is to reduce uncertainty.

Right??, you skeptically say, this all sounds very esoteric and airy-fairy. What possible real-world practical relevance does the statement achieve?

Bear with me……

Let’s start by considering Exploration Company Z (EC-Z), on the lookout for a new base metals deposit within, for example, Australia. The starting level of uncertainty is massive – just think about the surface extent of the continent of Australia where, hopefully, our hypothetical deposit is lurking.

A bit of research by EC-Z into the presence and locations of known base metal deposits, supported by relevant economic geology genetic models, immediately narrows the options, and substantially reduces uncertainty about the as-yet-unknown deposit. Exploration licenses are duly pegged along strike of an historically mined deposit, and geochemical surveys are conducted. The results of the geochem further reduce the uncertainty to a series of anomalies that become the targets for geophysical surveys. The geophysics is successful in reducing uncertainty to a handful of sub-anomalies whose uncertain extents are further reduced by surface mapping. Are you getting the idea yet – about the perpetual process of uncertainty reduction associated with traditional geological evaluations?

And so we continue with the typical sequence of exploration steps, from broad-spaced drilling of anomalies to closing-up of the drill grid, based on initial results – with all associated processes of geological logging, collar and downhole surveying, and assaying. This relentless process of uncertainty reduction will continue through subsequent stages of feasibility studies (resource evaluation), mining production (ore definition and delivery of ore to the processing plant), and finally reconciliation.

But wait! Do these processes all automatically lead to uncertainty reduction? Yes, probably, but not always as effectively as they should. A poorly-designed drill programme, with inappropriate geological logging coding, substandard sample preparation and assaying, absence of sample QAQC, and ad hoc data management may lead to some uncertainty reduction, but not to the extent possible, and could actually have introduced further uncertainties (e.g. assays assigned to the wrong samples). In this case the “geologists” have failed to deliver the best-possible reduction-of-uncertainty per dollar spent by MC-Z and, in doing so, have not properly executed their obligations as PRUs.

In fact, failure to adequately reduce uncertainty may potentially lead to sub-optimal exploitation of the resources, the incurring of substantial additional costs or financial losses, or even the complete failure of the mining project and associated businesses.

So, much as I’m proud to stand behind my tag of “geologist”, and will vigorously defend the importance of geological understanding in undertaking my responsibilities, I am much more likely to achieve my obligations within the minerals industry if I never lose sight of the fact that I am primarily a Professional-Reducer-of-Uncertainty. A good understanding of the geological characteristics of a deposit and their controls on the mineralization are only part of the package required to make me an effective PRU.

So, what is your take-away from this?

For starters, at critical junctures, such as the end of a drilling programme, simply ask yourself and your team, “to the extent possible under our budgetary and time constraints, have our activities effectively reduced the uncertainties about our deposit, and what can we do next to improve?” And, “have we objectively and clearly conveyed to management our assessment of what the residual uncertainties might be (hint: resource classification is not sufficient), and the options for optimizing further reductions?” At minimum, asking such questions should contribute to sharpening your team’s skills through critical self-assessment and consequent continuous improvement.

Hopefully this post has stimulated more than mild bemusement and, subject to finding an elusive gap in my PRU work, I’ll aim to extend the concept a tad further at a later date.

Chris Arnold

Principal Geologist

Webinar: Reduce Ore Loss and Dilution

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Wed, 06 May 2020 16:34:48 GMT

Webinar: Reduce Ore Loss and Dilution

Webinar October 2020

About this webinar:

Blast-induced rock mass displacement can have a significant impact on ore loss and dilution, which can lead to significant financial losses. To minimize it, it is necessary to accurately measure and model blast movement.

In this free webinar, Senior Mining Engineer, Wayne Rogers, explored the application of recent developments in measurement and modelling of blast movement and introduces a stochastic approach to blast movement modelling. The stochastic model is shown to be a quick and effective method to account for the inherent variability of blast movement and can alleviate the need to continually measure blast movement for every blast.

About this webinar:

Q&As

Session 1 Q&A

Session 2 Q&A

Wayne Rogers

Senior mining engineer

Wayne Rogers is a senior mining engineer with fifteen years operational and technical experience in open pit design, planning, scheduling, and drill-and-blast optimization. His expertise includes mine planning and design, scheduling, drill and blast, production engineering, and feasibility studies. He has strong site-based experience in blast movement and dilution management projects, drill-and-blast optimization, and mine-to-mill process optimization. Wayne published several technical papers in international journals. Wayne has also completed a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in the field of reducing ore loss and dilution in open pit mines, at the Sustainable Minerals Institute, UQ, Australia.

Editorial May 2020: Hard times and low grades

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Wed, 06 May 2020 15:33:57 GMT

Editorial May 2020: Hard times and low grades

Hard times and low grades make for efficient mines. The COVID-19 crisis is driving most forms of business to improve efficiencies, transform operating practices and learn what really can be done when employees are working and helping children learn from home. There will be an opportunity to lock in much of the improved productivity and the world will not revert to its former condition. Countries that can limit the spread of the virus today will have to maintain permanent protocols to prevent a breakout. The availability of a vaccine might change this, but no coronavirus vaccine has ever been developed. Other global forces will be significant for the minerals industry. To understand them, two examples from the past may be helpful.

Tasmanian smelters, Zeehan. Source: Libraries Tasmania

In 1939 Japan’s strategic supplies of rubber, iron, and oil were grossly inadequate and it didn’t have any allies in the region. It was considered a rogue state and subject to trade embargos. Japan desperately needed resources, and there were only two places to get them: Siberia and the South Pacific. They tried in Siberia but lost the Battles of Khalkhin Gol. The next step was to attack Pearl Harbor, Singapore, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Malaya, and we know how that ended.

The zinc story tells us that even in the crisis of war, it can take several years to change supply and demand patterns. But certainty about demand and price, guaranteed by governments, enables new technologies and new mine developments. The story of Japan tells us that governments will do what becomes politically necessary, even if it is fraught with existential peril.

The threat of another virus outbreak and its political implications will lead to permanent changes in supply and demand, with each country seeking to source more raw materials locally—or shorten supply chains from secure neighbours if raw materials not available locally. Trade barriers will grow, and two blocs may emerge, within and without the Chinese sphere of influence. The list of minerals considered to be strategic will increase substantially, with no country wanting to be deprived of supply when borders close or relations sour. The world of “Davos Man”, the politically connected business and investor elite, advocates of free trade, free flow of capital, and open markets, is in full retreat.

Mineral prices will respond to these changes in supply and demand. The prices of strategic minerals will rise considerably. Deposits that are already known but are sub-economic will become viable.

At an operational level, aircraft will be more expensive to operate. Some estimates say 50% more, but it could be even higher. The cost of disinfecting between flights, slower turnaround, spacing out of seats and reduced demand will ensure this. Will this tip the balance from fly in – fly out operations to the return of some residential mine sites and more remote operations centres? Other forces are at work in that direction. People are quickly learning to use digital interaction for business, education and social purposes. People living on remote sites will have access to telemedicine, online learning, online shopping and even digital sports. The new generation is more comfortable using a flight simulator app than learning to fly a real aeroplane and can choose from endless online games with global participants. People offsite will be able to inspect and interrogate operational data. So yes, residential mine sites are coming back, but not as we knew them in the 20 ^th Century.

The challenge

Remote operations centres will become more common, though many operations cannot be automated in the way that large iron ore mines, for example, can be. Operators and maintainers will still be needed, but many other functions will migrate offsite. Administration, planning, warehouse management and other functions will work perfectly well offsite. In other than Arctic locations, the new look residential mine will have a core of “local” employees and their families, with local support services and a strong offsite function. This will require careful development because business improvement, for example, is a face-to-face function with operators that usually only succeeds with direct human interaction but might be amenable to some form of immersive technology.

What are the implications for the environment? There will be many more mines in North America, Australia and Europe producing strategic minerals. These will be small or low-grade mines that were not previously economic, so will be more resource intensive than former sources. However, they may operate under stricter environmental constraints than former sources in Asia, Africa or South America. Aircraft traffic will be greatly diminished, reducing fuel usage and emissions. Product stewardship, being able to trace the path of products back to their source, will become a strategic necessity.

Management practices will change as the balance of onsite and offsite activity changes. Digital infrastructure will be highly developed. The experience of lockdown will show people that women and men are equally capable of working in all the roles required, while sharing family responsibilities.

How confident can we be about these changes? Not greatly, but there will be changes, many of them for the better, many unpredictable today. Some serious scenario planning is called for.

Peter McCarthy

Chairman Emeritus / Principal Mining Consultant

Case Studies in Operational Improvement | Mining Operations

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Wed, 06 May 2020 15:33:51 GMT

Case Studies in Operational Improvement | Mining Operations

Webinar October 2020

About this webinar:

Operational performance has a significant impact on the costs and viability of mining operations. The search for operational improvements is a key focus of management, technical, and operations leadership.

In this free webinar, Principal Mining Engineer, Gene Tucker, delved into practical methods to find these operational improvements through the review of case studies and associated results. To start, Gene reviewed possible step change improvements through robust strategic planning and changes in philosophy. He then explored the continuous improvements that can be achieved through the fine tuning of proven practices and procedures and how the data most mines already have available can be used to implement and monitor the success of these programs.

Gene Tucker

P.Eng., Principal Mining Engineer

Gene is a principal open pit mining engineer with 20+ years experience. He has extensive operational and corporate experience in coal, copper, gold, and molybdenum throughout North and South America and Greenland with mines moving up to 200 Mtpa. Gene has held senior technical and operations positions with multiple companies including Vice President, Technical Services with Conuma Coal Resources, Mine Planning Superintendent for Detour Gold and Taseko’s Gibraltar mines, some of Canada’s largest open pit mines. He was part of the team that brought the Sierra Gorda copper-molybdenum deposit in Chile from PEA to construction and the Mine Manager at KGHM’s Franke Mine through construction into operation. Gene has been responsible for mine planning and operational improvements resulting in significant operating cost reductions at numerous mines. Gene is also proficient with the use of Minesight’s suite of software.

Digging Deeper COVID-19 Edition

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Wed, 22 Apr 2020 13:36:16 GMT

Digging Deeper COVID-19 Edition

Author name

Meet the technical team in Moscow! April 2020

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Fri, 03 Apr 2020 10:00:48 GMT

Meet the technical team in Moscow! April 2020

Марк Чешер

Планирование горных работ и стратегический анализ

Mark is a mining engineer with more than 35 years’ experience in the mining industry. Mark has broad experience in planning and management of gold and base metal (aluminum, nickel) operations. He has been responsible for Ore Reserve reporting, equipment selection and specification, pit design, scheduling and budgeting and operations management.

During 20 years as a consultant with AMC, Mark has managed feasibility studies in Australia and other countries (including Mozambique, Finland, Russia and Central African Republic) for gold, platinum, base metals, uranium, magnetite, phosphate and mineral sands.

Ольга Альмендингер

Ресурсное моделирование

Olga is a geologist with more than 22 years of experience within exploration, mining companies and as a consultant in geology covering prospecting, exploration, geological modelling and resource estimation. She is very proficient at database management, validation, and QAQC processes. Commodities include gold, PGE, Cu-Ni deposits, and copper porphyry deposits.

Olga is proficient in a range of international reporting standards including past and present Russian systems. Olga is experienced in the use of ArcGis, Micromine, Datamine and other geostatistical software.

Екатерина Пеленкова

Анализ данных и QA/QC

Ekaterina is a geologist with more than 15 years of industry experience. She has focused on data management and QAQC systems for most of her career to date. Ekaterina combines skills in geostatistics, modelling, QAQC, and sampling, with software skills in a variety of mining, database, geostatistical and GIS packages. This provides her with a strong background for reviewing and advising on using data as a basis for both geological modelling and resource estimation for a variety of commodities and deposit types.

In addition to both consulting and company roles, Ekaterina has experience as a presenter and teacher of courses in data management and QAQC.

Алла Богатова

Перевод и организационные вопросы

Supporting Mark and the rest of our technical team above is Alla, who provides translation, local marketing and PR, and administration assistance. She is fluent in Chinese, English, and Russian and has excellent editing, translation, interpretation, and communication skills. Alla has a degree in English and Chinese as foreign languages and majored in Regional Management and Cross-Cultural Communication at the Far Eastern Federal University, Vladivostok, Russia.

Geological audit as part of CRIRSCO public reporting vs. Russian GKZ expertise

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Mon, 30 Mar 2020 10:24:34 GMT

Geological audit as part of CRIRSCO public reporting vs. Russian GKZ expertise

The difference in approaches to data validation.

Remember the drudgingly balancing geologist, from the AusIMM 2014 Guide to Good Practice, illustrating the risky approach to resource estimates? He is still here and still trying to stabilize that overturned pyramid of sophisticated modeling that is based on unverified data.

Is the geologist’s data, in fact, precise and accurate? Does the data contain only random errors, so the balancing geologist would keep his legs and steady the pyramid, having done several outstanding somersaults (the consequences of which would inevitably emerge at some point)? Is there bias concealed in the sound-looking data? So says the geologist’s hat… And the rumble from the fall of the pyramid will excite the surroundings despite all the geologist’s acrobatic efforts.

We would not know the future of our fellow geologist and his pyramid unless we assess the quality of his data. Data validation is a critical step to ensure it is clean, correct and thus useful for any resource estimates and general project assessment. The importance of data validation is an axiom that is independent of the industry, project or country. Having stated this, it is interesting to note that the approaches to data validation during geological audit for the purposes of CRIRSCO-type reporting is different from the approaches taking place during technical expertise carried out by the State Committee for Reserves (the GKZ) in Russia.

Disregarding the differences in resource/reserve classification between the two systems and the differences between the public vs. the highly confidential reporting in the Russian system, both the CRIRSCO reporting and the GKZ expertise deliver the same desired result – the approved numbers for mineral resources and ore reserves. However, the scope of geological audit required to achieve the approved tonnage and grade numbers is very different.

International codes from the CRIRSCO family provide general guidance for public reporting, leaving the assessment of the procedures, the data validation and the details of reporting for the professional judgment of a Qualified/Competent Person – QP/CP. The Russian system for reporting on mineral resources and ore reserves is strictly regulated. The “Classification of reserves and prognostic mineral resources” (2006), the “Guidelines for the application of the Classification of reserves” (2007) and “Requirements for the scope and submission guidelines for materials presented for state examination for estimating the reserves of solid minerals” (2011) clearly establish the rules, procedures, and scope of work for the preparation of materials for estimating reserves and submitting them to the state expertise.

Following the official definition, the state expertise is carried out in order to create conditions for a rational integrated use of the subsoil, state record-keeping of mineral reserves and license areas provided for mining and for purposes not related to the extraction of mineral resources, determination of payment for the use of subsoil, boundaries of subsoil license areas provided for use, assessing the reliability of information on the quantity and quality of explored mineral reserves, other properties of the subsoil, determining their value or hazard (Clause 2 of the Regulation on State Expertise, 2005). The data reliability is therefore put to the end of the list. It is still very important, but it is even more important to follow the prescribed procedures and regulations in order to pass the GKZ expertise. Now, why do I see the phantom of that balancing geologist from Figure 1 again?

During their audit, the GKZ experts work with a finalized version of a technical report that has been written by either the Company itself or a subcontractor consulting company that specializes in technical reports for GKZ. The expert reviews the report based on his/her experience and knowledge of the project and the review itself is (surprisingly) not limited by any regulatory documents. The expert can request any primary data if he/she identifies deviations from methodological documents or doubtful conclusions. But digging deep into primary data, as required by the CRIRSCO reporting codes, and beyond the scope of the report is not part of a regular GKZ expertise. Consequently, the Company may at the end of the day be surprised to have different results of what seemed to be the same process of geological audit but carried out according to different standards and for different purposes.

The main differences in approaches to data validation between the two systems are provided in Table 1 and explained below in broad brushstrokes.

Table 1 Differences in approaches to data validation during geological audit as part of GKZ expertise vs. CRIRSCO public reporting.

Site visit

Figure 2 Happy principal AMC geologist, Olga Almendinger carrying out a site visit.

The requirement for a site visit is a crucial difference between an audit carried out by a consulting company as part of a CRIRSCO-style reporting, and a GKZ expert review. The GKZ expert would not go on a site visit, while it is mandatory for public reporting on mineral resources.

The field audit comprises a review of the whole chain of exploration activities and their results, starting from the topographic base through sample collection to preparation, and finishing with the methods of packing samples on-site before shipping them to the assay laboratory.

Data collection audit

Data collection review in the field involves:

Methods of georeferencing trenches, underground workings, and collars.
Checking coordinates on-site with GPS.
Drill hole survey methods, their accuracy and equipment used.
Techniques of trenching, opening underground workings and drilling, including technical details like core diameters, the drill solutions, etc.
Logging procedures for trench surface outcrops and underground walls.
Practices for determining core recovery.
Geological control during drilling and marking core at the drill site.
Laying out of the core, methods of core transportation and measures taken to ensure core integrity.
Core logging, including the inspection of the logging facility, reviewing the experience of the geologists doing the logging, the skills to visually assess the grades of the commodity, the use of XRF express analysis, the presence of logging procedures and codes for all categories, photo logging.
Geotechnical logging procedures.
Methods for measuring specific gravity.
Sampling techniques in the field and their correspondence to the company standard operational procedures.
Measures taken to ensure sample representativeness.
Core splitting techniques, the presence of a marking line for core cutting and who is responsible for marking the core, the position of the cutting line.
Sample preparation facility and flowsheet audit.
Analytical laboratory audit.
Analytical protocols and their detailed documentation.
Sample storage and security.

Depending on the reliance on historical or even recent sampling, the auditor may take verification samples during the site visit.

Data collation

Within the framework of the GKZ expertise, the need for the collation of data with primary materials is decided by the expert.

During the audit underlying the public reporting, the correspondence of the database to the primary drill hole logs and, more importantly, to the actual in situ geology is verified in the field based on the core reject samples.

Figure 3 An example of a 3D geological model of the deposit constructed based on digitized cross-sections.

3D Models for projects with historical exploration are often built based on digitized sections and plans that have been initially manually drawn and represent someone’s geological and structural interpretation and generalization of the primary logs. As a consequence, the geological model and interpretations should also be checked against the database.

QA/QC results

GKZ expertise is focused on reviewing if the QA/QC results comply to industry standard regulations and guidelines, which include several documents.

Industry-standard OST 41-08-249-85 “Sample preparation and organization of quantitative analysis in the laboratories of the Mingeo of the USSR. General requirements” dated 1985.
“Requirements for provision of the reliability of sampling ore deposits” dated 1992.
Industry-standard OST 41-08-272-04 “Methods of geological quality control of analytical work” dated 2004, which is the main document used as a guideline for QC during GKZ review.

OST 41-08-272-04 requires that not less than 5% of the pulp duplicates are re-analyzed at the primary laboratory (internal QC), aimed at checking the reproducibility of assay results. The samples that pass the quality criteria for the internal QC are then sent to a reputable umpire laboratory for additional check analysis (external QC), aimed at checking for bias that the primary laboratory may introduce into routine assay results.

The batches for internal and external quality control are formed by dividing the assay population into grade classes, which are also prescribed by OST for each commodity. Each grade class should be represented by not less than 30 samples. The internal and external quality control should be carried out periodically – every quarter, every half-year, or every year, depending on the number of routine samples assayed during the period under control.

OST 41-08-272-04 does not postulate the use of certified reference materials (CRM) or blanks, however, it provides methods for analyzing CRM data. The data is to be accumulated and reviewed in the same manner as the internal and external duplicate results – at the end of a certain period. This allows estimating the general levels of accuracy and precision within the control period, however, makes it hard to trace the problems to certain sample batches, or solve the problems promptly.

The voluminous tables of internal and external quality control results are provided as Appendices to the GKZ reports on reserves. They are rarely checked against the primary laboratory certificates by GKZ experts. Moreover, according to the OST the duplicate data should be cleaned of outliers before it is analyzed. The OST does not require the report to include a list of outliers excluded from the quality control check, thus the actual number of samples that went through the quality control checks is not reported.

QC data accumulation and analysis at the reporting stage contradicts the proactive purpose of QA/QC procedures. The idea behind the use of QC samples is to provide the ability to instantly identify and address any problems associated with individual batches of samples, taking into account that problems may have originated anywhere from the original sample collection to the final assay.

An industry best practice for CRIRSCO public reporting is to provide the auditors with results of routinely and blindly inserted control samples, such as certified reference materials, blanks (course/pulp) and duplicates (field/course/pulp) into sample batches, so that the quality of any stage of sampling, sample preparation or assaying processes can be evaluated. AMC strongly advises company geologists to carry out immediate analytical processing of QC samples results as they are delivered from the laboratory, as it facilitates decision making in accepting or rejecting assays from certain batches or promptly addressing problems at all stages of working with samples.

An independent QA/QC audit for resource evaluation under the CRIRSCO codes is not limited to sampling and geochemical analyses. The audit includes a review of QA/QC principles applied to the collection of density data. AMC strongly advises to set up a QA/QC system for each step of the density measurement process, which should be documented and tested prior to implementation. Besides checks on instrument calibration, the quality control measures should include duplicate measurements.

Database verification

While database verification is not regulated in the GKZ expertise, the international audit usually involves comparing approximately 5-10% of records in the database with their original values in the analytical certificates, as well as collating all the outlier grade results with original certificates. In addition, the database is checked for non-numeric values in the assay data used for resource modelling and the geological and mining software allows to check for errors in hole orientation surveys.

Database verification

Екатерина Пеленкова

Анализ данных и QA/QC

In addition to both consulting and company roles, Ekaterina has experience as a presenter and teacher of courses in data management and QAQC.

Webinar: The Capabilities of Modern Mine Planning Software

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Sat, 07 Mar 2020 17:39:52 GMT

Webinar: The Capabilities of Modern Mine Planning Software

Are you positioned to reap the benefits of the upturn in the mining industry? Are you using the current resurgence in commodity prices to concentrate on strategy optimization to ensure your operations move from a cost-focused mindset to one centered on value maximization?

In this webinar, Philippe Lebleu discussed the newest generation of mine planning software and how it helps miners optimize complex operations well into their future. Watch the video recording to the left.

About this webinar:

Recent advances in open pit strategic mine planning software enable the optimization of intricate mining problems associated with a complex and vast array of parameters and constraints. These programs simultaneously optimize the mining sequence, cut-off grade selection, mining equipment number and capital expenditure to maximize the net present value (NPV) of a project or deliver on corporate goals.

Drawing on his more than 20 years industry experience, Philippe explored how this software allows for rapid evaluation of complex problems and helps engineers and management make educated decisions regarding the best mine development or optimization strategy to adopt. He showed why these modern techniques should be adopted at the strategic or life-of-mine planning level to ensure mines are developed in the most valuable fashion within the bounds of practical mining.

Philippe Lebleu

Open Pit Manager / Principal Mining Engineer

Philippe Lebleu is a principal open pit mining engineer with 20 years of experience. He has extensive operational experience in iron ore, copper, gold, and aggregates in Canada, Australia, Brazil, and Malaysia, with mines moving up to 90 Mtpa. His consulting experience spans various commodities and includes project management and site work in the Americas, Africa, Asia, and arctic environments.

AMC sponsors EAGC Workshop: Advances in Rock-Related Geotechnical Engineering

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Fri, 28 Feb 2020 16:57:40 GMT

AMC sponsors EAGC Workshop: Advances in Rock-Related Geotechnical Engineering

AMC Consultants’ office in Adelaide is proud to sponsor the Eastern Australia Ground Control Group’s (EAGCG) upcoming workshop “Advances in Rock-Related Geotechnical Engineering”. The workshop will start on Thursday 5 March 8:30 AM and end on Friday 6 March 4:00 PM [AEST], the venue is still to be announced. Lecturers and researchers at three Australian universities and the Australian Centre for Geomechanics are among the speakers along with experts from Newcrest, BHP, and Oceania to name a few. Andrew Proudman, Principal Consultant at AMC’s office in Adelaide, will represent AMC at this event and can be found at our booth.

Andrew Proudman

Principal Consultant

Andrew is a principal consultant at AMC’s office in Adelaide with more than 30 years of experience in the mining industry, including in open-pit and underground mining operations in Australia and internationally. He has experience in a variety of commodities including gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, graphite, iron ore, and coal. Andrew’s technical expertise is in mine geology, resource estimation, and geotechnical engineering. His broad experience includes mine geology and mine production, resource estimation and modelling, grade control, rock mechanics, pit slope design and underground support, mine planning and development, and exploration, as well as audits, valuations and due diligence.

Digging Deeper February 2020 | Social Media's Impact on Mining

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Thu, 30 Jan 2020 15:19:08 GMT

Digging Deeper February 2020 | Social Media's Impact on Mining

Editorial: Current challenges and opportunities for the minerals industry

The greatest challenge our industry faces today is the growing public antipathy to mining projects, exacerbated by events such as tailings dam failures and facilitated by social media.

Editorial: Current challenges and opportunities for the minerals industry

The greatest challenge our industry faces today is the growing public antipathy to mining projects, exacerbated by events such as tailings dam failures and facilitated by social media.

Geology 4.0: The end?

What impact will the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’ have for geologists, the way they are taught, practice their craft, or even just fade away? In this article, Mark Burnett explores this next phase of evolution.

Geology 4.0: The end?

Slope monitoring

In this article based on an interview with Meredith Goss, the Engineering & Mining Journal digs into the challenges that open-pit operators are currently up against.

Slope monitoring

In this article based on an interview with Meredith Goss, the Engineering & Mining Journal digs into the challenges that open-pit operators are currently up against.

Welcome to AMC!

Our offices in Adelaide, Brisbane, and Perth welcome Marie Sexton (Principal Mining Engineer), Ed Northcote (Principal Mechanical Engineer), and David Andrews (Principal Mining Engineer) to their teams respectively. Welcome to our global team!

Peter Stoker is awarded order of Australia Medal

This Australia Day, 26 January, Peter Stoker, was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for service to the mining sector. AMC would like to congratulate Peter for this exceptional and well-deserved honour.

Welcome to AMC!

Peter Stoker is awarded order of Australia Medal

Congratulations on your new roles!

AMC is starting the year with a number of promotions and new positions across our global offices. We thank all six of the outstanding consultants below for their contribution to our continued success and look forward to continuing to work with them to help our clients mine smarter.

Congratulations on your new roles!

AngloGold Ashanti's Production Improvement Secret

Thu, 30 Jan 2020 11:50:53 GMT

Webinar recording: Geology 4.0: The end?

The challenge

The Fourth Industrial Revolution, Industry 4; The Second Machine Age, The Knowledge Revolution, Life 3.0, Society 5.0, are terms now familiar to most people, but are the implications of this “Brave New World” understood? More specifically, what impact will they have for geologists and the way geology is taught and practised; or will geologists just fade away, a quaint practice associated with a primitive past?

The term “Fourth Industrial Revolution”, which is used in this article, was first defined by Klaus Schwab, the founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF), in 2015 and later was used as the title of his 2016 book The Fourth Industrial Revolution.

So, what is the Fourth Industrial Revolution and in what way could this impact geology? Simply put, the Fourth Industrial Revolution will integrate apparently disparate sciences and activities, mainly as a result of the advances made in computer processing speed, data storage and communications technology, but also from the integration of apparently disparate ontologies, resulting in new fields of study such as medical geology, geomicrobiology, and geobotany. However, how will the Fourth Industrial Revolution distinguish itself from the industrial revolutions that have preceded it (Table 1)?

Table 1: What is the Fourth Industrial Revolution?

Mark Bu rnett

Principal Geologist

Peter Stoker, Principal Geologist, is awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM)

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 17:36:25 GMT

Peter Stoker, Principal Geologist, is awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM)

This Australia Day, 26 January 2020, Peter Stoker, Principal Geologist at AMC Consultants, was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to the mining sector.

AMC congratulates Peter for this exceptional and well-deserved honour. The award of the Medal of the Order of Australia confers a high recognition for outstanding achievement and service in Australia.

The medal recognizes Peter’s more than 50 years of excellence as a professional geologist and dedication to the advancement of the minerals industry. In particular, the award acknowledges his leadership in minerals code development on the JORC committee and CRIRSCO. It also recognizes his tireless work with the Chinese mining industry to attempt to implement the JORC Code in China.

The recipients were announced by the Governor-General and Chancellor of the Order of Australia, His Excellency General the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Retd). On Friday 3 July, AMC’s Peter Stoker was invited to to Queensland Government House to receive his medal. He was accompanied by his wife, Barbara, and his three sons.

Of the 549 recipients of an OAM in the 2020 Australia Day Honours List, Peter was the only one to be honoured for service to the mining sector. Other mining industry figures included in the 2020 Australia Day Honours List were Dr. Barry Kelly (AM), Daniel Tucker (AM), Jacqui McGill (AO), and Peter Hood (AO) .

The award lists Peter’s career highlights as follows:

The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, the Australian Institute of Geoscientists, and the Minerals Council of Australia Australasian Joint Ore Reserves Committee (JORC):

Deputy Chairman, since 2014.
Chairman, 2005-2014.
Secretary, 1999-2005.
Member, since 1992.

Committee for Mineral Reserves International Reporting Standards JORC representative, since 2004.

Treasurer, current.

The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy

Honorary Fellow.
Chartered Professional (Geology).
Former Councillor.
Former Branch Chair and Secretary.

Other

Senior Principal Consultant, AMC Consultants, since 2003.
Honorary Member, China Mining Association.

Awards and recognition includes:

President’s Award, AusIMM, 2015 and Institute Service Award, 2008.

Webinar: Planeamiento Estratégico de Minas a Tajo Abierto

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Sun, 05 Jan 2020 17:22:43 GMT

Webinar: Planeamiento Estratégico de Minas a Tajo Abierto

¿Está posicionado para salir de este período de incertidumbre global con una operación más eficiente? ¿Está utilizando este ciclo de actividad disminuida para concentrarse en la optimización de estrategia que va a garantizar que sus operaciones se realicen con una mentalidad centrada en la maximización del valor?

En este webinar, Mary Alejo mostró cómo la nueva generación de software de planificación minera ayuda a los ingenieros de mina a optimizar operaciones con configuraciones complejas de minado y procesamiento. El video a la izquierda es una grabación de la presentación del webinar.

About this webinar:

Los avances en software de planificación estratégica de minas a tajo abierto permiten la optimización de problemas complejos asociados con una amplia variedad de parámetros y restricciones. Estas herramientas ayudan a optimizar simultáneamente la secuencia de minado, secuencia de botaderos, transporte de material, procesamiento de mineral y el gasto de capital para maximizar el valor actual neto (VAN) de una mina o proyecto y a la vez alcanzar los objetivos corporativos.

Aprovechando su experiencia de más de 13 años en la industria, Mary Alejo describió cómo estos programas permiten una evaluación rápida de varios escenarios, y ayudan a los ingenieros y a la gerencia a tomar decisiones informadas sobre la mejor estrategia de minado para adoptar en su mina. Ella mostró por qué estas técnicas modernas deberían adoptarse a nivel de planificación estratégica a lo largo de la vida de la mina para asegurar que las operaciones mineras se desarrollen dentro de las restricciones prácticas y generando mayor valor.

Mary Alejo, P.Eng.

Ingeniera de Minas Senior

Mary tiene amplia experiencia en minería a tajo abierto y subterránea desarrollada a través de varios roles de planificación minera, diseño y mecánica de rocas en Canadá, África, Australia y América Latina. Tiene experiencia en optimización de tajos, diseño de tajos y botaderos, planeamiento estratégico de la vida de la mina y estimación de reservas. Ha realizado estimaciones de costos y evaluaciones económicas para estudios desde Evaluaciones Preliminares hasta Estudios de Factibilidad. Mary tiene habilidades en Datamine Studio OP, Whittle Four-X, Haul Infinity y Minemax Scheduler.

Congratulations on your new board positions

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Wed, 11 Dec 2019 09:31:34 GMT

Congratulations on your new board positions

MC congratulates Ruth Stephenson and Bruce Gregory on their appointments to the Board of Directors. We look forward to their contribution to the exciting future of AMC.

We would also like to thank Lawrie Gillett, who has stepped down from the Board after more than 20 years of unwavering dedication and commitment to the betterment of the company.

Ruth Stephenson

Director/Geotechnical Manager, Perth

Ruth is a geotechnical engineer more than 16 years of experience in geotechnical engineering. Ruth joined AMC seven years ago following nine years of practical experience across several operations in Western Australia, predominantly at underground sub-level open stoping operations. As a consultant she has provided technical and operational geotechnical support to projects and operations globally. She has a strong focus on the management of geotechnical risk from an operational perspective. With more than seven years of experience conducting underground and open pit geotechnical studies, she also has a strong focus on the potential impacts of geotechnical risk to a project.

Since joining AMC in August 2012 Ruth has worked on raise bore assessments, geotechnical reviews, and feasibility studies for underground and open-pit operations in Australia, Russia, Italy, Canada, Tanzania, Ghana, Eritrea, Indonesia, Fiji, Philippines, New Zealand and Argentina. She has provided geotechnical training to operations in Australia and Tanzania with a strong focus on geotechnical risk management. In December 2017, Ruth was promoted to Geotechnical Manager at AMC’s office in Perth.

Bruce Gregory

Director/General Manager, Perth

Bruce is a mining engineer with almost 40 years’ mining industry experience. His primary expertise lies in open-pit mine planning and management, equipment selection, valuations, project management and cost estimation in addition to management of feasibility studies and mining operational improvement.

In late 1996, Bruce commenced employment with AMC. Since then he has focused on open-pit feasibility studies, equipment selection, open-pit cost estimation and valuation projects. During this period, he conducted numerous evaluations of open pits based on detailed cost estimation and production modelling. Several of these evaluations were in relation to contractor versus owner-mining decisions for large open-pit operations. Bruce has extensive consulting experience within Australia and internationally. During his time at AMC, Bruce visited and conducted detailed reviews of more than 50 open pit mining operations.

He was promoted to Manager, Open Pit Mining in 2007 and then to General Manager, Perth in 2011. In addition, he served as AMC’s Global Practice Leader of Business Improvement from 2012 to 2019.

VIDEO: Recent Developments in the Performance of Underground Hard Rock Mines

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Sun, 24 Nov 2019 14:59:15 GMT

VIDEO: Recent Developments in the Performance of Underground Hard Rock Mines

Watch Andrew's Presentation

AMC at SAEMC 2019

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Tue, 12 Nov 2019 12:20:55 GMT

AMC at SAEMC 2019

AMC Consultants is pleased to return to the South Australian Exploration & Mining Conference (SAEMC) as lunch sponsor. SAEMC is an annual collaborative event that brings together both the exploration and mining industries in South Australia.

Johann van Wijk, the General Manager of our office in Adelaide, is proud to support this event that enables active South Australian mineral explorers and miners to share ideas to collectively increase the chances of mineral discovery and improve mining developments. He will be joined by Patrick Smith, Managing Director and CEO of AMC, Andrew Proudman, Principal Consultant, and Ali Abedi, Senior Mining Engineer, to represent AMC at this important conference, with a special emphasis on our Evaluate and Develop offerings.

Now in it’s 16th year, the conference will take place on Friday 29 November at the Adelaide Convention Centre. It is organized by representatives from the Australian Institute of Ge oscientists (AIG) , the Australian Society of Exploration Geophysicists (ASEG) , the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) , Geological Society of Australia (GSA) , the South Australian Department for Energy and Mining (DEM) , and the University of Adelaide .

Meet the team at SAEMC 2019

Johann van Wijk

Jon has 25 years of experience in the mining industry, in operational and consulting roles. Jon’s expertise lie in the planning and operation of open pit mines with experience in project managing feasibility and technical studies, coordination of technical staff and the preparation of Ore Reserve statements under the JORC Code.Johann is the General Manager of AMC’s office in Adelaide and a Principal Geotechnical Engineer and has been in the mining industry for more than 32 years. He has held a variety of production, mine planning, technical and management roles through his career and has specific expertise in project management, geotechnical engineering, rock mechanics, risk management, and management of technical teams, in underground and surface mines. Johann has experience in a variety of mining methods and commodities. His geotechnical expertise includes the design, management and review of geotechnical aspects related to shafts, drifts, stopes, longwalls, bord and pillar mining, partial pillar extraction and surface mining excavations.

Patrick Smith

Mo is an underground mining specialist with extensive experience in soft-rock mechanized mining. He has 35+ years of experience in the mining industry, including 25 years in Canadian potash mining. He joined AMC’s Vancouver office in 2010 as principal mining engineer. His technical expertise include underground mine design and planning, mechanical excavation and haulage systems, shaft and hoisting systems, rock mechanics and ground control in soft-rock mining, and mine ventilation. He has managed large feasibility studies, de-bottlenecking and expansion projects.

Andrew Proudman

Andrew is a Principal Consultant at AMC’s office in Adelaide with technical expertise in mine geology, resource estimation, and engineering geology. His broad experience within the mining industry includes mine geology and mine production, resource estimation and modelling, grade control, rock mechanics, pit slope design and underground support, mine planning and development, and exploration.

Ali Abedi

Ali is a Senior Mining Engineer with more than 15 years of experience in underground and surface mining operations. Ali has specific expertise in underground and open pit mine optimization, equipment selection, production scheduling and capital and operating cost estimation and review. Ali has worked on underground mining projects in Africa and Australia, including copper, platinum group metals, gold, silver, zinc, and industrial minerals.”

Conference location – Adelaide Convention Centre

AMC at Mines & Money London 2019

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Tue, 05 Nov 2019 11:15:19 GMT

AMC at Mines & Money London 2019

AMC Consultants is pleased to return to Mines & Money London for another year. Bryan Pullman, General Manager, UK and his team, look forward to welcoming clients, friends, and other delegates at booth #E12 .

As a special treat for this year’s conference, AMC will hold a business card raffle with a gold sovereign as prize. To enter the raffle, delegates are encouraged to drop their business card at our booth.

Now in its 17 ^th year, Mines and Money London is firmly established as Europe’s largest mining investment event. Attendees include over 600 investors and more than 150 mining companies ranging from exploration juniors to established producers and majors. The speakers include Stephen McIntosh from Rio Tinto, Evy Hambro from BlackRock, and Peter Marrone from Yamana Gold.

Meet the team at Mines & Money London 2019

Bryan Pullman

Bryan, Principal Mining Engineer and the General Manager of AMC’s office in the UK, has acquired more than 17 years of experience in many facets of underground and open-pit mining operations and projects. His mine engineering proficiency is in mining methods, equipment and systems productivity, mine design, scheduling, and mining geotechnical. Bryan has extensive experience with strategic planning, risk assessment, and financial analyses. He is experienced at determining production rates, cut-off grades, and Net Smelter Return calculations. Bryan is also well-practised at estimating capital and operating costs, generating project cashflow models, and identifying the key variables for sensitivity analyses for many commodities.

Justin Glanvill

Justin is Geology Manager and Principal Geologist at AMC’s office in the UK. His more than 20 years of experience as a minerals industry geologist have provided broad exposure to commodities and countries, including consulting and operational activities in exploration, underground and open-pit production, technical software applications, resource evaluation and planning systems.

Justin is an experienced user of several technical software packages, including Datamine Studio, Mine2-4D, NPV Scheduler, Surfer, Grapher, Strater, Isatis and GSLIB.

Nigel Walls

Nigel is Principal Mining Engineer and a Chartered Mining Engineer with more than 35 years of international experience in operations, due diligence, project evaluation, operational readiness, feasibility studies, and technical auditing. He has several years of experience developing mineral projects through various stages of studies to FEED, detailed engineering and implementation, and always with an emphasis on the financial return of a project rather than just production. Nigel has a strong entrepreneurial background having previously owned his own mines and contracting company.

His main experience has been in base and precious metals, coal and industrial minerals in the CIS, Eastern Europe, and sub-Saharan Africa.

Nick Szebor

Nick, Principal Geologist, has 13 years of experience within the mineral industry working in roles including consultancy and production. His experience covers a range of commodities, geological settings, exploration and production environments, including underground and open-pit operations. This experience has been obtained across the mining lifecycle from early-stage exploration to production and mine closure.

Nick has worked on a range of projects within Russia and the CIS becoming familiar with operating in those parts of the world. Nick has carried out mineral resource estimates to international reporting codes including JORC, CIM (NI 43-101), and SAMREC. Nick is a proficient user of technical software packages including Datamine, Surpac, Snowdon Supervisor, and NPV Scheduler.

Alan Turner

Alan is a Principal Mining Engineer with nearly 15 years of experience in both operations and consulting in gold and base-metal mining across Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Former Soviet Union, Alan specializes in mine optimization and planning in underground and open-pit mining.

Alan is a mining professional with experience in mining, geology and project management, in both consulting services and production roles, for open-pit and underground mines. He has worked in various teams, both as a member and in leadership roles.

Mark Burnett

Mark is a Principal Geologist with more than 25 years of experience in the mining industry. He has had extensive exposure to the mining value chain, including early-stage exploration projects, shaft sinking, operational mines, mergers, acquisitions, and asset disposals.

Mark’s primary areas of expertise are in geology, technical reviews, due diligence, resource estimation review, mineral resource management, mentoring, and training. He has worked on a wide variety of deposit and mineral types, covering a wide range of commodities and deposit styles.

More events

Current Challenges and Opportunities for the Minerals Industry

Mon, 04 Nov 2019 11:03:40 GMT

Current Challenges and Opportunities for the Minerals Industry

This article is based on a distinguished lecture delivered at an AusIMM Melbourne Branch lunch in June 2019 and was re-published by the AusIMM Bulletin in October 2019 here.

The greatest challenge our industry faces today is the growing public antipathy to mining projects, exacerbated by events such as tailings dam failures and facilitated by social media.

This challenge can be overcome by changing the way we operate through technical innovation and through better two-way communication with our community. We can accelerate the process of innovation through the free communication of ideas between mining companies, researchers, consultants, contractors and manufacturers.

We also need to revisit the concept of value, and to question the drive for large developments to achieve economies of scale.

A review of the history of innovation in mining gives insights into how changes occur and what the business case for innovation should look like. To understand the opportunities, we must explore the concept of the ‘adjacent possible’: the new and emerging technologies that have not yet been adopted by the minerals industry.

Our biggest challenge

People are never going to love the mining industry. There will always be vocal and committed groups who oppose everything we do. Logic cannot sway them, even as they buy cars, mobile phones and the many products of our society that depend on mining. If you are pro-environment, so they reason, you must be anti-mining. Increasingly, this message is taught in schools and reinforced through social media. It is even a theme in popular science journals and influences the selection of ethical investments.

Our sector will not be able to persuade our opponents that they are wrong. Instead, we need to change the way we go about developing projects and selecting technologies, and how we engage with the communities around mining operations. New mines will be approved and gain support only if we listen to the community and respond.

These days it can take decades to get a large project off the ground, and many will not be accepted by communities, however attractive the economics might be. Even small communities in remote, lightly populated areas now have the power, aided by social media, to stop development. And if a mining company works with a government to gain approvals without the support of the local community, it can expect ongoing opposition, demonstrations, active non-government organization (NGO) attention and damaging social media campaigns that can lead to losing the project. In developing countries, the new owner may well be the government, using its army to suppress opposition.

An important consequence of our poor image is that young people, particularly professionals, don’t want to join our industry. In turn, a shortage of experienced people is one of the causes of poor business performance and adverse community impacts.

Many of the operational problems the sector faces have emerging technological solutions. Highly selective mining, using rock cutting machines and belt sorting, will reduce the amount of rock going to processing and tailings storage. New dry processing techniques will reduce the size of wet tailings dams (though they may bring new dust control challenges). New processes will be found to turn some rejected material into useful products such as bricks, pavers and tiles. Selective underground mining will greatly reduce the surface impact of mines and their associated waste dumps. Mining orebodies slowly, over several decades instead of as rapidly as possible, will establish community support and reduce initial capital costs. Yes, we can maximize net present value (NPV) by going in big, but that is the approach that has alienated society. Smaller mines need fewer workers and less accommodation, making on-site living more feasible. They use less power and have less impact on the environment.

The need to manage project risk was well understood in the past. A small mine was built, often with second-hand plant, and then cash flow from the operation, or equity funding from the now-reassured investors, was used for a series of expansions and optimizations. If there was a problem with the initial ore reserve or cost estimates, the exposure of shareholders to this problem was minimized and managed.

Project risk includes loss of social license. A slow start and gradual build up allows the community to adjust, while allowing the mining company to understand and mitigate impacts, and take advantage of employment and training opportunities. With a measured approach, environmental impacts develop slowly and can be mitigated before they become serious.

In recent years, many project investment decisions have been made on the assumption that unlimited project finance is available. Due to global economic circumstances this is no longer the case, and a more traditional approach to project optimization is needed. After considering risk, a modest-sized, staged development may provide better shareholder returns than the largest project that an orebody can theoretically support. Staged development may require multiple parallel processing circuits and smaller, more selective mining machines operating at higher cut-off grades.

Tailings dams

Our biggest unsolved issue is the use of tailings dams. History keeps reminding us that tailings dams can cause massive environmental damage and they can fail. Even the biggest and best mining companies cannot manage them safely all the time. From Bougainville and Ok Tedi in the 1980s to Vale’s two failures in 2015 and one in January 2019, tailings management is not just a public relations issue for our industry. Tailings dams are a real threat to communities and the environment. While dams continue to operate, our opponents are justified in their opposition.

Bigger mines mean bigger tailings dams, and the risk has increased by a factor of 20 every third of a century. According to Bowker and Chambers (2015), half of all the ‘Very Serious Failures’ in the last 70 years (to 2010) occurred in the last 20 years. Bowker and Chambers predicted more than 20 failures from 2010-2019, with a total unfunded public cost of $6 billion. They were right, and by 2019 we have exceeded that estimate. These losses are uninsurable.

Bowker and Chambers say that the cause of tailings dam failures is not only a technical problem, but rather that the combination of falling grades and higher throughputs have created large, fast-growing tailings dams at mines with slim operating margins, where safety factors may be pushed below an acceptable limit.

How can innovative technology help us?

Biologist Stuart Kauffman introduced the idea of the ‘adjacent possible’ in relation to prebiotic chemical combinations, which are all the possible combinations that could arise from a primordial soup. Author Steven Johnson took this further in his 2010 book Where good ideas come from, saying the adjacent possible is ‘a kind of shadow future hovering on the edge of the present state of things, a map of all the ways in which the present can reinvent itself.’ The electric battery revolution and digital transformation of industry (i.e. Industry 4.0) are two parallel streams that are coming together. High-capacity batteries and smart communication will rapidly change the way we operate. It’s like bringing together gliders and internal combustion engines in 1903 to create powered flight.

Past innovation in mining

In his thesis on the development of mining technology in Australia, Ralph Birrell (2005) classified innovations as micro-innovations (successive small changes) or as macro-innovations (radical new concepts without clear precedents). Sometimes, several important micro-innovations combine into what amounts to a single new concept. I would like to consider the origins of a few mining technologies and how they related to the adjacent possible.

1712: Thomas Newcomen, an ironmonger who knew what was possible with new iron technology, developed the first practical steam engine for mine pumping.
1808: John Taylor, a mining engineer, developed the Cornish rolls crusher after seeing an apple cider crusher.
1831: William Bickford, a Cornish merchant, invented the safety fuse from an idea he got by visiting a rope maker.
1844: C Brunton, an American, created the first pneumatic rockdrill, an idea based on him seeing a steam engine.
1904: Daniel Jacklin, at Bingham Canyon in Utah, applied railway technology, including locomotives and steam shovels, to revolutionize open-pit mining.
1905: Henry Sulman perfected froth flotation based on a body of new research, including observations by a brewer of bubbles rising in beer. There were many other patents, but Sulman won the IMM gold medal.
1956: Robert Acre developed ANFO following analysis of the accidental 1947 Texas City ammonium nitrate explosion.
1957: Joy Manufacturing Company produced the diesel powered, rubber tyred Transloader, the first underground load-haul-dump vehicle, based on knowledge of open-pit loaders.
1962: James S Robbins company developed the raise borer from machines they were already building for civil tunnelling.
1966: Ket Carter operated our first mechanized decline mine at Cleveland Tin in Tasmania, using newly available underground diesel loaders and existing surface trucks.
1971: Boliden mine operated the first autonomous diesel trucks underground, using mainframe computer technology that had just become available.

I’m going to stop there, which was only a couple of years after I joined the industry. There have been innovations since then of course. But to me, none have had the impact of those listed above. Importantly, in each case the innovation came from observation or application of an existing technology in the adjacent possible.

What is today’s adjacent possible?

In January 2019, Rio Tinto announced that they would establish a think tank to be named the Pioneer Hub in Brisbane and would consider partnering with technology companies like Microsoft and Apple (Gray, 2019). I am sure the Pioneer Hub will be exploring the adjacent possible.

‘Sometimes, several important micro-innovations combine into what amounts to a single new concept.’

When looking at broader innovations around the world, we have recently learned that:

The use of hydrogen as a fuel for mobile equipment is becoming practical.

A Birmingham, UK team is part of a consortium of academics and businesses developing quantum gravity sensors or gravimeters that will be twice as sensitive and 10 times as fast as current equipment. According to the team, quantum technology could ‘transform the world in ways we can barely imagine’ (Bowler, 2019).

Bill Gates is leading a coalition of billionaires to create a ‘Google Maps for the Earth’s crust’, specifically for mineral exploration (Farchy, 2019).

Autonomous drones are raising productivity at mine sites and reducing costs. These unmanned aerial vehicles’ ability to gain access to constricted areas and inspect equipment that cannot be easily reached by human inspectors also eliminates safety risks while enabling more ground to be covered in less time.

The military has drones with explosive payloads that can fly for two hours in a swarm, avoiding each other as they overwhelm a target. The low-cost Kalashnikov drone can fly for 30 minutes at a speed of 130 km/h and carries 2.7 kilograms of explosives. It can be guided to explode on a target 65 kilometres away (Sly, 2019).

Photon assay technology provides a chemistry-free, non-destructive assay in minutes. It provides accurate and fully automated analysis of mineral grades in ore samples with high throughput rates and has the potential to replace conventional fire-assays.

NextOre, a company spun out of CSIRO, applies sophisticated sensing technology for mining. NextOre’s products apply magnetic resonance technology to deliver second-by-second information about material on high-speed conveyors that can be used for real-time decision making, primarily ore sorting.

One thing that is not in the adjacent possible at present is asteroid mining. We will not see asteroid mining in the lifetime of anyone alive today. The two largest companies established to do it, Deep Space Industries and Planetary Resources, have both failed since Donald Trump cancelled the Obama asteroid program (Crane, 2019). An economic analysis by French research institute CentraleSupélec shows that mining asteroids for platinum, for example, will almost never be worthwhile as the supply on earth would undercut the price (Hein, Matheson and Fries, 2018).

But imagine drones carrying ore, flying out of a portal high on a mountainside, across some jungle and a wide river, to a plant or railhead! It would look like a European wasp nest. We have drones today that could do that job, and the costs are not outrageous. We would need continuous mining machines producing finely broken ore and loading it into containers for the drones to carry. Is that the adjacent possible?

Objections to innovation

At the Austmine 2019 conference, one of the vendors told me that his product will not sell because it is substantially more expensive than the existing technology. It will save lots of capital and operating expense elsewhere in the mine, but decisions are made on upfront cost.

One of the speakers was quite comfortable in telling us that, although he thinks a particular technology is the way of the future, he will not try it until it has been proven at someone else’s mine.

It is easy to dismiss my suggestion about drones because the costs are not defined, and the technology is not yet developed. The easy path is to ignore such fanciful ideas. I attended an excellent presentation by Gavin Yeates for the AusIMM Melbourne Branch earlier in 2019. Gavin pointed out that the only way to overcome inertia is to create a business case for innovation. How do we do that?

In mining we already have a process for making a business case: the feasibility study process. We proceed through a series of stages, from conceptual, to prefeasibility and then feasibility, each becoming more detailed and costing more than the previous stage. In that way, we limit our exposure and can reject the innovation if it is proving to be commercially impractical. However, I have made early-stage proposals for such studies of possible innovative technologies to mining companies and to collaborative research groups without a nibble of interest. Why is that?

Adoption

While the mining innovations I listed earlier seem valuable to us in retrospect, some took many years to be adopted by the mining industry. Safety fuse, an obvious winner, was unpopular for decades because of cost, and people continued to pour gunpowder into goose quills. Autonomous underground trucks are yet to catch on. Some of the reasons given for slow adoption have been:

it will be more expensive than the status quo

it is difficult to retrofit in an existing mine

the workforce will need re-training

there is a lack of supporting infrastructure and spares.

Gavin Yeates has previously pointed out that many of our mining processes are the same as they were 50 or 100 years ago. He concluded that we only get one chance per orebody to choose the technology that will be used. It is too difficult to make changes, other than minor changes, once the mine is operating.

‘The only way to overcome inertia is to create a business case for innovation.’

I once did a study that showed it took, on average, seven years for a new mining technology to be trialled in an Australian mine. It took a further 13 years from the first trials until widespread adoption or, in other words, general acceptance. If it takes 20 years for a new idea to achieve acceptance, then who will support the development of such ideas?

Commercial interests

With a few exceptions, mining companies are not interested in true research and development, though they like to package some activities under that label if there is a tax advantage to doing so. For reasons of internal approval and finance they need to de-risk the development studies for any new mineral deposit. If forced to innovate to make an operation work they will do so, but all parties involved – the owners, consultants, financiers and technical auditors – want to use proven technology and leave the risks in the areas of geology and product markets.

Equipment manufacturers, traditionally based in Scandinavia and the USA and more recently in China, have no incentive to change current paradigms. They will build faster, bigger machines, improve operating availability and continue to compete in the way that Kodak, Agfa and Fuji competed before the advent of digital photography. There are exceptions: my friends at Gekko Systems in Ballarat are true innovators and have won many awards for their products. They remind me of those 19th and 20th century innovators I mentioned earlier.

Universities and collaborative research organizations, including those that are notionally government owned and funded, are heavily dependent on industry funding. In my experience, the industry has little appetite for long-term innovative research.

Consultants – and here I hold up my hand – have ideas that could lead to innovation, but are too bound up in the daily grind of timesheets and monthly invoices to pursue those ideas. The scope of their activities is dictated by their clients – the financiers and mining companies.

Mining contractors are innovators. They are always looking for the edge over their competitors and are willing to gamble on good ideas. However, they need payback within a year or two, and the history of innovation tells us that a short payback is unlikely.

Feasibility studies for new technologies are expensive, but to be convincing I think they need to be conducted with the same detail and rigour that we apply to established technologies. Performance and cost data must be built up from first principles. Who will fund the work needed to make the business case for the research to be done?

I believe that the change will come from wealthy investors and innovators. In other words, from the likes of Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos. In 2016, Musk established the Boring Company, whose website says:

Estimated project pricing can typically be provided within one week. Stay tuned for the Tunnel Price Calculator coming to this site in 2019, where the user can enter product line, location, geology type, and length, and the calculator will return a project price range maximum and minimum.

Mining innovation needs passionate advocates who can influence investment decisions. That means having experienced mining engineers, geologists and metallurgists in senior management and board positions where these decisions are taken. Even with the best will in the world, a lawyer or banker may struggle to recognize a complicated technological opportunity.

On-the-job training

I mentioned earlier that we have trouble attracting young people to the sector. Technological innovation will create opportunities for young people, but university education usually lags well behind the workplace. For some jobs, a background in computer games may be more valuable.

Unfortunately, in my experience many academics in the minerals area have lacked practical experience and struggled to relate to their students. The disparity in salaries with industry draws talented people away from the universities. Staffing and funding levels go up and down and rarely synchronize with the cyclic demand for graduates. The content of courses lags the changes happening in our high-tech industry.

I had the great fortune to be trained in a big underground mine through a cadetship and graduate scheme operated by Conzinc RioTinto of Australia. The scheme ended many years ago, but the people who passed through it went on to lead several of Australia’s largest mining companies. I am sure that I learned more on the job, every day, than I learned at night school in the university college. I had worked on several of the leading technologies of the day before I had graduated. Good geologists and engineers combine practical skills and experience with a solid academic background, but I believe well-structured training is more important.

Industry cadetships can provide an opportunity to develop professionals quickly and soundly. In four years, universities can provide only a basic grounding in general engineering, chemistry, geology, economics, management, the environment and all the new applications in information systems, control systems, robotics and so on. The field has grown beyond a generalized undergraduate syllabus. Employers, be they mining companies, contractors or consultants, should accept the cost of providing undergraduate cadetships and structured graduate training as part of the cost of doing business, to a much greater level than they do at present. This includes better support for professional development programs offered by AusIMM and other societies. The adjacent possible is too close, and is moving too quickly, for traditional career paths to remain viable.

‘Industry cadetships can provide an opportunity to develop professionals quickly and soundly.’

Conclusion

The greatest challenge for our industry is to change the way we operate, so that we meet community expectations. We have opportunities to make changes through technological innovation and through more effective training of our professional people. We need to fund research programs that run for longer than one or two years, and to properly evaluate opportunities using the staged feasibility study process.

Future mines will be highly selective, moving smaller tonnages, and increasingly they will be underground. They will apply technologies that exist today and are hovering at the edge of the adjacent possible.

Expenditure on innovation around the adjacent possible is like expenditure on exploration. It ensures the business will continue beyond the life of existing activities. That is what true sustainability is all about.

References

Birrell R W, 2005. The development of mining technology in Australia 1801-1945 [online]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11343/36521

Bowker L N and Chambers D, 2015. The risk, public liability and economics of tailings storage facility failures [online]. Available from: earthworks.org/cms/assets/uploads/archive/files/pubs-others/BowkerChambers-RiskPublicLiability_EconomicsOfTailingsStorageFacility%20Failures-23Jul15.pdf

Bowler T, 2019. How quantum sensing is changing the way we see the world, BBC News, March 8 [online]. Available from: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-47294704

Crane L, 2019. The Final Frontier, New Scientist, 23 February, 20-22.

Farchy J, 2019. Bill Gates leads push to create ‘Google Maps for the earth’s crust’, The Age, March 5 [online]. Available from: https://www.theage.com.au/business/markets/bill-gates-leads-push-to-create-google-maps-for-the-earth-s-crust-20190305-p511qm.html

Gray D, 2019. Rio Tinto predicts new copper mine will be built in Western Australia, The Age, March 9 [online]. Available from: https://www.theage.com.au/business/companies/rio-tinto-predicts-new-copper-mine-will-be-built-in-western-australia-20190308-p512vv.html

Hein A M, Matheson R and Fries D, 2018. A Techno-Economic Analysis of Asteroid Mining [online]. Available from: https://arxiv.org/abs/1810.03836

Johnson S, 2011. Where good ideas come from p 31 (Riverhead Books: New York)

Sly L, 2019. Kalashnikov gave insurgents a cheap gun. Now it has a killer drone, The Age, March 3 [online]. Available from: https://www.theage.com.au/world/middle-east/kalashnikov-gave-insurgents-a-cheap-gun-now-it-has-a-killer-drone-20190227-p510oe.html

Peter McCarthy

Chairman / Principal Mining Engineer

Digging Deeper October 2019

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Tue, 08 Oct 2019 15:11:44 GMT

Digging Deeper October 2019

Editorial: The story of Kirkland Lake’s Fosterville Gold Mine

In this not-to-be-missed editorial, AMC’s Chariman Emeritus, Peter McCarthy, tells the insider 35-year story of how Kirkland Lake’s Fosterville Gold Mine became one of the world’s highest-grade, most profitable gold mines.

Editorial: The story of Kirkland Lake’s Fosterville Gold Mine

Phosphate: OXO cubes, Marmite, & matches

In this article, Principal Geologist, Mark Burnett treats us to an interesting amuse-gueule on phosphate and its history. This is the first installment in a series on phosphate.

Phosphate: OXO cubes, Marmite, & matches

In this article, Principal Geologist, Mark Burnett treats us to an interesting amuse-gueule on phosphate and its history. This is the first installment in a series on phosphate.

Featured infographic: 8 Important questions for Business Improvement

What are the eight most crucial questions I should ask myself before embarking on a Business Improvement project? This interactive infographic gives some handy suggestions.

Featured infographic: 8 Important questions for Business Improvement

What are the eight most crucial questions I should ask myself before embarking on a Business Improvement project? This interactive infographic gives some handy suggestions.

AMC at IMAC 2019

We look forward to welcoming you at booth #CA9 and at Andrew Hall’s presentation on how to achieve high performance in underground hard rock mining.

AMC at IMAC 2019

We look forward to welcoming you at booth #CA9 and at Andrew Hall’s presentation on how to achieve high performance in underground hard rock mining.

Welcome to AMC!

We're Hiring

The demand for AMC’s Mine Smarter approach to mining keeps growing and so we’re on the lookout for dedicated industry experts to join our global team.

We're Hiring

The demand for AMC’s Mine Smarter approach to mining keeps growing and so we’re on the lookout for dedicated industry experts to join our global team.

Infographic: Business Improvement: Eight questions to ask yourself before getting started

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Fri, 27 Sep 2019 08:12:53 GMT

Infographic: Business Improvement: Eight questions to ask yourself before getting started

AMC Delivers GMCoE JORC Training Course for CNMC in Beijing

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Wed, 25 Sep 2019 08:41:49 GMT

AMC Delivers GMCoE JORC Training Course for CNMC in Beijing

AMC Consultants JORC Code expert, Peter Stoker, was invited to deliver a training course on JORC Code Application to Public Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources, and Ore Reserves arranged by the Global Mining Centre of Excellence for the China Nonferrous Metal Mining (Group) Co., Ltd (CNMC) at its head office in Beijing. The five-day course started on Friday 20 September, continued over the weekend and finished on Tuesday 24 September.

Twenty one CNMC geologists, mining engineers, processing engineers, financial, business analysts, and administrative staff involved in M&A activity attended the GMCoE / AMC course . The CNMC staff are from Zambia, Myanmar and China. In addition, CNMC invited senior staff from MRREC (Mineral Resources and Reserves Evaluation Center of the Ministry of Natural Resources) and CAMRA to attend.

AMC has had a collaboration agreement with GMCoE since 2016, click here to read that story.

Phosphate: OXO cubes, Marmite, and matches

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Tue, 24 Sep 2019 16:36:22 GMT

Phosphate: OXO cubes, Marmite, and matches

This is the first in a series of articles on phosphate and phosphate mining and is intended as being an amuse-gueule before we start on the technical stuff.

In the 19th Century, Justus von Liebig developed the first mineral-based fertilizers, overturning the popular belief that organic material was required for plants to grow. Liebig is generally credited with formulating the “Law of the Minimum” (1840), which states that the efficacy of plant growth will be determined by the element which is least abundant, even if all other elements are present in great abundance. It is worthwhile noting that Carl Sprengel (1787-1859) had already published similar research, however, he was not credited with the discovery. Justus von Liebig was one of the first to attempt the development of a mineral-based fertilizer by treating phosphate of lime derived from bone meal with sulfuric acid.

So why phosphate? To answer that question, we need to consider how soil can sustain and yield crops of high quality. In order to do so, soils need to be rich in both macro and micronutrients; arguably the most important of which are potassium, nitrogen, and phosphorus (the NPK Ratio that you see on bags of fertilizer, often referred to as the macro-nutrient trinity).

Of the three macro-nutrients, only nitrogen can be manufactured using the Haber–Bosch (HB) process, developed in Germany during World War One for military purposes. Ammonium nitrate (AN) is predominantly used as a high-nitrogen fertilizer but is also the major constituent of ANFO (ammonium nitrate/fuel oil), which is why fertilizer is the “go to” raw material for domestic terrorists. AN is also used as an oxidizer in rocket fuel and to help deploy airbags in cars.

Prior to the development of the HB process, nitrate was only available in caliche deposits in its natural form, nitratine. Limited supply of this material (primarily for the use in explosives), resulted in the War of the Pacific (1879 to 1884) that took place between Chile and a Bolivian–Peruvian alliance. Nitratine is used in organic farming where HB nitrates are forbidden.

Phosphorus, the second of the macro-nutrient trinity, is always found in the oxidized state due to its highly reactive nature. It is essential to life, occurring in DNA, RNA, and the ADP/ATP energy cycle. It was the first modern element to be discovered (1669, Hennig Brand) using the scientific method. Brand was searching for the Philosopher’s Stone, or gold – stories vary (Brand was an Alchemist like Nicolas Flamel of Harry Potter fame). Brand had decided to experiment with urine. During his endeavours, Brand extracted a white mineral that glowed in the dark and burnt brilliantly, this he named “phosphorus mirabilis” (latin for “miraculous bearer of light”).

Early phosphorus production was initially derived from burning bones to create bone ash (1840s). In 1802, Alexander von Humboldt (an Austrian explorer) encountered guano in Peru and started to investigate its fertilizing properties, having no doubt learned of its use from the Quechua people (the Inca being the best-known). In 1813, Humphry Davy (of safety-lamp fame) published a book extoling the virtues of guano as a fertilizer, this in turn led to a demand for the product and two wars:

Chincha Islands War (1864 to 1866): fought between Spain and its former colonies of Peru and Chile.
War of the Pacific (1879 to 1884): fought between Chile and Bolivia.

America too, got in on the act, passing the Guano Islands Act in 1856. This act, which has never been repealed, “enables citizens of the United States to take possession, in the name of the United States, of unclaimed islands containing guano deposits. The islands can be located anywhere, so long as they are not occupied and not within the jurisdiction of another government. It also empowers the President of the United States to use the military to protect such interests and establishes the criminal jurisdiction of the United States in these territories”.

As organic phosphate supplies ran out, alternative sources had to be found, and this is where our story proper commences. The first documented phosphate rock mining commenced in England in 1841. Large, high-quality, near-surface, sedimentary deposits were being discovered in Florida (USA) in the 1880s by Captain J. Francis LeBaron, of the United States Army Corps of Engineers (Figure 2), allowing America to dominate the phosphate market for decades to come.

Most phosphate deposits are associated with sedimentary rocks of marine origin (87%), with the remainder being derived from igneous (Phanerozoic carbonatites and silica-deficient alkalic intrusions) sources (Note: the numbers may vary depending on the source consulted). Sedimentary phosphate deposits generally contain >18 wt % P205, while igneous deposits contain between 5 to 15 wt% P205.

Other elements are also present in sedimentary and igneous phosphate deposits, including uranium (U) and rare earth elements (REEs); with the concentration of U being as high as 3,000 ppm in sedimentary deposits. Other heavy metals might also be present, including arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), nickel (Ni), and vanadium (V). The presence, or rather absence, of Cd in a phosphate deposit might be a deal breaker, as it is classified as a class-one carcinogen by the World Health Organization (WHO). However, high levels of Cd can be reduced via blending. An example of this was where high-grade phosphate from Togo (a sedimentary deposit associated with high Cd levels) was blended with ore from South Africa’s Phalaborwa deposit (a carbonatite deposit, containing 0% Cd).

So, what makes a “good” phosphate ore (in terms of quality)? Some quality guidelines are suggested in Table 1.

OXO cubes, Marmite, and Matches

So how do we tie phosphate to OXO cubes, Marmite, and matches? The first bit is relatively easy, once again Justus von Liebig is involved. Amongst his many other discoveries, he developed a manufacturing process for beef extract, and with his consent, a company called Liebig Extract of Meat Company, was founded to exploit the concept; it later introduced the OXO cube.

Marmite, that English breakfast staple and preventer of beriberi due to its high vitamin B1 content, was invented when von Liebig discovered that brewer’s yeast could be concentrated, bottled, and eaten. The Marmite Food Extract Company was founded in England in 1902, with the by-product yeast required supplied by Bass Brewery, manufacturers of Bass Pale Ale, once the highest-selling beer in Britain.

And matches you may ask? Matches of the type known to Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Match Girl” were referred to as “lucifers”; the tip of which contained white phosphorus (WP), a highly toxic material. Ongoing exposure to phosphorus fumes resulted in the destruction of the jawbone, hence the term Phossy Jaw.

Next time: Marion King Hubbert and the Peak phosphorus scare

Mark Burnett

Principal Geologist

Kirkland Lake’s Fosterville Gold Mine: the story

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Tue, 24 Sep 2019 15:22:31 GMT

Kirkland Lake’s Fosterville Gold Mine: the story

Not far from where I live, Kirkland Lake’s Fosterville gold mine is the largest gold producer in Victoria, Australia. The mine will produce around 400,000 oz in 2019, 500,000 oz in 2020 and more than 575,000 oz in 2021. This production growth is supported by reserves of 2.72 million oz at 31 grams per tonne (g/t). It is one of the world’s highest-grade, most profitable gold mines. This is the 35-year story of how it became so.

Gold was first found in the Fosterville area of Bendigo in 1894. It was mined for near-surface oxide gold until 1903, during which time it produced 28,000 ounces. A small amount of tailings re-treatment took place in the area during the 1930s and some small-scale operations were carried on by individuals until 1952. Between 1973 and 1983 the field was looked at by Lone Star Exploration NL, Noranda Australia Ltd, Pennzoil of Australia Ltd, Newmont Pty Ltd, and Apollo International Minerals NL. They all thought it was too small.

Soon David’s thoughts turned to proper mining at Fosterville. Exploration by percussion and later diamond drilling produced a resource estimate of 3.5 Mt at 2.3 g/t of material suited to open pit mining and heap leaching. AMC was engaged to prepare a feasibility study for the project.

The social environment at the time is reflected in some of Chairman Robert Johanson’s comments in the 1988 BGL Annual Report; “The procedure in Victoria for obtaining permission to commence a mine such as Fosterville is complicated and cumbersome. We are well-aware of the difficulties caused to the mining industry, landowners and other members of the community by the existing archaic and confusing Mines Act.” He went on to say, “There is a good deal of hostility to any sort of development from small special interest groups and from those who would rather not have to bother”.

The tortuous Victorian environmental approvals process had forced the company’s management to announce critical decisions ahead of the feasibility study, locking in a series of expensive errors. As approved, the project required each tonne of ore to be handled six times. First, it was dug from the pit, loaded into a truck and hauled to the crushing station located mid-way between the pit and the leach pads. There it was picked up, crushed and stockpiled, then picked up again and agglomerated with cement to make stable pellets for leaching. The pelletized ore was then loaded from the stockpile into trucks and hauled to the bitumen leach pads where it was dumped on the ground, before being picked up and carefully spread on the pads. After leaching, the material was picked up off the leach pad and carried to a tailings storage facility.

The high cost of this process was compounded by the poor leach performance of the ore. Financial projections based on column testing had been based on achieving a high gold recovery within 28 days, but actual recoveries were modest and a much longer leach time should have been allowed. For cash flow reasons the ore could not be left on the pad any longer but had to be removed and dumped to make way for fresh ore. There was also a problem with in-pit grade control that was never satisfactorily resolved by BGL.

BGL was taken over in 1991 by Brunswick NL. David Wright, who by then owned 27% of BGL, argued strongly against shareholders accepting the offer, but was outvoted. The Brunswick scrip turned out to be worthless and led to a legal disputation that went on for several years. Brunswick continued heap leaching ore from shallow open pits but was placed into receivership after about six months. The troubled mine was then acquired from the receivers by Perseverance Corporation (Perseverance). Perseverance had operated a heap leach mine at nearby Nagambie and was able to redesign the mine with a single-use pad and many other changes that would not have been allowed under the original permits. Perseverance produced around 25,000 to 35,000 ounces of gold each year until it too ceased mining at Fosterville in 2001. Some 21 shallow pits had been developed to depths of 35 to 60 m over a strike length of 10 km. Between 1988 and the cessation of oxide mining in 2001, a total of 7.46 t of gold was produced. There were a lot of ups and downs along the way, and times when the future looked bleak

Under the chairmanship of ex-Newcrest mining boss John Quinn, Perseverance was significantly refinanced in 2001. John initiated an intensive drilling program which established a gold sulphide resource. In 2003 a feasibility study supported a $75M investment in open pit and underground mining at a rate of 800,000 tonnes per annum to produce 110,000 oz of gold. A bacterial leaching plant was completed in 2005, initially fed with open pit ore. Underground development began in March 2006 and stoping progressed into the Robin, Harrier, Vulture, Raven, and Phoenix deposits.

In February 2008 Canadian corporation Northgate Minerals made a successful $282M bid to acquire the Stawell and Fosterville gold mines. A series of mergers and acquisitions then saw ownership pass quickly through AuRico Gold Inc., Crocodile Gold Corp., and Newmarket Gold Inc. to Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd in 2016.

The mine’s head grade had been around 4-5 g/t but exploration success with the development of the high-grade Eagle and Swan mineralized zones transformed its potential. By the end of 2018, the sulphide plant had produced over 55 t of gold since its commissioning in 2005. The mine was a big success, lauded by the local community and governments for employing around 600 people.

Today’s success rests on a series of brave decisions – BGL’s original investment in a heap-leach mine, Perseverance’s purchase and reinventing that heap leach mine, John Quinn’s energetic development of a sulphide project, and Northgate’s bid for an asset that was not on the radar of Australian gold producers. Did the corporate shenanigans add value? I think so, because each change of ownership brought an opportunity to inject further capital into exploration and development.

The Bendigo locals ask – how did the Canadians come to own our gold mine? The answer is that the Canadians recognized an under-valued asset and had the wherewithal to buy it. Our politicians now hold out Fosterville as the sort of mining project that they like and support. I suspect they have no concept of the thirty-five years of hard work and tears that made it possible.

Peter McCarthy

Chairman Emeritus / Principal Mining Consultant

Infographic: Business Improvement: Eight questions to ask yourself before getting started

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Tue, 17 Sep 2019 08:15:45 GMT

Infographic: Business Improvement: Eight questions to ask yourself before getting started

AMC’s business improvement services have delivered successful outcomes to our clients on more than 200 projects worldwide. Our tailored approach combines extensive practical mining experience with proven proprietary business improvement techniques and information. Our services extend from strategy reviews and optimization through to comprehensive operational improvement assessments and implementation support, and incorporate the full range of management, technical, operational and organizational aspects. For more information, please refer to our Improve solutions or contact your local AMC office.

Mark Burnett

Principal Geologist

AMC Returns to IMARC 2019 as a Silver Sponsor

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 09:34:56 GMT

AMC Returns to IMARC 2019 as a Silver Sponsor

AMC Consultants is excited to return to IMARC as a silver sponsor. IMARC will take place at the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre, 28-31 October 2019.

Patrick Smith, AMC’s Managing Director and CEO, will join Andrew Hall, the General Manager of our office in Melbourne, and his team for the biggest event of the year for our office in Melbourne. They look forward to welcoming new and returning delegates to booth #CA9.

In addition to welcoming delegates at our booth, Andrew Hall, a world leader in underground mining and benchmarking, will share his insights on how to achieve high performance in underground hard rock mining.

Keynote presentation: Recent developments in the performance of underground hard rock mines

2.20 PM Tuesday 29 October at the Technology – Mine Optimisation: Intelligent Mining session at IMARC.

AMC has compiled the largest validated database of hard rock mine productivity and cost information through undertaking performance diagnostics at hundreds of operations world-wide. This presentation measures the impacts of the application of new technologies and practices on mine performance, and provides some insights into achieving high performance in underground hard rock mining.

About Andrew Hall

Andrew Hall

Director / General Manager Melbourne

Andrew Hall is a Director of AMC Consultants and the General Manager of AMC’s Melbourne office. With more than 25 years of experience in the mining industry, Andrew’s primary expertise is in managing feasibility studies, technical due diligence and business improvement projects for metalliferous open-pit and underground mines world-wide.

He has been responsible for a large number of feasibility studies, technical audits, due diligence, independent public reports, and business improvement studies for mining projects located in Australasia, Africa, Asia (including India), Russia, North America, and Latin America.

Andrew’s broad experience includes project management, education, mining operations, economic and financial evaluation, capital and operating cost estimation, technical assessment, strategic and operational mine planning, and business analysis. He has also authored a number of technical papers presented at international mining conferences.

Meet the team at IMARC

Below are some of the senior members of the Melbourne team who will join Andrew at the upcoming IMARC 2019 conference:

Tracie Burrows

Geology Manager & Principal Geologist

Tracie Burrows is Geology Manager and Principal Geologist at AMC’s office in Melbourne. She has 25 years of minerals industry experience in mining operations, mineral resource estimation, auditing, and due diligence. Tracie has experience in: underground production in grade control deposits, mine closure and re start and commissioning, base metals, nickel, hard rock tin, gold, and porphyry copper, acting as the Competent Person for reporting in accordance with the JORC Code.

Adrian Penney

Technical Services Manager and Principal Geotechnical Engineer

Adrian Penney Technical Services Manager and Principal Geotechnical Engineer at AMC’s office in Melbourne. He is a geotechnical engineer with more than 20 years’ experience in mining. Since graduating in 1997, Adrian has held both operational and consulting roles over his career.

As Technical Services Manager at AMC’s office in Melbourne, Adrian’s specialty is in underground metalliferous rock engineering. His main areas of expertise are in ground support selection, seismic data analysis, field investigations, geotechnical and mining studies, incident investigations, and incident investigations. Adrian is currently the Chair of the AusIMM Melbourne Branch, and is the Vice Chair and Geotechnical representative of the AusIMM Chartered Professional Program.

Mark Flanagan

Open Pit Manager and Principal Mining Engineer

Mark Flanagan is Open Pit Manager and Principal Mining Engineer at AMC’s office in Melbourne. His expertise is in project management, evaluation, planning and operation of large-scale open-pit mines. In both technical and operational roles, he has provided expert advice to many world class mines and project owners covering a wide range of commodities across multiple jurisdictions. Comprehensive exposure to the global mining industry has enabled a deep understanding of leading practices and technology developments.

Mark has an in-depth knowledge of the full mining value chain and is an expert in strategic project evaluation. These skills have been applied to studies and operation reviews, using advanced software skills across many key mining engineering packages. He is a member of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (Chartered Professional)

AMC at Minex Russia 2019

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Fri, 30 Aug 2019 14:07:41 GMT

AMC at Minex Russia 2019

AMC Consultants (AMC) returns to MINEX Russia and celebrates the one-year anniversary of our office in Moscow. The conference will take place 8-9 October in Moscow. Led by Mark Chesher, Technical Director – Moscow, our team will open this year’s MINEX with a masterclass on using data to advantage.

Our presenters will cover the diverse uses of digital twinning, the role of established reconciliation principles, and the combination of benchmarking and digital modelling. This masterclass is the fifth installment of what has been a very well-received masterclass series that has brought experts from AMC’s global offices to Moscow. To complement the masterclass, Mark Burnett will also present on Geology 4.0 at the Mining Goes Digital session in the Main Forum.

AMC will again have a booth at the conference and will treat visitors to a demonstration of our desktop digital twin. All those presenting will be available at our booth so drop by booth #21 to discuss any topics of interest and to drop in your business card for a chance to win a premium bottle of Australian wine.

MASTERCLASS: USING DATA TO ADVANTAGE

Tolstoy Hall, Tuesday 8 October 2019, 9.00 – 10.30 AM

Join us to find out how you can best use your data!

Programme

Presentation 1: Diverse Uses of Digital Twinning by Mark Chesher

A mining and mineral processing operation is a complex chain of interlinked activities from drill rig to final products such as concentrates, metal anodes or blended feeds for blast furnaces. This paper discusses various applications of digital twins for these operations and presents a case history for using a digital twin to improve forecasting of copper and gold recovery.

Presentation 2: Expanding the Role of Established Reconciliation Principles by Mark Burnett

Avoiding the most common errors observed in the mining reconciliation process can help in developing systems for ensuring quality data as a base for models in all areas of mining and processing. This paper analyses some case histories with recommendations and suggestions on how to avoid pitfalls in the future.

Presentation 3: Combination of Benchmarking with Digital modelling by Bruce Gregory

Developing realistic production and cost models provide important guides to manage operations. Collecting production data at every stage of an operation provides the basis for modeling the current situation in a mine. But what about the future? Benchmarking helps to fill the gap so that predictive models have a sound basis.

Summary and conclusion by Mark Chesher

PRESENTATION IN THE MAIN FORUM: Geology 4.0: The final bow? by Mark Burnett

Pushkin Hall, Technical Session 2: Predictive Modelling of Mineral Exploration Targets

Wednesday 9 October 2019, 2.30 – 2.45 PM

Join Mark Burnett to learn about some of the emerging technologies that will impact on how geologists operate and the skills that they will have to acquire in order to survive and thrive in the scenarios outlined by the World Economic Forum’s scenario studies “Mining & Metals in a Sustainable World 2050” and “The Future Availability of Natural Resources: A New Paradigm for Global Resource Availability”.

Since Klaus Schwab introduced (and popularized) the concept of the “Fourth Industrial Revolution“ in 2016, there has been increased speculation on how emerging technologies will disrupt the mining industry. In a short period of time we have seen the introduction and testing of fully autonomous haulage systems, the roll out of the Internet of Things (IOT) as well as the rapid advance of “big data analytics “in the exploration and production environments.

In the author’s experience, most geologists operate under the belief that they will not be replaced by any of the disruptor technologies that are currently under development, a belief that may not be valid.

Mark Chesher

Technical Director – Russia

Mark has managed feasibility studies in Russia (for Polyus Gold International and MBC Resources), Australia and other countries (including Mozambique, Finland, Eritrea and the Central African Republic) for gold, platinum, base metals, uranium, magnetite, phosphate, and mineral sands projects. He has also conducted operational reviews and valuations at a number of operations. Mark is a Competent/Qualified Person for reporting Reserves for projects according to JORC and CIM standards.

For the past five years, Mark has focused on projects in Russia and moved to Moscow in 2018 to represent AMC in Russia on a full-time basis. This enables him to better understand the needs of Russian clients and ensure results satisfy the agreed objectives.

Mark Burnett

Principal Geologist

Mark is a geologist with more than 25 years of experience in the mining industry. He has had extensive exposure to the mining value chain, including early-stage exploration projects, shaft sinking, operational mines, mergers, acquisitions, and asset disposals.

An experienced manager and consultant, Mark has a demonstrated history in the mining and metals industry and master’s degree in Mineral Resource Management. Mark is well respected in the industry with numerous requests to present, mentor and teach as well as advise and guide clients.

Bruce Gregory

General Manager, Perth

Bruce is a mining engineer with almost four decades of experience in mining. His primary expertise is in open-pit mine planning and management, equipment selection, valuations, project management and cost estimation. His broad experience within the mining industry includes management of feasibility studies and mining operational improvement.

Since joining AMC in 1996, Bruce has reviewed and advised more than 50 mining operations and participated in the development of AMC’s OPMincost cost estimation system.

He has extensive underground and open-pit operational and planning experience at technical and managerial level. In consulting he has focused on open-pit feasibility studies, operational improvement, open-pit cost estimation, mining contracts, equipment selection and valuation.

As AMC’s Global Practice Leader of Business Improvement, Bruce has overseen the recent extension of AMC’s Benchmarking service into the Online Mining Intelligence service which supports mine managers in their improvement programmes on a monthly basis. Bruce is also the General Manager of the Perth office and holds a degree in mining engineering, a diploma in financial management, and a first-class mine manager certificate.

Digging Deeper July 2019

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Fri, 12 Jul 2019 10:00:35 GMT

Digging Deeper July 2019

Editorial: On courage and innovation

In this editorial, Peter McCarthy discusses the barriers to innovation from an industry plagued by a corporate fear of failure. Drawing from the examples of Herbert Hoover and Andrew Forrest, Peter maintains there is much to be gained from daring greatly.

Editorial: On courage and innovation

Do things better or smarter?

AMC’s business improvement gurus, Bruce Gregory and Kobus Potgieter explore the difference between doing thing better vs. smarter.

Do things better or smarter?

AMC’s business improvement gurus, Bruce Gregory and Kobus Potgieter explore the difference between doing thing better vs. smarter.

Featured video

How do optimized fleet management systems fit into the overall mining operation? What will the future of fleet management look like? Watch this webinar recording to find out!

Featured video

How do optimized fleet management systems fit into the overall mining operation? What will the future of fleet management look like? Watch this webinar recording to find out!

AMC at the Iron Ore 2019 Conference

Come and talk to our Improve team at booth #30 to learn about our approach that has helped many clients achieve 10x ROI and interact with our Concerto mine simulation.

AMC at the Iron Ore 2019 Conference

Come and talk to our Improve team at booth #30 to learn about our approach that has helped many clients achieve 10x ROI and interact with our Concerto mine simulation.

We're Hiring

he demand for AMC’s Mine Smarter approach to mining keeps growing and so we’re on the lookout for dedicated industry experts to join our global team.

We're Hiring

The demand for AMC’s Mine Smarter approach to mining keeps growing and so we’re on the lookout for dedicated industry experts to join our global team.

AMC meets ANU Global Business Immersion Course participants in Moscow

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Thu, 11 Jul 2019 08:47:51 GMT

AMC meets ANU Global Business Immersion Course participants in Moscow

AMC is committed to having a positive effect on our beloved industry by helping to make it a sustainable one for those working in it every day and their communities.

Mining Strategy: “Do things better” vs “Do things smarter”

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Wed, 10 Jul 2019 09:03:57 GMT

Mining Strategy: “Do things better” vs “Do things smarter”

It’s a good thing that Australian companies are throwing the word innovation around to try to change how they operate. The trouble is that, too often, these refer to doing things better rather than doing things smarter.

Innovation generally refers to a business’ ability to generate a stream of new products, services, processes and business models over time that are material to the organization. It can also mean changing the existing processes, or creating more effective processes, products, and ideas. For businesses, this means implementing, creating or improving their status quo, observed through changes in their data streams.

What to do if the status quo is not optimal though? For innovation to matter, it must be material, it must involve a deep understanding of the metrics, especially those affecting the value-carrying parts of the business — core components of the mine’s operating system.

Mining companies understand that innovation is not only about ideas, that it is a resource reallocation problem. This is something companies get wrong consistently. They maintain their resource allocation for years or fail to balance resource allocation towards relieving the constraint. Since these decisions are largely based on guesswork and incomplete data, the result can be costly.

If an organization’s operating system doesn’t allow innovative growth through innovation to occur, it gets stuck doing incremental innovation in products and customer experiences rather than changing its business model.

Introduction

Technology has transformed mines. Anecdotally, 90% of all data in use today was generated in the past two years. Some mines now operate remotely, collecting real-time data, making informed real-time decisions. Others generate and collect all the data at their disposal and must do the best they can with what they have. One thing is certain — there is an immense amount of data recorded. The main objective of data collection is to lead decision-makers to conclusions — if you can measure it you can manage it. Quite often, however, decision-makers do not have much more time than to monitor primary KPIs and focus on trends, deviations, and exceptions. We tend to accept everything we see as true and acceptable.

Benefits are lost if the data is not managed, cleansed and viewed by the decision-maker in a timely manner. Good processes in data management and effective data use are vital to realizing value from technology. Knowing what metrics to observe and having access to industry benchmarks can drive improvement and maintain focus. For the best impact, improvement needs to be focused on high-value areas.

A mine’s potential improvement (delta) is generally expressed as a percentage calculated from production improvement or unit cost reduction. However, this is often flawed due to the unconfirmed assessment of what good looks like.

Define the problem

“In God we trust. All others must bring data.” – W. Edwards Deming, statistician, professor, author, lecturer, and consultant.

Responsible managers within an organization are faced with many situations where they make daily decisions that could have significant impacts on the business. These decisions may seem trivial at the time but how do they compare with the peer group? Are they similar or better? They could add up to average or superior performance.

With increased pressure on mining organizations, situations and decisions become more and more complex:

Without due consideration to what good looks like, a site may continue to operate for years without comparing their practices with peer groups and therefore miss the opportunity to be more productive and more profitable. “The standard you walk past is the standard you set” (Anon) is a popular phrase.

Many mines that are very profitable have prospered in the recent past, yet, still feel insulated as they see disruption as not an issue. They seem to be hoping that they won’t be hit or that they can ride out their term before disruption takes hold.

During Performance Diagnostics AMC often comes across disconnected strategic systems: good orebody understanding, robust five-year plans and annual schedules, but lacking innovation, disconnected spacial compliance, and a distorted view of their own performance.

The Business Improvement startin g point is to frame the problem in a clear, defined, measurable way.

Aspects that add to the effectiveness of the problem-framing process are summarized by the questions:

Does the problem statement (business case) link to the high-level business performance metric (KPI)?

What is the timeframe to completion?
What is the business impact of the gap? Is the current performance level and expected performance level defined and the difference identified?
With data in hand and the problem clearly framed, the improvement process can commence.

Data mining

Conventional mining today has become increasingly expensive, as miners reach deeper into the earth to find profitable ore bodies and work further and further away from infrastructure. Every day more and more data are generated to better understand the complexities of mining and to counter the effect of escalating costs by working smarter. To interpret trends and relations from these datasets requires more detailed data mining and analytics (and time). Actionable insights from analytics help mine production managers make decisions when controlling and improving their operations.

The value of monitoring production data is usually well understood — what gets measured, gets managed. Significant investment is often made into fleet management systems (FMS) and integrated production reporting software because they contribute toward better measurement. However, to realize the value potential of these systems often takes ongoing analytical effort, which feeds into a comprehensive and sustained improvement program. Furthermore, to truly achieve performance breakthroughs, the process demands digital innovation, including software to optimize asset utilization, devices to remotely monitor and control activities, and robotics for the automation of repetitive tasks. The benefits of asset optimization tools are obviously significant. However, benefits are lost if the data is not managed, cleansed, and viewed by decision-makers in a timely manner. Good processes in data management and using the data effectively are vital to realizing value.

Manage your data

The complex FMS systems many mine sites use provide a dispatch and control process for mining equipment and capture an immense amount of production and equipment performance data. The data collected is often used within the FMS to determine the most productive routes for haul trucks. There are also many mines that use manual prescribed lists of duty (TALLY, PLOD) cards to collect data, which are then entered into data bases or spreadsheets. Most mines use some form of Management Operating System (MOS) or a commercial reporting system to collate fleet productivity data with other site data.

To achieve a good understanding of a mine’s productivity and efficiencies, a robust validation process is required to ensure data integrity is maintained. Reports representing the correct interpretation of data. From AMC’s observations at mine sites, some common challenges and improvement issues are:

Collection: FMS not set up adequately, which cause incorrect referencing.
Collection and interpretation: Time Usage Model not correctly applied or interpreted.
Validation: Production data not checked, validated and corrected.
Store: Data storage does not allow data mining.
Analytics: Insufficient analysis capability, no priority improvement, inadequate potential for improvement and bottom-line impacts identified.
Interpret: Which production targets are at risk and what actions need to be taken.
Insufficient improvement programs.

Improvement objective

What to focus on? Where to start? Which tools are available to help with making the most intelligent decision? Bottleneck analysis and Cost Driver Tree analysis are useful visual tools providing insight into current capability, forecasted capability and the delta between expected performance and actual performance. Often improvement initiatives are executed without impacting the bottom line, this is most likely to have occurred outside the bottleneck. The bottleneck study provides a high-level assessment of which value chain component is the bottleneck and the cause.

In the example below, drilling is currently under-performing, however has adequate capability. A detailed process understanding is important, and although the full potential is reached, in this case, the drilling function remains the constraint. Further investigation may also reveal blasting constraint or a significant portion of free-dig. Cost-saving potential exists in the truck fleet and may involve equipment rationalization, targeted maintenance or location restriction — it is a resource reallocation problem. Debottlenecking can be done by improving blasting efficiency (or face availability) and by reducing the trucking resource. The AMC Performance Diagnostic often identifies operations that fail to balance resource allocation as their decisions are largely based on guesswork and incomplete data that lead to costly errors in judgment.

Value realization

Data analysis on AMC’s performance benchmarking data indicates that for the average mine in the industry, 30% productivity improvement is possible in drilling and blasting operations, and 20% productivity improvement in loading and hauling operations. But this improvement gap is relevant to doing things better and not to doing things smarter. The “doing the things better” in the core business — better time utilization, better equipment use, pricing, better customer experience, more incremental products.

The “doing things smarter”, however will have the potential to propel the organization beyond the 20% or 30%, through geomodelling, mine design, technology or other changes in mine parameters. Doing things smarter changes mine design and mine planning processes, changes rosters, equipment, maintenance effectiveness, etc.

Modern technology has provided operations with ample data that can be used to effectively improve productivity and reduce costs. However, unless the data systems are robust, data are validated, and the value proposition is clearly defined, productivity and cost improvement become an elusive task. Using appropriate analytical tools and validated benchmarking data, mine operations are discovering the ability to zoom in on improvement opportunities, prioritize their effort, and realize results. Even mines that operate less sophisticated systems can benefit from a systematic analytical approach, if they have a clear strategy.

The AMC Performance Diagnostic highlights the significant gains to be made across most operations by doing things better and by doing things smarter.

Bruce Gregory

General Manager, Perth

Kobus Potgieter

Business Improvement Manager – Perth

Editorial: On Courage and Innovation in the Mining Industry

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Thu, 13 Jun 2019 08:48:07 GMT

Editorial: On Courage and Innovation in the Mining Industry

In about the year 1440, Johannes Gutenberg combined his experience of goldsmithing with a novel use of a Rhineland wine press. The resulting printing press revolutionized the world. In 1903 the Wright brothers brought the internal combustion engine together with a growing knowledge of gliders and aerodynamics. They flew. Many, if not most, revolutionary technologies arise by bringing together two maturing but unrelated developments.

Doctor Stuart Kauffman introduced the idea of the adjacent possible in relation to prebiotic chemical combinations, all the possible combinations that could arise from a primordial soup. Author Steven Johnson took this further in his 2010 book Where good ideas come from, saying the adjacent possible is “a kind of shadow future hovering on the edge of the present state of things, a map of all the ways in which the present can reinvent itself”.

This pathway to innovation has always applied in the mining industry. In 1808 John Taylor, a mining engineer, developed the Cornish rolls crusher after seeing an apple cider crusher on a farm visit. In 1831, William Bickford, a merchant, invented the safety fuse after visiting a rope maker. And so it goes.

The electric revolution and digital transformation are two parallel streams that are coming together. High-capacity batteries and smart communication will rapidly change the way we operate. I was one of the runners up in a competition at Austmine Mining’s Big Idea 2019. My idea was about using electric drones to haul crushed ore. I don’t expect to see this anytime soon, but one day? Imagine drones flying out of a portal high on a mountainside, across some jungle and a wide river, to a plant or railhead! Like a European wasp nest.

The leading obstacle to our future mine is the conservatism of decision makers. Bickford’s fuse took many years to become popular because it was more expensive per shot than rolling powder in a quill. Never mind that it saved lives and enabled multiple shots to be fired at once with predicable timing. Similarly, new products today struggle for acceptance.

One of the Austmine vendors said that his product will not sell because it is substantially more expensive than the existing technology. It will save lots of capital and operating expense elsewhere in the mine, but decisions are made on upfront cost. One of the speakers was quite comfortable in telling us that, although he thinks a particular technology is great and is the future, he will not try it until it has been proven at someone else’s mine.

Herbert Hoover looked at a mountain of zinc sulphide tailings and thought “I don’t know how we will process that, but let’s form a company to buy it and develop the technology.” There were many technological mis-steps along the way, but the Zinc Corporation became a success and Hoover became President of the USA. More recently, Andrew Forrest saw an opportunity in laterite nickel but suffered serious setbacks. Others might have abandoned a career in mine development, but he went on to build iron ore mines using innovative mining technology. Today, he is one of the richest Australians.

We have a corporate fear of failure. One bad project outcome sends a CEO to the retirement bench. Fortunately, we have a new generation of managers coming on, women and men who are attuned to digital technologies and are not afraid to innovate. The old curricula for mining engineering, geology and mineral processing did not produce many innovative professionals. The imaginative few did not often rise to positions where they could authorize substantial risky expenditure.

The adjacent possible really needs three elements. Two emerging technologies that can be brought together in an innovative way. And a person with imagination and authority to risk failure, perhaps several times, because they believe in the idea and in themselves. We live at a very interesting time.

Peter McCarthy

Chairman Emeritus / Principal Mining Consultant

AMC at Iron Ore 2019

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Tue, 11 Jun 2019 09:56:18 GMT

AMC at Iron Ore 2019

AMC Consultants is proud to join the world’s leading iron ore producers and consumers at this year’s Iron Ore Conference in Perth, Western Australia. Arranged by the AusIMM , the Conference will take place 22-24 July 2019 under the banner of Optimizing Value. Having completed 629 iron ore projects in 42 countries, 40 of which were Business Improvement assignments, we are excited to be involved in a conference focusing on a commodity that we have a great deal of experience in.

Led by Kobus Potgieter, Business Improvement Manager – Perth, our team looks forward to sharing our unique Improve approach for iron ore producers at booth #30 . Delegates will have an opportunity to interact with our simulation of an operation and finance data using Concerto’s Symphony dynamic scenario value driver tree model. Concerto Analytics is our partner network, and their value modeller, Symphony, uses value driver tree principles to ease budgeting, planning, and rapid re-forecasting, including variance/sensitivity analysis.

Bruce Gregory, the general manager of our office in Perth, is on the organizing committee for Iron Ore 2019 and will be present in both capacities. The conference will feature speakers from Rio Tinto, AMIRA International, Fortescue Metals, Nippon Steel Sumitomo Metal Corporation, BHP, Acadia Iron, and the CSIRO amongst others.

Meet AMC’s team at Iron Ore 2019

Bruce Gregory

General Manager – Perth

Kobus Potgieter

Business Improvement Manager – Perth

Kobus is a mining engineer with more than 20 years’ experience. He is operationally driven, an experienced strategic planner, and is adept at value adding, improvement, and change. His strengths lie in business improvement and decision guidance; technology solutions; providing effective asset management using risk-based decision making and condition monitoring. He has worked at several significant operators including Olympic Dam, BC Iron, Pluton Resources, BHP Billiton, and Samancor.

More events

Digging Deeper May 2019

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Fri, 12 Apr 2019 16:08:00 GMT

Digging Deeper May 2019

AMC wins Mining Consultant of the Year Award

AMC Consultants was awarded the Mining Consultant of the Year Award at the Future of Mining Conference Awards Ceremony on 25th March 2019.

AMC wins Mining Consultant of the Year Award

AMC Consultants was awarded the Mining Consultant of the Year Award at the Future of Mining Conference Awards Ceremony on 25th March 2019.

Metallurgical testing

Geometallurgy Practice Leader and Principal Geologist, Ian Lipton explores the question of choosing composite or variability samples for metallurgical testing.

Metallurgical testing

Geometallurgy Practice Leader and Principal Geologist, Ian Lipton explores the question of choosing composite or variability samples for metallurgical testing.

Whole-of-mine optimization

In this article, Ian Lipton shows why geometallurgy provides the critical data needed for robust analysis of strategic options.

Whole-of-mine optimization

In this article, Ian Lipton shows why geometallurgy provides the critical data needed for robust analysis of strategic options.

AMC at the Austmine 2019 Conference

Come and talk to our geometallurgy team at booth #32 about how machine learning is improving mining operations, and try the interactive digital twin demonstration.

AMC at the Austmine 2019 Conference

Come and talk to our geometallurgy team at booth #32 about how machine learning is improving mining operations, and try the interactive digital twin demonstration.

Featured case study

This case study shows how AMC’s Geometallurgy team helped this client, with highly variable ore hardness, use the existing core and reverse circulation drill hole data to rapidly map ore hardness in 3D for a fraction of the cost. This provided a basis for much better estimates of power consumption, mill throughput, and operating costs.

Featured case study

Welcome back to AMC!

AMC is pleased to welcome Leo Dawson, Principal Mining Engineer, Peter Fisher, Principal Mining Consultant, and Derek du Preez, Principal Consultant, back to the global AMC team and in particular our teams in Brisbane and Perth respectively. Between them, they bring more than 90 years of combined mining industry experience and knowledge working for some of the biggest names in the industry.

Welcome back to AMC!

Welcome to AMC

AMC welcomes Stephan (Steve) Blaho, Principal Mining Engineer (underground), to the global AMC family. His knowledge and insights will be an invaluable addition to the growing team in Toronto in particular, as well as to AMC’s global capabilities in general.

Welcome to AMC

AMC at Austmine 2019

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Wed, 10 Apr 2019 15:37:18 GMT

AMC at Austmine 2019

AMC Consultants is proud to join the world’s leading mining innovation champions at this year’s Austmine Conference in Brisbane. It will take place on 21 – 23 May 2019 at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre under the banner of Mining Innovation: The Next Horizon.

Led by Ian Lipton, Geometallurgy Practice Leader, our team looks forward to sharing our unique approach to geometallurgy with delegates at booth #32. Delegates will have an opportunity to learn more about how machine learning is improving mining operations, and try the interactive digital twin demonstration.

AMC’s Managing Director and CEO as well as Board Member for Austmine, Patrick Smith, will also be present at the conference in both capacities. The conference will feature speakers from nine countries including Andrew Cole (CEO, OZ Minerals), Chris Cawood (CIO OceanaGold), Marco Orellana (CIO, Codelco), Mike Wundenberg (Vice President Operational Technology and Innovation, Newmont), and Michelle Ash (Chair, Global Mining Guidelines Group) amongst others.

Meet our team at Austmine 2019

Ian Lipton

Principal Geologist / Geometallurgy Practice Leader

Ian Lipton has more than 35 years of experience in mining geology, resource evaluation, and exploration, across more than 16 commodities. Ian’s mining expertise includes resource estimation, grade control, feasibility studies, technical audits and reviews, due diligence studies, independent technical specialist reports, and valuations. . Ian has been promoting geometallurgy for project improvement for more than 15 years and has been involved in a variety of geometallurgical investigations including throughput estimation, hardness and rock strength measurement, assessing the correlations between downhole geophysical logs, drill penetration data and ore hardness, sulphide flotation studies, and using multi-element geochemistry to characterize ore beneficiation processes.

Rob Chesher

General Manager (Brisbane)/ Principal Metallurgist

Rob has more than 40 years of experience in the mining, oil and gas, and manufacturing sectors. His expertise is in corporate and technical (metallurgical) consulting, focusing on operational and performance reviews, improvements, and optimization. In his roles, Rob has been involved in studies and reviews at all levels in copper, gold, platinum, coal, nickel, and other base metals. He has a record of achieving significant and sustainable operational improvements across the mining, oil and gas, and manufacturing sectors. In addition to his work as part of AMC’s Geometallurgy Team, Rob has been the General Managerof AMC’s office in Brisbane since 2014 and has been a Committee Member of the Southern Queensland Branch of the AusIMM for the past seven years.

Matthew Nimmo

Principal Geoscience and Mining Data Analyst

Matthew is a geologist with 25 years experience in the mining industry. After many years focused on mineral resource estimation and statistical modelling of geological data, Matthew branched out into more diverse analysis of geochemical, hydrology and geometallurgical data. Latterly, he worked as a data scientist for two years in the Maintenance Center of Excellence (McOE) at BHP, supporting their Total Equipment Strategy process.

Matthew is experienced in geostatistics, data cleaning, multivariate data analysis, data visualization, data validation, outlier detection, machine learning, optimization, classification, clustering, regression, dimension reduction, and applied computational intelligence.

Andrew Millar

Principal Metallurgist

With more than 16 years in the mining industry, Andrew is experienced in the mining project life-cycle from discovery to operations. His expertise includes metallurgical testwork (bench and pilot plants), process engineering and flowsheet design, as well as plant operation and optimisation. Andrew also has a strong focus on techno-economic modelling and financial evaluation of process flowsheets.

In addition, Andrew has experience in a variety of unit processes including comminution, flotation, gravity separation, ore sorting, hydrometallurgical processes and pyrometallurgical processes and his commodity experience includes coal, zinc, gold, silver, copper and lead.

AMC Consultants wins Mining Consultant of the Year Award

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Wed, 10 Apr 2019 14:32:48 GMT

AMC Consultants wins Mining Consultant of the Year Award

AMC Consultants was awarded the Mining Consultant of the Year Award at the Future of Mining Conference Awards Ceremony on 25 March 2019. Felicia Mackenzie, General Manager Corporate Development, represented AMC on the night. The other companies that took home awards on the night were Northern Star Resources, Vega, Mader Group, Core Resources Pty Ltd, Andrew Dittmann from MEC Mining, OceanaGold, Movus, ReRisk, and Bis.

AMC was awarded the prestigious title for having secured the most new assignments for the qualifying period, with a sizeable number of these projects continuing into 2019. The quality of work and its long-term relationships with its clients is evidenced by the fact that 75% of AMC’s current business is repeat business. The increased demand for its services has also led to a 20% increase in AMC’s number of technical staff.

In addition to helping its clients achieve and exceed their goals for 2018, AMC was also celebrated for its contribution to the industry more broadly. This included sponsoring ten conferences/industry causes as well as continuing to sponsor the prestigious Melbourne Mining Club luncheons. AMC has also shared its knowledge and expertise by presenting five papers and participating or exhibiting at 23 conferences globally. AMC was also one of the consultancies involved in the design and delivery of the AusIMM’s Online Professional Certificate in JORC Code Reporting, with five of its experts contributing. In 2017-2018, and again in 2018-2019, AMC also participated in Austmine’s Women in STEM: METS Career Pathway Program, which provides a direct route for female STEM students to gain work experience and employment within the METS industry.

Over the past 35 years, AMC has completed more than 8,000 projects for more than 1,800 clients in more than 110 countries across more than 60 commodities, with its Improve and Transform divisions generating more than $5b in bottom-line opportunities for its clients. In addition to this, AMC’s Smart Data System is the world’s most comprehensive site-level validated data. It is filled with mining cost and productivity data across mining methods, commodity types, geographies, and more — collected and validated at site-level to ensure accuracy. This system enables AMC to rapidly benchmark and cross-check new data, providing an unprecedented level of insight and accuracy in its recommendations. It also drives its two world-leading cost modelling systems, which regularly deliver estimates within 5% of actuals.

Pre-World Baking Day Celebration

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:52:13 GMT

Pre-World Baking Day Celebration

World Baking Day is coming up and, whilst we don’t do a lot of baking at AMC, we would like to show our support for those who do by eating pie!

This may sound like a little bit of an excuse to eat some homemade pies washed down with a pint or two of craft beers…. But any excuse for a casual and relaxed get together is a good excuse. And these aren’t just any pies, either. We’ve entrusted the folks over at the Windmill—whose pies have won numerous awards— to make sure you have the very best pre-World Baking Day possible!

Pies, tasting platters, drinks, and good company are on us. No baking knowledge required.

Time: 5.00PM – 9.00PM

Day: Thursday 16 May, 2019

Venue: Windmill Mayfair, Upstairs Pie Room, 6/8 Mill Street, London, W1S 2AZ, United Kingdom

AMC at SAREIC 2019

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 10:45:55 GMT

AMC at SAREIC 2019

AMC Consultants is pleased to return to the South Australian Resources & Energy Investment Conference (SAREIC) for another year, this time placing special emphasis on our Evaluate and Develop offerings. Johann van Wijk, the General Manager of our office in Adelaide, will be joined by Principal Consultant, Andrew Proudman, at booth #3 to represent AMC at this important conference.

SAREIC, now in it’s 18th year, will take place 9-10 April at the Hilton, Adelaide. The conference will celebrate the growth that the state of South Australia has experienced whereby in little more than a decade, it has gone from four operating mines to more than 20, and is rated Australia’s second most popular exploration destination. AMC is excited to have played an important role in this development and looks forward to continuing to help operators mine smarter.

Other events

Johann van Wijk

Johann is the General Manager of AMC’s office in Adelaide and a Principal Geotechnical Engineer and has been in the mining industry for more than 32 years. He has held a variety of production, mine planning, technical and management roles through his career and has specific expertise in project management, geotechnical engineering, rock mechanics, risk management, and management of technical teams, in underground and surface mines. Johann has experience in a variety of mining methods and commodities. His geotechnical expertise includes the design, management and review of geotechnical aspects related to shafts, drifts, stopes, longwalls, bord and pillar mining, partial pillar extraction and surface mining excavations.

Andrew Proudman

Other events

In the period from 2008 to 2012, AMC Consultants annually reviewed the estimation of the Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve for Perilya’s Broken Hill Operations.

AMC provided constructive input to the estimation process and assisted site personnel in their roles as competent persons.

Justin Woodward – Mine Planning Superintendent, Perilya Broken Hill Limited

“I had twice the opportunity to work with the AMC Mining Consultants Ltd. performing technical audits of our mining operations in Chile.

Tomasz Wawruch – Mineral Resources Manager, Copper Division of Anglo American in Santiago, Chile

Digging Deeper February 2019

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Thu, 31 Jan 2019 15:15:10 GMT

Digging Deeper February 2019

Editorial: What is acceptable?

In this editorial, Peter McCarthy argues that, in an era of increasing community resistance to mining, we need to change the way we go about developing projects, selecting technologies, and engaging with the communities. New mines will be approved and gain support only if they listen to the community. Here are some interesting suggestions from this industry veteran on how to go about this.

Editorial: What is acceptable?

A review of pre-concentration techniques

How important is pre-concentration for squeezing additional value from existing mines and new projects? In this article, Principal Metallurgist Andrew Millar explores this question.

A review of pre-concentration techniques

How important is pre-concentration for squeezing additional value from existing mines and new projects? In this article, Principal Metallurgist Andrew Millar explores this question.

Autonomous haulage in OP mines

Which specific requirements need to be considered to properly quantify the potential benefits of an AHS fleet? Senior Mining Consultant, Aidan Ayres, looks into this topic.

Autonomous haulage in OP mines

Which specific requirements need to be considered to properly quantify the potential benefits of an AHS fleet? Senior Mining Consultant, Aidan Ayres, looks into this topic.

Featured case study

AMC helps client establish the mine plan that launched the mine into operation, generating more than $92M in its first year. It helped it identify the most appropriate mining method for each deposit and the transition point from open pit to underground mining.

Featured case study

Welcome to AMC!

AMC is starting 2019 by welcoming two new members to the global AMC team: Baoyao Tang, Principal Mining Engineer and William Gibson, Principal Geotechnical Engineer. With 65 years of mining industry experience between them, their expertise and knowledge are a valuable addition to AMC’s offices in Vancouver and Perth respectively.

Welcome to AMC!

Unearthing Hidden Value Using Pre-Concentration Mining Methods

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Thu, 31 Jan 2019 10:40:38 GMT

Unearthing Hidden Value Using Pre-Concentration Mining Methods

Pre-concentration has been an important part of mining for thousands of years. From hand-picking through to real-time radiometric analysis, pre-concentration and sorting techniques have long been used to improve the profitability of mining projects. Recent improvements in sorting technologies have spurred renewed interest amongst mining companies.

Pre-concentration relies on heterogeneity in the ore. That is, at some scale, there must be discrete higher-grade and lower-grade zones in the ore that have the potential to be separated. For example, there may be discrete veins of valuable minerals within poorly mineralized host-rock or sulphide breccias containing clasts of unmineralized rock.

Heterogeneity may also be introduced into run-of-mine material by the mining process, in the form of dilution along the margins of the orebody.

In a pre-concentration circuit, physical or chemical properties of the ore are used to separate parcels of ore or individual particles into enriched and unenriched (rejects) fractions, based on pre-determined selection criteria. Ores in which the valuable minerals are evenly disseminated in a homogeneous matrix are typically not amenable to pre-concentration.

At its simplest, pre-concentration is used to increase the grade of the material delivered to the process plant. Low-grade fractions that are uneconomic to process or are of low value can be diverted before further processing costs are incurred.

Increasing the feed grade to the processing plant may also improve the recovery of the target minerals, facilitate debottlenecking of the circuit, and increase the throughput of metal units through the processing plant.

Pre-concentration can separate ores to be fed to different processing circuits. For example, low-grade gold ore can be directed to a heap leach circuit; whilst higher grade gold ore can be sent to a CIL circuit.

Mt Isa’s lead-zinc concentrator uses heavy medium separation to remove silicate minerals that would otherwise increase wear and maintenance costs in the flotation circuit.

Depending on the ore type and processing method, pre-concentration can reduce operating costs such as reagents, acid (by removing acid-consuming minerals) and grinding power costs (typically the highest operating cost in a processing plant).

Types of Pre-Concentration Technology

There are four basic approaches to pre-concentration:

Bulk ore sorting
Heavy medium separation (HMS)
Particle ore sorting
Grade Engineering™

Since all ore-handling processes are costly, it is advantageous to carry out pre-concentration as early in the sequence of ore handling and processing as possible.

Bulk ore sorting

If the stream of ore delivered to a conveyor belt contains discrete low-grade parcels of ore over the full width of the belt and over several metres of belt length, the ore may be suitable for bulk sorting.

Bulk ore sorting methods include:

Prompt gamma neutron activation analysis (PGNAA) used for sorting bulk materials such as limestone and iron ore.
Magnetic resonance, which can be used to sort chalcopyrite from waste minerals.
Pulsed fast thermal neutron activation (PFTNA) used for sorting iron ore, copper and nickel.

Typically, a sensor is positioned over or under the belt and the properties of the ore are measured continuously. Measurement times range from near-instantaneous to 30 seconds, depending on the method. Based on the sensor data, process control systems are used to open or close gates for redirection of increments of material towards the process plant or towards the “rejects” stockpiles.

Particle ore sorting

If ore and waste are only identifiable at the scale of small individual particles, sensor-based bulk sorting will be ineffective and particle ore sorting may be more suitable. Sensor-based particle sorting may be considered for ore types where liberation of mineralized and unmineralized particles can be achieved at particle sizes between 8 mm and 220 mm.

Surface measurement techniques, where the sensor only scans the surface of the particle, can measure the grade of particles up to 220 mm. Whereas penetrative techniques, where the sensor scans the entire particle, will typically only process particles up to 100 mm.

Particle sorting machines can use a variety of sensors for near real-time measurement of a wide range of minerals and elements. Crushed ore, spread thinly on a conveyor belt, is presented to an array of sensors. An energy source, such as x-ray or laser, is beamed onto each ore particle. A sensor receives the reflected or emitted energy from each particle and sends this information to a high-speed processor, which determines if a particle should be accepted or rejected. Mechanical flop-gates or high-pressure air jets are used to divide the particle flow.

Particle ore sorting sensors include:

Colour sensors for separating minerals based on colour differences. This technique is used for sorting limestone.
X-ray transmission (XRT) sensors for sorting minerals by differences in their atomic density. XRT is used for sorting base metals such as tin or copper.
X-ray luminescence (XRL) sensors for diamond sorting.
Radiometric sensors for processing uranium ores.
Electromagnetic (EM) sensors for separating minerals based on differences in their electrical conductivity or magnetic susceptibility. These are often used to improve the grade of nickel sulphide ores.

Heavy medium separation

If the run-of-mine ore contains ore and waste particles with contrasting densities, this physical property can potentially be exploited by using a heavy medium, such as a ferrosilicon slurry. Heavy medium separation (HMS) is commonly used in coal and iron ore to produce final products but can also be used for pre-concentration before further processing. Run-of-mine ore is crushed to the maximum size necessary to liberate mineralized material from unmineralized material and processed in cyclones or drums. In a base metal application, less dense waste particles (commonly silicate-rich) float and are rejected, and the more-dense mineralized particles, such as sulphides sink and report to the main process plant.

HMS can typically be used to process particle sizes as small as 1 mm, whereas particle ore sorting is generally only practical and economic for particles to a minimum size of 8 mm.

Grade Engineering™

In many deposits there is a natural tendency for mineralized material to occur in zones that are softer than the surrounding rock. This characteristic was exploited at the Panguna porphyry copper mine in Papua New Guinea, where blasted low-grade ore was screened at 32 mm and the oversize, weakly-mineralized material was rejected. This simple procedure increased the copper grade to the processing plant by 50%.

Grade Engineering™ takes this approach a stage further by using selective blasting to increase the contrast between the size of waste particles and the size of mineralized particles. This facilitates a simple separation by size to concentrate the valuable minerals.

At the Mogalakwena platinum mine in South Africa, CRC ORE carried out a Grade Engineering™ project to increase mill head grade. Selective blasting was conducted on higher grade sections of the ore body with greater blast energy which generated finer particles of high-grade material. The low-grade sections of the ore body were blasted less intensely, so the waste was preferentially distributed to coarse fragments. The ore was then mined, crushed and screened so that the finer, higher-grade particles reported to the processing plant; whilst the coarser, lower grade material reported to waste. This achieved a higher feed grade to the processing plant (Source: https://www.crcore.org.au/main/index.php/case-studies-03/89-selectiveblasttrial).

Selecting pre-concentration options

There are many different options for using pre-concentration to improve mine profitability, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. Some of these are listed in the table below.

Selection of feasible pre-concentration methods for a particular mine or project is dependent on the geological characteristics of the ore and waste, the mining and ore processing methods, mine lay-out and logistics. Combinations of different sorting technologies may also be used sequentially, and the new intermediate products may favour the introduction of new processing options.

The improvement in the value of the ore, that is generated by the proposed introduction of pre-concentration, will likely impact the mine development rate and sequence, mining fleet size, cut-off grades, throughput rate, waste rock disposal, capital and operating costs and a host of other inter-related aspects of the enterprise.

Evaluation of technically feasible pre-concentration options should therefore include a strategic optimization study, to ensure that all benefits and cost changes are fully recognized, and that an optimal solution is selected to meet corporate objectives.

Conclusion

Pre-concentration will become increasingly important for squeezing additional value from existing mine and new projects. The geological properties of the ore and waste play a critical role in the selection of an appropriate pre-concentration method. These properties, and the way they might vary in three dimensions, need to be understood and captured in resource models and mine plans.

Strategic optimization provides CEOs and project managers with the confidence to select pre-concentration opportunities that deliver optimal solutions and meet corporate goals.

In Part Two of this article, we will discuss some of the different sensor technologies that are increasingly being used to sort ore and improve mine profitability, and we look at how to execute a study to assess the potential to use ore sorting on a deposit.

In the meantime, if you want to know more, please contact Ian Lipton, Principal Geologist/Geometallurgy Practice Leader (ilipton@amcconsultants.com) or Andrew Millar, Principal Metallurgist (amillar@amcconsultants.com) at AMC Consultants for more information.

Andrew Millar

Principal Metallurgist

Editorial February 2019: What is acceptable?

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Thu, 24 Jan 2019 09:31:48 GMT

Editorial February 2019: What is acceptable?

The ages of human development – stone, bronze, iron and maybe silicon – are defined by the geological, mining and metallurgical skills people developed. We work constantly to improve our technologies for the benefit of this society and that of future generations. We are part of a great global industry.

But people are never going to love the mining industry. There will always be vocal and committed groups who oppose everything we do. Logic cannot sway them, even as they buy automobiles, mobile phones, and all the products of our society that depend on mining. If you are pro-environment, so they reason, you must be anti-mining. Increasingly, this message is taught in junior school and reinforced through social media. It is even a theme in popular science journals and the selection of ethical investments. We will never be able to change this with our present approach to community relations.

In response, we need to change the way we go about developing projects and selecting technologies, and how we engage with the communities around mining operations. New mines will be approved and gain support only if those developing the mines listen to the community.

Wind farm developers pay generous amounts to landowners for access to windmill sites. They also make ongoing payments to residents within a fixed distance of each installation. Rooftop solar installations report to their owners continuously through apps on the trees saved, charges saved or revenue from selling excess power back to the grid. The community expects that responsible companies will do this. It is not impossible for a mining company to identify affected community members, differentiate between them, and reimburse them in a tangible way. Reimbursement for possible impact could be fixed or linked to profitability—production or sales— independently audited and reported through an app. Even small payments could transform the attitudes of neighbours.

The community generally, and many of our employees, oppose fly-in, fly-out operations. The social harms are well reported, the benefits to society are hard to identify. Families of past generations lived in remote mining towns. Today the hardships of remote living are immensely reduced through reliable air transport, air conditioning, information technology, and communications. Small classrooms and medical consultations can be run with online resources. Family members can study university courses, run online businesses and stay in touch through broadband services. Comfortable prefabricated housing can be put on site and relocated when necessary. There is no good reason for setting up a new mine without a family residential option.

In future, it will take decades to get a large new project off the ground, and many will not be accepted by communities whatever the economics might be. Small communities in remote, lightly-populated areas now have the power to stop development. If a mining company works with a government to gain approvals without the support of the locals, they can expect ongoing opposition, demonstrations, riots, active NGO attention, social media campaigns and ultimately loss of the project. The new owner will probably be the government, using its army to suppress opposition. Do we feel comfortable with this story, which has often been repeated?

Our biggest unsolved issue is the use of tailings dams. History keeps reminding us that tailings dams fail. Even the biggest and best mining companies cannot manage them safely all the time. Tailings dam failures are the greatest public relations issue for our industry. While failures continue to occur our opponents are justified in their position. The victims are often poor villagers and river environments.

Many of our problems have common technological solutions. Highly selective mining, using rock cutting machines and belt sorting, will reduce the amount of rock going to processing and to tailings. New dry processing techniques will reduce the size of wet tailings dams. New processes will be found to turn rejected material into useful products, perhaps bricks and tiles. Selective underground mining will greatly reduce the surface impact of mines and their associated waste dumps. Mining orebodies slowly, over many decades instead of as rapidly as possible, will establish community support and reduce initial capital costs. Sure, we can maximize NPV by going in big, but that is the approach that has alienated society. Smaller mines need fewer workers and less accommodation, making on-site living more feasible. They need less power and have less impact on the environment.

Is this approach affordable? If it allows a new mine to proceed when it otherwise would be blocked, then it is affordable. Society has not been paying the full cost of its automobiles and smartphones – the cost has been subsidized by miners and mining communities. Mineral prices will adjust.

So, what are we doing about it? How much research money is going into the social and technological opportunities outlined above? Not nearly enough. The current paradigm will not carry us much further into this century. Economies of scale prevailed in the last century, but times have moved on. Realistically, project and operations managers in mining companies are not mandated to pursue these opportunities. It is up to the CEOs and directors of mining companies to set up structures and apply funds to make their future operations sustainable. It is like allocating discretionary funds to exploration. That is what sustainability is all about.

Peter McCarthy

Chairman Emeritus / Principal Mining Consultant

Advice to mining industry graduates

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Tue, 22 Jan 2019 10:44:11 GMT

Advice to mining industry graduates

This article was adapted from this graduation address delivered on 22 March 2018 by Mark Burnett at University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. Mark is a Wits alumnus, graduating from Wits University in 1992 with a Bachelor of Science Honours degree in geology. As part of his commitment to skills transfer and the development of young professionals, Mark participates as an active mentor through the South African Institute of Mining Management and the Society of Exploration Geophysicists. He recently became a mentor in the Bridge the Gap programme, a mentoring initiative specific to the School of Geosciences, based at Wits University.

It is scary to look back and find a quarter of a century has passed since I graduated. However, during that time, I have ridden a camel in the Sudan, worked on the deepest mine in the world, driven in a tank across the steppes of Russia, tracked gorillas in Uganda, travelled to more countries than I would have ever dreamed possible, and met and married my true love and life partner.

Those graduating from university often wonder how do I “succeed” in my job and life and what is “success”? You may try what I did and research the question. The problem is there are many answers and very few easy solutions. People will tell you:

Be yourself
Have a plan
Have a plan with targets and measurable goals
Do what you enjoy
Do what scares you
Or even, just do it and let life happen

None of which I have I found to be particularly helpful, even worse was when I tried to define “success”:

Being published in Nature (the front cover naturally).
Solving the remaining Millennium Prize Problems.
Winning the Nobel prize, and out-hawking Hawking.
Getting the promotion, BMW and highest salary in the company.
Or was it just finding peace and contentment and being me?

There are, I am afraid, no easy answers to these questions, as there is no one else like you, with your dreams, hopes, desires, aspirations, and fears, so only you can decide the path that you will take and how you will react when life throws you a curveball.

As Victor Frankel said, “the last of human freedoms is the ability to choose one’s attitude in a given set of circumstances”. You can choose how you react and what you do when things go right or wrong. Good friends and mentors can assist you and guide you as you enter the workplace, for you will soon discover the rules have changed, no one tells you what they are, who marks you and what the pass mark is. The only guarantee you do have is that life will happen and that it can be tough.

Oprah, who has overcome massive failure in her life, said” It doesn’t matter how far you might rise. At some point, you are bound to stumble. If you’re constantly pushing yourself higher and higher, the law of averages predicts that you will at some point fall. And when you do, I want you to remember this: There is no such thing as failure. Failure is just life trying to move us in another direction”.

New graduates today enter a world struggling to cope with the impact of forces never before seen: mass automation, the effects of the 4th Industrial Revolution, AI, the circular economy, green technology, anthropogenic climate change, and an ever-expanding population hungry for resources. All of these forces impact the way we work, the space we work in and the career choices that will be available to you. I have found that as my cheese moves and my icecap melts, the following basic principles win out in the long run:

Be curious about everything and keep learning.
Be disciplined, persevere and endure.
Be consistent.
Be honest with yourself and those around you.
Be compassionate.
Be humble.
Be kind.
Work hard, no one likes a freeloader.
Look after family and loved ones. They are more important than any title or achievement you may get. Cherish them, as they will still be there for you throughout the cycles of the industry.

But where to from here as a graduate? Is it just all about you, or should you be considering your place in society as a whole? What you will do with the privilege that you have been given? Will you be the graduate that fights for the right to drive a BMW or will you be the one that will reach out and help your fellow man, wherever you may end up after graduation? You are the future and you will help shape and create someone else’s tomorrow. Be wise with the choices you make.

Mark Burnett

Principal Geologist

Composite or Variability Samples for Metallurgical Testing?

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Fri, 21 Dec 2018 15:55:13 GMT

Composite or Variability Samples for Metallurgical Testing?

Metallurgical tests are a critical input to mineral processing plant design and operating cost estimation. Compared to regular sampling and assaying for exploration and resource definition, metallurgical tests are expensive and require large sample masses. It’s not surprising then that the number of samples selected for metallurgical testing is relatively small.

From the perspective of process plant design and equipment sizing, composite samples selected to represent something like an average ore feed during a certain production period are appealing. They are usually comprised of sample intervals from multiple drill holes. These composites are typically 30 – 70 kg, which is sufficient to allow various reagent dosing regimes to be tested and useful quantities of mineral product and tailings to be produced.

Composite metallurgical samples have some major limitations. Firstly, results from composites that respond poorly to the test regime are difficult to interpret. It may not be apparent whether poor response reflects the characteristics of all, or perhaps just one, of the individual samples that comprise the composite. Without knowing the geographic and geologic origins of the problem, how can the location and volume of the problematic material or its impact on plant performance and economics be understood?

Furthermore, long-term average blends of ore are not what the plant will receive on a weekly, daily or hourly basis unless the process plant is preceded by a large and complex stockpiling and reclaiming system. Short scale fluctuations in ore fed to a plant can have a large impact on mineral recovery and plant performance. If the process plant has been designed with tolerances that are too narrow to cope with variations in the ore characteristics, throughput may decrease, excess load may build up, reagent consumption may be inefficient, slurry rheology may change, energy consumption may increase, and tailings grades may increase (Lipton and Chesher, 2017).

A good geometallurgical review should be completed before any compositing and variability testing is started. The review should include consideration of grade, ore and gangue mineral content, grain size, texture, rock fabric, density and hardness. If production data is available, this will also be useful. Composite samples should be used sparingly for metallurgical testing until the variation in ore types across the mineral deposit has been established through a comprehensive programme of variability testing.

The samples for variability tests should be selected from continuous intervals of core from individual drill holes. The spatial location of every variability sample is therefore known; a vital first step in identifying spatial variability within an orebody. As far as possible, considering all the available lithological, mineralogical, geochemical, physical and textural information, each variability sample should be comprised of a single ore type. Several variability samples representing each ore type should be tested to determine how consistently the ore type responds to testing. This is necessary because microscopic mineralogical or textural features that affect liberation and recovery may only become apparent after metallurgical testing.

For variability metallurgical testing generally only around 5 – 7 kg is required for each sample for a typical flotation or leach testwork program, if a preliminary flowsheet has been identified. This is broken down as follows:

Head assay/mineralogy.
Grind Establishment Test (for determining the time to grind a 1 kg sample to achieve a target P80 in a standard lab rod or ball mill.)
Allowance for three flotation tests or leaching bench tests.

Additional tests such as de-watering tests (settling) or bond ball mill work tests should be also considered if sufficient sample mass is available. These tests assist in determining the impact on throughputs for both the overall plant and specific circuits.

The sample masses for these tests are shown in the next table.

Mineralogical analysis of concentrates and tails by MLA/QEMSCAN, laser ablation, microprobing or quantitively optical mineralogy is useful for understanding the response of samples to the tests.

Once variability samples have been used to characterize ore types with a reasonable level of confidence, the distribution of ore types can be modelled in three dimensions and included in the mining and ore processing schedules. Composite samples for larger scale testing and plant design can then be selected with much greater confidence. The variability results will indicate the range of ore quality that the process plant should expect over short, medium or long-time scales and provide valuable input to ore blending strategies.

Variability testing should remain an integral part of the ongoing resource definition programme as extensions to the orebody are progressively drill tested. In more complex deposits variability testing may be an integral part of daily ore control and short-term scheduling, providing process plant operators the opportunity to proactively manage plant settings to achieve optimum performance. The cost of a variability program is much less than the cost of reduced production or lost metals recovery in a plant, which can quickly grow into the millions of dollars.

If you would like more information or assistance with metallurgical programme design please contact Andrew Millar, Principal Metallurgist or Ian Lipton, Principal Geologist, Geometallurgy Practice Leader.

Ian Lipton

Geometallurgy Practice Leader/ Principal Geologist

Lipton I T and Chesher R J, 2017. Drilling for mineral processing plant design and performance. In Proceedings of the AIG Drilling for Geology Seminar. Australian Institute of Geoscientists, Brisbane.

Considerations when implementing autonomous haulage in open cut mining

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Fri, 21 Dec 2018 10:22:09 GMT

Considerations when implementing autonomous haulage in open cut mining

Although autonomous vehicles have been under development for decades, their productive use in mining is relatively new. As the technology becomes more refined and accessible, it is now more commonplace for new mines, and those with sufficient remaining mine life to consider running an Autonomous Haulage System (AHS). Whilst their use has been accredited with improvements in safety, reductions in wear and increased utilization, there are AHS specific requirements which need to be considered in order to properly quantify any potential benefit an AHS fleet could deliver to an operation.

Additional Infrastructure Requirements

On an elementary level, AHS trucks need to have three basic pieces of information to operate safely.

Their current location
The route to their destination
The location of other equipment

To answer all the questions above and have a control and communication network, Wi-Fi or Long-Term Evolution (LTE) coverage must be established throughout the trucks operating environment. This network allows the trucks to be controlled from great distances. For example, there are operations in Australia which have control centres in major city’s servicing remote mines, thousands of kilometres away (Suncor Energy, 2018).

In order to provide the first piece of information, the trucks need to be fitted with Global Positioning System (GPS) beacons. This is in addition to several other components like Lidar, Radar, vehicle controllers, and Wi-Fi. Although there are concepts around AHS dedicated trucks, current operating models are based on traditional manned machines which have been in service for many years. Therefore, in addition to the standard cost of each manned machine, they also need to be retrofitted to effectively “convert” them to AHS trucks.

The importance of accurate survey is highlighted by the need to provide the second piece of information. Routes and boundaries are set by the survey department. These are usually updated on a daily basis and then sent out to the trucks (through the site Wi-Fi network). Accurate survey accounts for the rapid rate at which the layout of a mining operation changes. Take, for example, a truck which on Monday is driving on a large stockpile and then dumping ore to build it northwards. In order for it to dump at that stockpile, a boundary had to be established by survey and then communicated to the truck. On Tuesday, the stockpile is closed as a dumping location and is reclaimed southwards, past the point of the previous tip head. On Wednesday the stockpile is re-opened as a dumping location. If the new tip head position is not re-surveyed, a truck could potentially drive straight off the stockpile because as far as it is aware, the tip head is still in the same position it was on Monday. This example demonstrates the need for high quality, frequently updated survey data to establish a safe working environment.

The final piece of information needed is the location of other equipment. This information is provided by retrofitting both heavy and light vehicles in the AHS operating area with GPS, network capability and emergency stops which effectively pause the movement of the AHS fleet at the touch of a button. It is very important that all these systems are reliable to establish a safe and efficient operating environment. Most AHS control systems will effectively halt operations when other equipment comes within a truck’s operating “bubble”. Inaccurate locations may cause unwarranted interference with haulage operations. Generally, if a heavy or light vehicle’s location is completely lost (loss of GPS or Wi-Fi signal) it will result in the trucks automatically pulling up until the location can be re-established.

Staff Training

At this point in time, there are no exclusive autonomous mining environments. Other equipment like dig units, graders and light vehicles still need to operate in a mine around AHS trucks. Their operators need to be trained in how to properly interact with AHS equipment. This takes on different forms depending on which piece of equipment is operating with the trucks. For example, a dig unit operator would need to learn how to use the network to set a load or stop point for the autonomous trucks in order to instruct the trucks when to reverse into position for loading and when to leave the loading point. They would also need to know how to position their bucket for an AHS truck as it can be used as a reference point by the truck for positioning correctly.

Light vehicle users would need to know how their behaviour affects the productivity of trucks. Depending on how the rules of the environment are set up, a light vehicle could hold up a truck by being parked in the opposite lane of an oncoming truck. A clear understanding by staff of the rules-based system which governs an AHS environment is needed for safe and productive mining.

Local Climatic Conditions

An operations communication network and equipment GPS are relied upon by the trucks to navigate the mine. However, in addition to this, the trucks are usually fitted with Radar and Lidar to detect obstacles and avoid collisions. The effectiveness of all these systems is impacted by the weather. Radar and Lidar, as hazard detection devices, can be quite sensitive to things like dust or snow.

Figure 2 illustrates challenging conditions faced by AHS operations at Rio Tinto’s West Angela’s Mine. The operation is well known for its dusty production environment which can have a detrimental impact on the AHS fleets productivity. It is important that operational delays caused by the weather at an individual site are understood and then managed by mine operations, along with being accounted for during mine planning.

Mine Design

Although improvements are always being made to the capabilities of AHS fleets, they currently require special consideration when designing infrastructure like pits and stockpiles. In general, this refers to working space design factors such as maximum gradients, minimum turning circles, and minimum road widths. If the working environment is not set up to allow for these requirements, there is a risk of un-necessarily triggering the autonomous trucks safety systems (Radar, Lidar, GPS Proximity) to stop the truck. These design factors are of particular importance when introducing AHS to an already producing operation. Pit designs may need to be reviewed and modified, impacting stripping ratios and ultimately costs.

Road Maintenance

This is somewhat related to road design in that the AHS system is unforgiving of poor construction and maintenance. Larger open pit operations tend not to have the level of accuracy commonly found in the civil construction industry. If this trend is carried forward when an AHS fleet is implemented it can result in frequent delays. Strict adherence to AHS specific design factors is needed by the pit development team.

Poor road conditions which result in incidents where rocks are dropped from trays can set off the Radar/Lidar emergency stop systems and interrupt production until someone is sent out to investigate and remove any obstruction. Had this same obstacle been present in a manned vehicle, the operator may have been able to drive around the obstacle and simply call for a clean-up.

Mine Planning

As mentioned, Mine Planning needs to account for AHS delays due to poor weather conditions, in which a manned fleet may have continued to operate. Understanding how localized conditions will affect the AHS trucks and to what degree, is usually initiated once the AHS trucks are on site. To this end, there is usually an implementation period for the technology to be established and understood and for staff to be trained. A common implementation method is to use a manned fleet in areas of the mine where ore is being sourced. This is usually kept separate to the AHS fleet in order to avoid delays in feeding the crusher and obtaining that important revenue stream. The AHS fleet will then be set up in a separate area of the mine where pre-stripping of waste is needed. This creates a pit-to-dump AHS only area, where all the fixed and mobile infrastructure required to run AHS trucks can be calibrated to the specific site. This will minimize the impact on the operation. It can also serve as a training facility, where staff can be introduced to and gain experience in the operation of an AHS fleet before it is rolled out, sitewide.

Once management has confidence in the operation of the AHS fleet, it can then be integrated into the main operation with manned trucks. The AHS trucks will usually maintain their assignment to waste runs until the stockpile and run of mine (ROM) areas have been properly set up for their use. Following this, the remaining manned trucks can be retrofitted, and the operation can exclusively run autonomous trucks.

It is the job of the Mine Planner to account for these initial requirements for segregation and then adjust the plan as unforeseen delays may occur. Data gathered from the implementation period, will also help to predict future performance and thus create more accurate mine development plans.

Conclusion

Up to now, the implementation of AHS fleets in mining has been undertaken by large firms. This is mainly due to the experimental nature of the technology. Now that AHS is being rolled out on a wider basis, it is becoming accepted as a permanent part of a modern mining operation. Although the technology has been proven to deliver improvements in equipment utilization, safety, and mechanical wear, it is also important to carefully consider the potential for safety compromises due to poor environmental controls, or the negative impact on productivity due to inadvertent triggering of safety systems. In addition, the impact of design control factors on the economics of the operation should be considered.

Interested in finding out more about how AHS could benefit your operation? Contact us or get in touch with Aidan directly.

Aidan Ayres

Senior Mining Consultant

Komatsu, 2016. Komatsu launches innovative autonomous haulage vehicle at MINExpo 2016 [online]. Available from: <www.mining.com>[Accessed 3rd December 2018].

Suncor Energy, 2018. Technology at Suncor: Autonomous Haulage Systems [online]. Available from: <www.youtube.com> [Accessed 3rd December 2018].

Komatsu, 2009. Autonomous Haulage System –Komatsu’s Pioneering Technology. Deployed at Rio Tinto Mine in Australia, Views 2009 #2, p10.

Jamasmie, C, 2018. Rio Tinto speeds up driverless fleet expansion in Australia [online]. Available from<www.mining.com> [Accessed 3rd December 2018

Grayson, W, 2016. Komatsu unveils Autonomous Haulage Vehichl, a mining truck that doesn’t even have a cab [online]. Available from www.equipmentworld.com [Accessed 3rd December 2018]

MineSmarter Careers Program: Brisbane 2018

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 15:23:56 GMT

MineSmarter Careers Program: Brisbane 2018

As part of AMC’s MineSmarter Careers Programme, AMC is pleased to welcome two new participants to the Brisbane office: Zola Munkhbat (Graduate Engineer) and Anna Rusina (Student Engineer). A foundation member of the Austmine Women in STEM: METS Career Pathway Program, AMC has again worked with Austmine to source these two excellent candidates.

During their three-month paid summer placement, Anna and Zola will assist consultants with project research, underground drill and blast design, open pit and underground cost model development, as well as open pit and underground mine design and scheduling. At the completion of the internship, Anna will go back to university to complete her studies, working for AMC during the year when available, and Zola may have the opportunity to join the mining engineering team at one of our offices.

About Anna and Zola

Anna Rusina

Student Mining Engineer

Anna is a geologist and undergraduate mining engineer with experience in engineering geology, rock and soil laboratory testing for civil and port-facility construction projects. She has had exposure to a broad range of mining methods and principles and a has broad appreciation of safety and risk assessments. Anna has working knowledge of Surpac, Micromine, Microsoft Office package programmes, AutoCAD, ArcGIS, Processing Modflow. In addition, she is a very capable technical Russian-English translator, having recently worked in this role for Russia’s largest coal mining company SUEK.

Zola Munkhbat

Graduate Mining Engineer

Zola is a mining engineer and mine surveyor. She is experienced in economic analysis for leasing and equipment purchasing, pre-feasibility and feasibility studies, and open-cut mine survey. Zola is an efficient user of mining packages such as Minesight, Micromine and Surpac. She also has experience with RocSience slope stability analysing software and Ventsim 3D mine ventilation software.

About AMC’s MineSmarter Careers Programme

AMC has a long history of employing early-career technical staff to help further their career development—initially at AMC and then onwards at AMC or at a client’s mining operation. Since 1994, AMC has provided the opportunity for 60 young professionals to join our expert team for a variety of early-career roles and placement duration. This has allowed many of these young professionals to acquire the initial experience they needed to start a career in mining, which was particularly important during the recent contraction in the industry.

Today, they work for some of the largest names in the industry including: AngloGold Ashanti, BHP, Elysium Mining, Glencore, Gold Fields, MMG, Mt Isa Mines, Northern Star, Oceana Gold, Saracen Gold Mines, and St Barbara. They can be found at all levels from Graduate Engineer, Senior Engineer and Principal Engineer all the way to Superintendent, Mining Manager, and Operations Manager.

AMC is proud to contribute to the development of the mining industry’s future professionals in the unique AMC way and would like to thank Koray Gundem and Jason Keily for their enthusiasm and dedication in championing the MineSmarter Careers Programme.

Interested in AMC’s MineSmarter Career Programme?

Visit our careers page to get in touch with our team.

Digging Deeper November 2018

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Mon, 26 Nov 2018 15:21:24 GMT

Digging Deeper November 2018

AMC opens an office in Moscow

In early October, AMC hosted an opening ceremony to celebrate the opening of its ninth office, this time in Moscow. To be led by Mark Chesher, a mining engineer with more than 35 years experience, the office will provide a gateway for clients in Russia to access the global AMC team.

AMC opens an office in Moscow

Jacinth-Ambrosia

Senior Mining Engineer, Fabio Rodrigues, discusses his secondment to Illuka’s Jacinth-Ambrosia (JA) in South Australia, the largest zircon development globally.

Jacinth-Ambrosia

Senior Mining Engineer, Fabio Rodrigues, discusses his secondment to Illuka’s Jacinth-Ambrosia (JA) in South Australia, the largest zircon development globally.

Geometallurgy and Whole-of-Mine Optimization

AMC Geometallurgy expert, Ian Lipton, discusses why geometallurgy is the cornerstone of whole-of-mine optimization.

Geometallurgy and Whole-of-Mine Optimization

AMC Geometallurgy expert, Ian Lipton, discusses why geometallurgy is the cornerstone of whole-of-mine optimization.

Featured case study

AMC advises on becoming the lowest-cost zinc producer in the world. The work increased the ore treatment from approximately 1 Mt to in excess of 5 Mt of ore processed per year.

Featured case study

AMC advises on becoming the lowest-cost zinc producer in the world. The work increased the ore treatment from approximately 1 Mt to in excess of 5 Mt of ore processed per year.

Welcome to AMC!

As the industry continues to pick up, more more clients are turning to AMC to help them uncover hidden value in their projects. To keep up with this increased demand, the global AMC team continues to expand. We are pleased to welcome five new principal to our global team.

Welcome to AMC!

AMC at Mines & Money London 2018

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Wed, 07 Nov 2018 09:49:24 GMT

AMC at Mines & Money London 2018

AMC Consultants is pleased to return to Mines & Money London for another year, this time celebrating our new brand and the opening of our newest office four hours away from London, in Moscow! AMC’s Managing Director and CEO, Patrick Smith, will travel to London and join Anthony de Veth, General Manager (UK) and his team at this important event. They look forward to welcoming clients, friends, and other delegates at booth #E28.

Following the success of last year’s Mines & Money offering, AMC will again treat the London mining scene to an AMC-sponsored Mining4Beer event and the MineSmarter lunch series featuring two thought provoking seminars by AMC’s experts. The seminars will draw upon the knowledge and expertise harnessed by AMC’s Improve division which, combined with the Transform division, has generated in excess of $5b in bottom-line growth opportunities.

Breakeven is Broken – a reminder

For the past several years, through articles, lectures, and keynotes, AMC has tried to alert the industry that the current way breakeven cut-offs are calculated is no longer appropriate and is a major contributor to the problems of financial return in the mining industry. While this message is slowly gaining traction, there is still misunderstanding of why this is so crucial. In this lunch seminar, AMC will demonstrate that an error of 0.1g/t can result in a dramatic loss of reserves – a error well within the bounds of current reserve accuracy. In addition, AMC will present an improved approach to breakeven calculation that will meet the stated goals or mission statements of most mining groups.

Date: Tuesday 27 November

Time: 12.00 pm – 1.00 pm seminar

1.00 pm – 2.00 pm light lunch

Venue: The Executive Centre, ground floor Business Design Centre (check in at reception to be shown the room)

Cost: Complimentary including light lunch

Start-up performance of new mines

In this lunch seminar, AMC’s Managing Director and CEO, Patrick Smith will use AMC’s Smart Data System and more than 20 years of data analysis and understanding to explore the topic of start-up performance of new mines.

Date: Wednesday 28 November

Time: 12.00 pm – 1.00 pm seminar

1.00 pm – 2.00 pm light lunch

Venue: The Executive Centre, ground floor Business Design Centre (check in at reception to be shown the room)

Cost: Complimentary including light lunch

Mining 4 Beer London event

AMC returns to Mines & Money this year with the second ever London Mining 4 Beer event. For those needing a break from the Mines & Money London show floor, we are pleased to sponsor a post-show decompression over drinks and snacks at the Camden Head.

When and where? Wednesday 28 November, 4.00 pm – 7.00 pm | The Camden Head, Islington

About Mining 4 Beer

Mining 4 Beer is a global community of more than 3,600 mining industry professionals united by a love of beer and mining. The group runs events in Cape Town, Denver, Johannesburg, Melbourne, Montreal, Perth, Sudbury, Sydney, Toronto, Vancouver, and Yellowknife. AMC looks forward to starting a Mining 4 Beer tradition in London.

The Camden Head pub is located 2-3 minutes’ walk from the conference. Turn left out of the Design Centre and take the right fork on Islington Green. After a few yards turn right by Barclays Bank into Camden Walk and then left into Camden Passage and the pub will be in front of you (grey route below).

Meet the team at Mines & Money London 2018

Anthony de Veth

General Manager and Principal Mining Consultant

Anthony is General Manager and Principal Mining Consultant at AMC’s office in Maidenhead, the UK. He is a mining consultant with more than 20 years of experience in mining, geotechnical engineering and project management acting in both consulting services and production roles.

His experience includes geotechnical, mine planning and production roles, in both open-pit and underground mines. He has worked in various teams, as both a member and in leadership roles. Anthony has successfully project-managed numerous projects such as the mining component of Shanta’s New Luika Underground Project PFS and numerous projects at Barrick’s Cowal Open Pit including wall steepening and geotechnical investigations.

Justin Glanvill

Geology Manager and Principal Geologist

Justin is Geology Manager and Principal Geologist at AMC’s office in the UK. His 20 years of experience as a minerals industry geologist have provided broad exposure to commodities and countries, including consulting and operational activities in exploration, underground and open pit production, technical software applications, resource evaluation and planning systems.

Justin is an experienced user of several technical software packages, including Datamine Studio, Mine2-4D, NPV Scheduler, Surfer, Grapher, Strater, Isatis and GSLIB.

Nigel Walls

Principal Mining Engineer and a Chartered Mining Engineer

Nigel is Principal Mining Engineer and a Chartered Mining Engineer with some 34 years of international experience in operations, due diligence, project evaluation, operational readiness, feasibility studies, and technical auditing. He has several years of experience developing mineral projects through various stages of studies to FEED, detailed engineering and implementation, and always with an emphasis on the financial return of a project rather than just production. Nigel has a strong entrepreneurial background having previously owned his own mines and contracting company.

His main experience has been in base and precious metals, coal and industrial minerals in the CIS, Eastern Europe, and sub- Saharan Africa.

Nick Szebor

Consultancy and production

Nick has 12 years of experience within the mineral industry working in roles including consultancy and production. His experience covers a range of commodities, geological settings, exploration and production environments, including underground and open-pit operations. This experience has been obtained across the mining lifecycle from early-stage exploration to production and mine closure.

Alan Turner

Principal Mining Engineer

Alan is a Principal Mining Engineer with nearly fifteen years of experience in both operations and consulting in gold and base-metal mining across Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Former Soviet Union, Alan specializes in mine optimization and planning in underground and open-pit mining.

Strategic Planning and Mine Modernization Case Study

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Fri, 26 Oct 2018 14:47:07 GMT

Strategic Planning and Mine Modernization Case Study

AMC advises on becoming the lowest-cost zinc producer in the world.

Project Overview

AMC was first employed to optimize the zinc operation in 2002, shortly after the company was privatized.

The challenge

An initial site visit immediately identified:

The resource was being exploited well below its potential so that approximately 1 Mtpa of ore was being processed with less than 10 m vertically of the orebody being mined each year.
The fleet was too old and small to achieve the mining rates required to realize the resource’s potential.
The operation had significant geotechnical issues.

The result

The work completed has increased the ore treatment from approximately 1 Mt to in excess of 5 Mt of ore processed per year — resulting in it becoming the lowest cost zinc producer in the world.

The relationship AMC developed has led to the parent company engaging AMC for all of their operations around the world.

Our approach

Over the next six years, AMC worked with the management group in areas including:

Strategic planning

AMC’s team developed the strategic plans, from concept to feasibility, which have underpinned the development of the underground mine.

Site plan implementation

AMC worked with the site technical teams to develop planning systems linking strategic plans to the daily activity. This work included the planning calendar, meeting formats, and technical infrastructure — all of which were still the basis for open pit planning six years after the project was completed.

Modernizing the mining operation

An initial benchmarking study illustrated the potential of modernizing the fleet. AMC then worked to identify the right fleet and implement appropriate work practices to realize its potential.

Significant geotechnical issue

The AMC team worked with the site team to identify the correct slope regimes. It also focused on increasing onsite skill levels and introducing world-class geotechnical systems and practices.

Project Facts

AMC was first employed to optimize the zinc operation in 2002, shortly after the company was privatized.

Mining method:

Underground and Open Pit

Location:

India

Commodity:

Zinc

AMC Consultants is proud to work in conjunction with:

Iluka’s Jacinth-Ambrosia: A dive into the largest zircon development globally

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Fri, 26 Oct 2018 11:49:59 GMT

Iluka’s Jacinth-Ambrosia: A dive into the largest zircon development globally

The Jacinth-Ambrosia Project

Iluka’s Jacinth-Ambrosia (JA) is considered the largest zircon development globally, with a current production capacity of approximately 300,000 tpa of Zircon. The JA mining and concentrating operation (Figure 1.1) is located in the Eucla Basin, 800 kilometres from Adelaide, South Australia, and 270 kilometres from the Port of Thevenard near the township of Ceduna (Figure 1.2).

The heavy mineral concentrate (HMC) produced in JA is basically composed of:

50% zircon (ZrSiO4) – used in the manufacture of ceramics (tiles and sanitary ware) and zirconium chemicals.

28% rutile (TiO2) – used in the production of white pigments, titanium metal, and welding electrodes.

5% ilmenite (FeTiO3) – used to produce synthetic rutile

My first secondment at Iluka’s Jacinth-Ambrosia (JA) mine site was in July 2014. That was the start of a great client relationship that has resulted in several other secondments in the following years. The latest secondment has also been the longest one, which started in June 2017 and finished on 4 July 2018.

JA Mining Method

The mineral sands in JA is mined in an open pit by dozer push, with concomitant rehabilitation as the mine advances. The individual mining blocks are shaped in a semicircle with a radius of 145m. A semi-mobile mining unit plant (MUP – Figure 2.1) with a feed capacity of 1,400 t/h, is positioned in front of the block that is going to be mined, at the mid-point of the block’s semi-circle diameter, and dozers push the mineral sands to feed it (Figure 2.2).

In the MUP, the oversize is separated from the sand through a series of screens and trommel, and is mixed with water, creating a pulp that is then pumped to the processing plant.

In the processing plant (Figure 2.3), which has a feed capacity of 1,000 t/h, the heavy minerals are concentrated mainly by gravity separation methods (spirals). When the block being mined is completed, the MUP moves to the next block, following a sequence defined in the mining plan. The MUP move involves a lot of survey work and earthworks for construction of the path where the MUP will tram, any required manoeuvre pads, and the final MUP pad in front of the block to be mined. Every week an MUP move meeting is held to plan and monitor progress of works for the next MUP move.

The removal of topsoil and subsoil (a layer of 300 mm combined) is carried out by tractor scoops (Figure 2.4) while the rest of overburden and interburden (layer of waste sand in the middle of the block) removal is done by traditional truck and excavator operation (CAT 785 and Hitachi EX2500 – Figure 2.5).

Interburden is not present in all blocks, but when it is, it may require the MUP to be moved to another block once the interburden is exposed. The MUP returns once the trucks and digger have removed the interburden and the lower layer of ore is exposed.

The tailings from the processing plant is divided into sands and ModCod (Modified Co-disposal – a mixture of slimes and fine sand).

As the mining progresses, the sand from the tailings is used to construct sand walls (30 to 35 m high) within old mined areas with the use of sand stackers (Figure 2.6). These walls create cells in the pit void that are used as ModCod deposition areas.

Once these cells are filled-up with ModCod to a predefined height, they are then covered with overburden, subsoil and topsoil, matching the profile of the original terrain, and rehabilitated.

Projects

JA was put in suspension for a period of 20 months before restarting operations in December 2017. During the suspension period, only rehabilitation works were carried out in the mine site. I was lucky enough to be present on the day the mine operations were suspended (16 April 2016), and when the operations re-started (14 December 2017).

During this last secondment, I was involved in the preparation works prior to restart of the mining operations, which included the design of an upgrade of the capacity of ModCod (tails) storage capacity. This entailed raising the existing cell wall embankment through engineered construction, reviewing the pit design, and designing new mining blocks for accurate schedule of the southern pit.

A couple of months prior to the restart of the operations a new earthworks contractor (Piacentini) was brought onboard, with new people and new equipment, and along with it came the challenge of managing the new contractor. Once mining operations restarted, apart from daily production monitoring activities, I participated in the design and construction of MUP pads and paths for MUP moves, overburden stockpile designs, monitoring of tailings embankment construction, monitoring of topsoil and subsoil stripping, as well as rehabilitation works, and surface water management, among other tasks.

JA has been a very interesting, enjoyable, and challenging project to work at, where I was able to apply a lot of my skills and learn a lot of new ones. Not to mention the good friends I made while working there.

Fabio Rodrigues

Senior Mining Engineer

Opening ceremony for AMC’s office in Moscow

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Thu, 25 Oct 2018 10:29:45 GMT

Opening ceremony for AMC’s office in Moscow

After 25 years of supporting Russian clients from its global offices, AMC Consultants (AMC) is pleased to announce the opening of its ninth office, this time in Moscow. To be led by Mark Chesher, a mining engineer with more than 35 years experience, the office will provide a gateway for clients in Russia to access the global AMC team.

To mark this important step, AMC hosted an opening ceremony in early October to coincide with its presence at MINEX Russia. The Ambassador of Australia to the Russian Federation, Peter Tesch, joined AMC’s Managing Director, Patrick Smith, and other senior AMC figures in officially opening the office.

Ribbon-cutting ceremony

“The opening of this office reflects the growing importance of Russia in AMC’s business model and, in our view, the importance of Russia in the global economy and the mineral resources sector. After completing 88 jobs in Russia, 55 in last four years alone, we are confident in our ability to positively contribute to the development of the Russian mining industry” said AMC’s Managing Director, Patrick Smith. “We are very fortunate to have a mining engineer of Mark Chesher’s competence and experience leading this office and look forward to continuing to help clients unearth a smarter way to mine from Moscow”.

Clients, partners, suppliers, industry bodies, magazines and journals were present at the opening event and welcomed AMC’s new permanent presence.

“It was a pleasure to support the opening of the AMC Moscow office. There is a growing global awareness of Australian resource industry technology and experience and AMC opening a representative office in Moscow is further evidence of the trend. I wish them every success in their venture” said the Ambassador of Australia to the Russian Federation, Peter Tesch.

Raffle winners

As part of its Mine Smarter series for the MINEX Russia 2018 Conference, AMC treated attendees to its usual masterclass and podium presentation, this year on the topic of geometallurgy. Mark Chesher (Technical Director – Russia), Yevgeniy Antonov (Principal Mining Engineer), and Rob Chesher (General Manager, Brisbane), and Ian Lipton (Principal Geologist and Geometallurgy Practice Leader), presented at the masterclass with the latter also presenting at the podium.

About AMC Consultants

At its core, AMC answers four key needs: evaluate, develop, improve, and transform. Since 1983, AMC has helped miners evaluate potential mining projects or investments and develop world-class mining operations. While its Improve and Transform divisions have delivered more than $5 billion in bottom-line growth opportunities.

With 8,000+ projects for 1,800+ clients in 111+ countries across 60+ commodities under its belt, AMC’s global team has seen most challenges. And chances are, it has created a smarter solution to solve them. How? Using its smart data system. Built over 30 years, it is the world’s most comprehensive site-level validated data and it underpins every AMC report. This data also powers AMC’s Dynamic Mining Intelligence™, which provides data-driven advice so miners understand where their next win is, fast.

Beyond its data, it is AMC’s unique approach and its people that keep clients coming back year after year. AMC’s Geometallurgical Assessment assesses each operation like the living, breathing ecosystem it is, providing miners with the complete picture. In addition, AMC only employs career miners, people who understand both the art and science of mining, and won’t avoid the reality of the challenge.

Whole-of-mine optimization and geometallurgy

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 15:07:36 GMT

Whole-of-mine optimization and geometallurgy

Geometallurgy may be defined as the integration of geological, geotechnical, mining, metallurgical, environmental, and economic information to provide a platform to increase the net present value of a deposit.

Geometallurgy provides benefits including:

Better control of the comminution characteristics of ore, resulting in less variability of feed to the crushing circuit and greater throughput.
Improved knowledge of valuable mineral species, leading to improved metal recovery and concentrate quality.
Improved knowledge of value-destructive mineral species that may interfere with mineral separation such as talc, graphite, clays, etc, leading to improved metal recovery.
Identification of opportunities for ore preconcentration and beneficiation.

Higher throughput and recovery generate higher revenue and better-controlled, more stable operations leading to lower operating costs.

Although some geometallurgical principles have been applied for many years, it is only in the last decade that geometallurgy has begun to be explicitly recognized and more widely employed. The increased attention paid to geometallurgy has been driven by the convergence of several factors, including declining grades, increasing complexity of mining projects, the rise of data analytics, and improvements in technologies for measuring chemical, mineralogical, and physical characteristics of ore.

The “geo” in geometallurgy recognizes that in mining and ore processing the behaviour of the ore at every step is controlled by the geology. Even in mechanical processes such as blasting, crushing, and grinding, the fragmentation of the ore is determined by its mineral content, grain size, texture, and structural fabric, and how these features respond to the particular stresses applied to them.

Thus, geometallurgical investigations typically seek to match a wide range of quantitative data that map the geological characteristics of the ore with quantitative data that record the response of the ore to mining and processing.

Many response characteristics of ore are estimated from proxy variables: attributes of the ore that can be measured cheaply and in large quantity and used to predict processing behaviours that were previously forecast from a very small number of expensive direct measurements. Proxy variables provide an avenue for estimation and scheduling, at a detailed scale, of characteristics such as mineral recovery, energy consumption, and reagent consumption in the process plant.

Multivariate data analysis is essential for finding meaning and establishing predictive relationships from these complex data sets. Established statistical methods for classifying ore types, such as principal components analysis, are being supplemented or replaced by machine learning, genetic algorithms, and decision trees.

The application of geometallurgy steers project teams towards the goal of building total orebody knowledge and provides an integrated framework for project development. The work of each discipline group is underpinned by a shared geological knowledge-base and a clearer sense of the common goals of the project. In a sense, geometallurgy is as much a philosophy as it is a scientific discipline.

The holistic nature of geometallurgy makes it an essential input to the optimization of mining strategy for both new projects and existing operations. It is often said that ‘grade is king’ but failure to correctly characterize and design for more mundane characteristics, such as variations in ore and gangue mineral assemblage, hardness, and abrasivity, can seriously reduce profitability and project value.

Geometallurgy provides additional data and identifies relationships that can significantly improve the results of a whole-of-mine optimization. Failure to include geometallurgy in a whole-of-mine optimization is likely to lead to sub-optimal mine plans and the difference can be significant.

Mining companies are typically faced with numerous development alternatives such as production rate, mining method, mining unit size, mine development sequence, comminution route, mineral extraction technology, saleable products, and waste storage options. There may be multiple orebodies to consider, each with its own peculiarities. These alternatives are all linked and decisions made at any stage may affect the performance of preceding and successive stages. Decisions made in isolation are unlikely to be optimal and often have unintended consequences in other parts of the business.

For example, increasing fragmentation in the mine to reduce crushing costs is not beneficial if the saving is less than the cost of increased ore loss and dilution. Both the potential saving and cost are directly related to the geometry of the ore zones and the mechanical responses of the ore.

With such an array of options, choosing the right strategy is a complex task but one with large rewards. The capacity, cost, and recovery associated with each component or option is intimately linked to the geometallurgical characteristics of the ore. Hence, comprehensive geometallurgical characterization is a prerequisite for good whole-of-mine optimization.

Orebody characteristics typically vary in space in a manner that reflects the history of host rock formation, mineralizing events, post-mineralization deformation and metamorphism, and later modification by weathering. These processes lead to complex spatial variations in the distributions of rock types, ore minerals, gangue minerals, texture, and structural fabric. These fundamental features of the rocks determine characteristics of the ore and waste and their behaviour during and after mining.

Whereas, in the past, average values may have been estimated or assumed for each ore characteristic, a well-designed and executed geometallurgical programme should be used to characterize the spatial variability of the ore. The traditional resource block model can then be expanded to include estimates of geometallurgical parameters, including crushing and grinding indices or derived throughput estimates, quantitative estimates of mineral species, and associated metal recoveries, power and reagent consumption. Manipulation in the block model allows the additional dimensions of cost, revenue and time to be fully assessed in the optimization.

The characteristics of waste blocks should also not be overlooked, as they carry significant mining and post-mining costs. Estimates of rock strength, fracturing and discontinuities allow blasting and ground support costs to be estimated with confidence. Similarly, the potential for waste rock to generate, or reduce, acid and metalliferous drainage has an important bearing on costs associated with the construction and operation of waste rock storage facilities, including haulage distances, water management and closure.

A comprehensive geometallurgical block model enables development options to be realistically scheduled using a range of commercial or bespoke software tools. The value of each option can be estimated taking full account of the variability of the orebody (or orebodies) and alternative sequences of delivery of ore blocks to the process plant.

The shift away from relying on average behaviours and assumptions significantly reduces the risk of erroneous outcomes from the optimization process and thereby improves decision-making. Quantitative knowledge of the uncertainty of the estimates of geometallurgical parameters also provides the potential to apply simulation methods to more thoroughly evaluate risk and opportunity.

Decisions about the development strategy for mining projects have far-reaching consequences. Poor strategy may lead to massive destruction of shareholder value in scenarios that expose high-risk aspects of the development plan. Conversely, good strategic decisions provide strong returns and minimize risk even in adverse circumstances.

Strategic optimization should be based on solid foundations; clear understanding of the relationships between all parts of the proposed operation, realistic estimates of costs, practical experience, exploration of business risks, and good data rather than assumptions.

Geometallurgy provides critical data needed for robust analysis of strategic options. Its application also fosters an integrated approach by management and technical teams which reduces the risk of technical siloing between traditional discipline areas of geology, mining engineering and metallurgy. Geometallurgy is a cornerstone of good whole-of-mine optimization.

Ian Lipton

Geometallurgy Practice Leader/ Principal Geologist

AMC presents at Geological Society Conference

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Tue, 16 Oct 2018 11:44:09 GMT

AMC presents at Geological Society Conference

AMC Consultants (AMC) is pleased to contribute the Mine Smarter perspective at the upcoming Mineral Resource Estimation: Recent Advances and Current Best Practice Conference hosted by the Geological Society of London. The conference will take place in London on 22 October from 9.30am and will finish with a drinks reception. AMC principal Geologist, Mark Burnett, will present on the application of machine learning in palaeoplacer exploration during session one.

The Geological Society of London is a not-for-profit organisation, and a registered charity that aims are to improve knowledge and understanding of the Earth, promote Earth science education and awareness, and promote professional excellence and ethical standards in the work of Earth scientists, for the public good. AMC’s office in the UK looks forward to participating in this important event.

The application of machine learning in palaeoplacer exploration

Monday 22 October, 2018 | 11.15-11.30 AM | The Geological Society (Burlington House)

Machine learning, a branch of artificial intelligence, is based on the idea that systems can learn from data, identify patterns and make decisions with minimal human intervention. Current estimates indicate that more than 11 million geospatial sample data points (gold and uranium assay values and sedimentological attributes) have been collected from Witwatersrand gold reefs, of which ~35 % are partially digitized. With very few exceptions, the distribution and concentration of gold and uranium in palaeoplacers reflects the changes in the depositional environment and mineral source through space and time.

Determining the sedimentological characteristics of palaeoplacer gold deposits is fundamental to understanding the nature of metal distribution and grade variability. Metal grade and thickness of Witwatersrand reef horizons have traditionally been estimated using assay data and conglomerate thickness measurements, with sedimentological attributes being used in a qualitative manner to assist in the definition of areas of geological homogeneity known as geozones for mineral resource estimation.

A Microsoft Access ™based application has recently been developed at the University of the Witwatersrand that is being used to capture sedimentological parameters (e.g. conglomerate thickness, % conglomerate, % pyrite mineralisation, pebble assemblage and sorting of the Witwatersrand Supergroup reefs), collected by mine geologists and samplers. The development of this software has created the opportunity to interrogate sedimentological parameters in a quantitative manner, using machine learning algorithms, to build predictive metal grade models.

Unlike conventional kriging of gold and uranium assay grades into resource block models of different support sizes, the use of sedimentological attributes to predict gold grades through training of big data has the potential to improve gold grade estimates in areas that are sparsely sampled. By using a combination of sedimentological parameters, metal assay data and experimental semi-variograms of such, it is possible to get an estimation of grade, enhancing predictive exploration strategies at the mine to target development scales.

Authors: Glen T. Nwaila, Ergong S. Zhang, Leon Tolmay, Musa S.D. Manzi, Christina Dohm, Mark Burnett, Raymond J. Durrheim

Matt Burnett

MSc (MRM), BSc (Hons), CAG, PGDTE, CGBM, GCG, Pri.Sci. Nat, FGSSA, FSAIMM, FSEG, MGASA

Mark has more than 25 years of experience in the mining industry and has had extensive exposure to the mining value chain, including early-stage exploration projects, shaft sinking, operational mines, mergers, acquisitions, and asset disposals.

Mark joined AMC in 2018 as a Principal Geologist, where his primary responsibilities are undertaking and managing technical geological works including mineral resource estimates, technical reporting, business development, and client support in relation to exploration and production advice.

Prior to joining AMC, Mark was a principal consultant and divisional manager (Applied Geosciences) for Snowden Mining Industry Consultants (Pty) Ltd in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Previously, Mark worked for Harmony Gold Mining Company (Pty) Ltd as new business manager (Technical) for Harmony Gold Mining Company (Pty) Ltd where he was responsible for identifying project acquisitions for the company.

Mark has worked on a variety of Witwatersrand gold mines, commencing his career on Western Areas Gold Mine (West Shaft).

Moscow office launch

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Thu, 06 Sep 2018 14:14:21 GMT

Moscow office launch

After 25 years of supporting Russian clients from our global offices, AMC is pleased to open the doors of its office in Moscow. Led by Mark Chesher, Technical Director – Moscow, the office will provide a gateway for clients in Russia to access the global AMC team. To mark this important step, AMC will host an opening ceremony and celebration on Tuesday 2 October from 6pm at Radisson Slavyanskaya Talavera Restaurant. AMC’s Managing Director, Patrick Smith, and other senior AMC figures will travel to Moscow for the opening event.

We look forward to treating our guests to the best Australian wines, a delicious cocktail reception, music, door prizes, and an opportunity to catch up and network over drinks.

Questions? Contact Mark Chesher at moscow@amcconsultants.com .

Programme :
6 – 7 PM: Australian wine tasting
7 – 8 PM: Welcome by Patrick Smith and ceremony
7 – 10.30 PM: Cocktail reception, music and door prizes

AMC supports IMARC 2018 as silver sponsor

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Fri, 31 Aug 2018 14:45:40 GMT

AMC supports IMARC 2018 as silver sponsor

This year’s IMARC conference is gearing up the be the biggest yet and AMC Consultants is excited to again be a silver sponsor. AMC’s Managing Director and CEO, Patrick Smith, will join Andrew Hall, the new General Manager of our office in Melbourne, and his team for this much-anticipated event. They look forward to welcoming new and returning delegates to booth #B6.

AMC’s involvement doesn’t stop there. AMC data management expert, Paul Greenhill, will give a keynote presentation on the topic of digitization and legendary AMC figure, Brian Hall will be one of the facilitators in the Optimised Mine Operations Workshop. On display will also be our new brand, launched earlier this year, but seen for the first time in Melbourne.

Optimised Mine Operations Workshop

2.00 PM Monday 29 Oct 2018

Brian Hall, Principal Mining Engineer at AMC Consultants, joins the lineup of facilitators in the Optimised Mine Operations Workshop as part of METS Monday at IMARC.

Keynote presentation: Mining smart data and insight to deliver better results sooner

5.15 PM Tuesday 30 October

Brian Hall

Mining Engineer

Brian Hall is a mining engineer with degrees in mining engineering and commerce from the University of Queensland. He worked for the Consolidated Gold Fields group from 1973 to 1982, at Mt Lyell in Tasmania and at the West Driefontein gold mine and the Black Mountain base metals operation in South Africa. From 1982 to 1994, he held various planning and operating management positions at Mount Isa Mines Ltd in North west Queensland.

Brian joined what is now AMC Consultants in Melbourne in 1994. He has worked in mine planning, design and scheduling, computer simulations of operations, technical audits, strategic reviews, feasibility studies, cut-off grade studies, and strategy optimizations in Australasia, Asia, Europe, and North America. During the last 15 years, Brian has specialized in the optimization of cut-off grades and strategic mine plans. He presents workshops on project evaluation, the theory and practical application of cut-off grades, and mine and business strategy optimization. He has authored the authoritative textbook, Cut-off Grades and Optimising the Strategic Mine Plan, published by the AusIMM in 2014.

Brian also lectures at Curtin University in Perth, where he presents a unit in the Master of Mineral and Energy Economics programme three times a year. Brian officially retired from full time work earlier this year, but is still available for part-time provision of training, advice, and general grey-haired arm-waving.

Paul Greenhill

Technical & Management Professional

Paul Greenhill is a technical and management professional with 30 years’ experience in senior line management, resource consulting and technology management. He has an extensive background in consulting and the management of research in industry. Paul has been responsible for scoping and feasibility studies, due diligence, technical reviews for projects in Australia, Europe, Latin America.

Paul is a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and holds BSc(Hons) and PhD degrees from the University of Tasmania. He has postgraduate training from INSEAD and AGSM.

Paul’s experience includes senior management, project management, techno-financial modelling, project studies and operational consulting, research management and technology evaluation.

Meet the team at IMARC

Andrew Hall

Director of AMC Consultants

Andrew Hall is a Director of AMC Consultants and is the General Manager of AMC’s Melbourne office. With more than 24 years of experience in the mining industry Andrew’s primary expertise is in managing feasibility studies, technical due diligence and business improvement projects for metalliferous open-pit and underground mines world-wide.

Andrew Hall is a Chartered Professional (Mining) of the AusIMM and amongst other qualifications holds a Master in Science in Mineral Economics and a Graduate Diploma in Project Management. Andrew Hall is also a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Andrew Hall has been responsible for a large number of feasibility studies, technical audits, due diligence, independent public reports, and business improvement studies for mining projects located in Australasia, Africa, Asia (including India), Russia, North America, and Latin America.

Andrew Hall’s broad experience includes project management, education, mining operations, economic and financial evaluation, capital and operating cost estimation, technical assessment, strategic and operational mine planning, and business analysis. He has also authored a number of technical papers presented at international mining conferences.

Below are some of the senior members of the Melbourne team who will join Andrew at the upcoming IMARC 2018 conference.

Tracie Burrows
Geology Manager & Principal Geologist

Tracie is an experienced mentor and trainer. She has worked extensively with geologists to develop their practical skills, and acted as an advisor for career development. Tracie is a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists (MAIG) and a Registered Professional Geoscientist in Mining (RPGeo(Mining)). is a mining engineer with degrees in mining engineering and commerce from the University of Queensland. He worked for the Consolidated Gold Fields group from 1973 to 1982, at Mt Lyell in Tasmania and at the West Driefontein gold mine and the Black Mountain base metals operation in South Africa. From 1982 to 1994, he held various planning and operating management positions at Mount Isa Mines Ltd in North west Queensland.

Adrian Penney

Technical Services Manager & Principal Geotechnical Engineer

Mark Flanagan

Open Pit Manager & Principal Mining Engineer

Business Improvement Projects – Eight points to consider for delivering a successful outcome

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 10:16:20 GMT

Business Improvement Projects – Eight points to consider for delivering a successful outcome

The widely publicised reduction in mining productivity both on a volume and cost basis during the mining boom, coupled with the lower commodity prices and reduced investor confidence in recent years, resulted in most miners focussing on increasing their competitiveness through cost-cutting measures and increasing operational productivity.

In many cases, the business improvement initiatives miners implemented didn’t fully deliver the desired outcomes. Typically this was due to the failure of the proposed interventions to achieve a close alignment between operational performance and strategic intent. Such an outcome often requires a fundamental change to the mining strategy and / or the operations, which is beyond the scope and capability of many business improvement projects.

Here are eight key points that should be considered before embarking on a business improvement project include:

It is not possible to extract maximum value from a mineral asset by implementing a suboptimal strategy. Profitability can often be increased by adopting an alternative mining strategy, especially in periods of low commodity prices. Consequently a review of the both the appropriateness and effectiveness of the strategy should be included in the project.
The root cause of low performance ‘at the face’ is often due to one, or a combination of, an inappropriate strategy, poor alignment between the strategy and the operation, or inadequate technical knowledge and understanding. While organizational, work practices and cultural considerations are also important and must be considered, the issues associated with the aforementioned aspects must be addressed to achieve the best overall outcome.
Most of the business improvement methods used in the minerals industry have been developed for use in a manufacturing environment. While many of these techniques such as Lean Six Sigma can be very effective, due regard must be given to the unique technical and operational challenges that are inherent in the way most mines operate, otherwise they are likely to fail to deliver the optimal outcome.
The impacts of any proposed localized or tactical intervention on the overall process or strategy should be well understood before being implemented to avoid shifting the problem elsewhere, or worse, departing further from the strategic intent.
Any interventions that reduce technical capability and/or information, while potentially attractive in the short term, may impede longer-term performance by reducing the operation’s ability to manage inherent risks (e.g. geometry of the orebody) and increase variability, ultimately resulting in lower productivity and increased costs.
Most costs are associated with having and maintaining capacity at the mine, so right-sizing the various components of the operation and managing bottlenecks is important to achieving consistently high performance and sustainable cost reductions.
The team leading the business improvement project must have the necessary expertise to understand the unique issues the mining operation faces, and possess adequate knowledge of best practices and the ability to develop innovative but practical solutions that, when implemented, will result in superior performance.
Consideration should be given to ensuring that the knowledge gained during the project stays at the mine site (and isn’t lost through personnel turnover) and the implementation plan has adequately considered change management aspects and systems design so that the improvements are sustained.

Andrew Hall

Director / General Manager Melbourne

AMC contributes to the AusIMM’s Online Professional Certificate in JORC Code Reporting

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Wed, 08 Aug 2018 15:08:34 GMT

AMC contributes to the AusIMM’s Online Professional Certificate in JORC Code Reporting

The AusIMM has officially launched its first ever Online Professional Certificate in JORC Code Reporting. Developed by leading industry experts, the course provides mining professionals with knowledge-based learning that is interactive, focuses on real-world situations, and allows participation from anywhere in the world thanks to its online delivery mode.

AMC is proud to contribute the expertise of five of its internationally-recognized industry experts to the development and delivery of modules 1, 3 and 5 of this course. Industry legends Peter McCarthy (Chairman Emeritus/ Principal Mining Consultant) and Peter Stoker (Principal Geologist), joined forces with Roderick Carlson (Geology Manager / Principal Geologist), Andrew Hall (AMC Director / General Manager Melbourne), and Glen Williamson (Principal Mining Engineer), to put together the course materials. All except Peter McCarthy will also be involved as presenters. Click here to find out more about our team of experts and their respective modules.

The eight-week course will give participants an in-depth understanding of the JORC Code, including recognizing obligations and liabilities, demonstrating its correct applications across different industries, and appropriately applying the Code in the reporting environment under the ASX and ASIC.

Throughout this course, participants will have direct access to the facilitators to ensure a supportive learning environment to help them grasp the full capabilities of JORC Code reporting through real-life case studies and professional feedback. It will focus on all aspects of the JORC Code and ensure participants are armed with knowledge that can be applied directly in their day-to-day work.

The course will also provide the opportunity to forge industry connections that will enhance participants’ professional network via the interactive, community-driven online learning environment.

Following the successful completion of six modules of learning content and a final assignment, participants will obtain a Professional Certificate in JORC Code Reporting.

Enrolment opened on Monday 13 August. We encourage those who are interested in enrolling to register their interest here to ensure that they are informed about key updates.

Make sure you follow us on LinkedIn , Twitter , and Facebook to stay up to date with the progress of this course.

AMC co-sponsors the International Conference on High Performance Mining

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Wed, 08 Aug 2018 15:02:57 GMT

AMC co-sponsors the International Conference on High Performance Mining

AMC is a proud supporting sponsor of the 1st International Conference on High Performance Mining – HPM2018 in RWTH Aachen University, Germany. Taking place on 4-5 December, the conference will showcase best-practice examples of mining operations along different levers for productivity improvement. AMC’s Business Improvement Manager, Kobus Potgieter, will present Keynote II during the first session on Day 1 of the conference.

Keynote II: Optimizing the Connected Mine – 4 December 12.00-13.00

Modern technology provides operations with ample data that can be used to effectively improve productivity and reduce costs. Mines are under pressure to find the next improvement, to deploy advanced analytics and follow those that made autonomous machines the next big thing. But how do they know what is good enough, what assumptions to use for the next mine plan, budget or project. AMC Consultants conducted 200 benchmarking exercises, all verified by operations over the past 15 years and can now answer the question “So, what does good look like?” with confidence.

About the keynote presenter:

Kobus Potgieter is AMC’s Business Improvement Manager based in Perth, Australia. A mining engineer with more than 20 years’ experience in the resources industry, he is operationally driven, an experienced strategic planner, and is adept at value-adding, improvement and change. Kobus’ strengths lie in business improvement and decision guidance; technology solutions; providing effective asset management using risk based decision making and condition monitoring.

To get a taste for Kobus’ message, the video below is a recording of a recent webinar presentation on the optimized fleet in action, hosted by Australian METS industry body, Austmine.

Looking to the future of the resources sector

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Wed, 04 Jul 2018 11:10:44 GMT

Looking to the future of the resources sector

Mining has come a long way since 1893, and there are even more challenges and exciting opportunities ahead

The resources industry has changed greatly over the last 125 years. While many principles remain the same, current developments provide exciting opportunities for resources professionals. Given the high demand for minerals and metals for many technologies and building materials, our industry is vital for modern society, but there is much work to be done. The measure of success will be how well we are accepted and integrated into communities.

When the AusIMM was established 125 years ago, it was during a period of great innovation, with steam giving way to electric power and cyanidation being applied to challenging gold processing. Problems with lung disease and treatment of sulphide ores had emerged and demanded research. Economies of scale were beginning to be appreciated, particularly in open pit mining. Stamp mills were being replaced by crushing and grinding. Graduates from schools of mines and universities were displacing the old mine captains and improving safety and productivity.

Data published by IBISworld on Australia’s new and lost jobs in the five years to September 2017 shows mining as the worst performer of any industry sector. As the 21st century continues to unfold, will automation increase or reduce the need for resources professionals? How will we attract young people into the resources professions and how will they be educated? What challenges will they face? What opportunities will be presented to them?

Attraction

In the past, many resources professionals grew up in mining towns or came from mining families, often from generations of mining people. A lot of resources professionals were the first in their family to study at university. They may have even been unaware of opportunities for careers outside the resources industry!

Others may have taken a general science or engineering first-year university course and then discovered minerals courses. The courses were linked to attractive on-campus social activities, and offered adventurous excursions and vacation experience.

A third group responded to publicity about ‘booms’ in uranium, nickel or gold. The mining industry was an opportunity to earn a high salary with (at the time) good job security. The mid-twentieth century was an era when a job with a major mining company could be a job for life. The reality for many, of course, has been multiple employers and periods of unemployment.

A fourth group had a genuine passion for geology in particular, which led them into exploration or mining.

Another attraction for some people was that the courses were seen to be less theoretical and more practical than some other engineering and science streams. The course content was more descriptive, requiring less demanding mathematics and analytics. Students struggling with fluid mechanics or organic chemistry might choose mining or geology. Extractive metallurgy was mainly about machines and processes – one could get by without an advanced understanding of chemistry.

If we want the brightest and the best to join our professions today, how do we attract them? High-achieving school children today may aspire to be doctors, lawyers, veterinarians or computer programmers. These ideas come from teachers, parents and the media. The mining industry is perceived as dirty and dangerous and part of the environmental problem, not part of the solution. We need to change this image, but we can only do that by continued exemplary performance, not by propaganda.

It will take decades.

Parts of the industry have always been technology leaders. We were early users of computers, process controls and analysis. We played with geophysics and large, high-tech mining and comminution machines. We need to promote the facts to teachers in primary and high schools. There have been successful programs for teachers in the past that may be worth revisiting.

Education

The role of a resources professional has changed greatly over the past 50 years. Mine surveying was once a core skill for mining engineers – now an automated station, a robot or even a drone can do the job. Those devices need skilled operators, but not engineers. Many geologists sit at computers all day and seldom – if ever – touch rocks. Metallurgy is vanishing, becoming a specialty within the broader discipline of chemical engineering. Still, the challenges of finding, evaluating, mining and processing resources remain fundamentally the same.

Complex software is essential for designing mines, selecting equipment and preparing mine plans and schedules. Today’s geological models would have required a supercomputer only twenty years ago. Future geologists will deploy drones and inspect prospects using augmented reality. Now technicians design production blasts using software – and soon robots will drill, load and fire them. These processes are being standardized and automated. In the future, many professionals will not work on mine sites. They will apply their skills from the city or from their own home offices.

University education will focus on the things that computers and robots cannot do. An undergraduate degree will likely be a generalist degree, opening a broad range of potential careers. Career directions may change several times in a working life. University education should teach students how to become lifelong learners and graduates must be able to both define and solve problems.

In the future, specialist undergraduate degrees will give way to generalist science/engineering programs. Core subjects will include business knowledge as well as environmental and social issues. An appreciation of the history of technology in society will be important. Graduates will need good communication skills and the ability to work in teams.

A postgraduate degree will be essential for those pursuing a career in the resources industry, though it might be undertaken online a few years after graduation. It will include both technical and management subjects, and likely be valued by industry more highly than a research PhD. For most people, practical experience in the industry is more valuable than the ability to conduct research, although new ideas in geology and processing will require research skills and creativity.

Field experience

While many professionals will work on computers in city offices, experience in the field builds competence and credibility. Five years in field exploration or at a mine or processing site should probably be the minimum, though there are exceptions. Those starting out in city roles may gain that experience over time through site placement or working in site study teams, as is common in the civil and mechanical engineering fields.

The need to be inclusive

In the 19th century, the Chinese were significant players in the Australian industry, sometimes outnumbering European miners on the goldfields. In many ways, they were more efficient and innovative, working to lower cut-off grades. Resentment led to punitive taxes and restrictive legislation. There were groups of English, Cornish, Scots, Irish, American, German and other technologists who contributed to the growth of the Australian mining industry. The Americans were influential in the early 20th century, while the Japanese were important commercial partners in the later 20th century.

Women were largely excluded from the industry early on. Until the 1970s, the NSW Mines Inspection Act prohibited women and Chinese people from working underground. We have addressed these prejudices and are reversing them, but must guard against backsliding. Chinese involvement has renewed with engagement as owners and operators, and India will increase in importance, as will Australia’s other neighbours. Women are still not properly represented in employment numbers, and improvement is painfully slow.

At a professional level, the industry has always been multicultural and this will continue. The AusIMM has members around the world and their mobility will increase even further. Services and communications must adapt to this reality.

Networking and information sharing

In the past, professional knowledge came from published conference papers and peer-reviewed journals. New textbooks were eagerly sought. Networking happened at AusIMM meetings and at conferences. Sometimes the AusIMM organized site visits, either at a local branch level or as part of a conference. Mining companies sent senior staff on technical tours of mines around the world.

These activities will continue, but bookshelves full of technical literature are disappearing. In the future, there will be greater emphasis on online research, networking and publications. Knowledge of a new technology is insufficient – successful professionals will need to know how to apply it in the real world. Successful companies will employ those professionals.

Mark Twain described a mine as ‘a hole in the ground with a liar on top.’ There have always been deceivers in mine promotion and there always will be. At the junior end, there is a danger that unprofessional conduct in fundraising, safety or environmental management will reflect on the whole industry. In large corporations, accountants and lawyers have displaced many technical professionals in management. These new managers often fail to understand the value of retaining corporate knowledge and technical experience when making strategic decisions. This can lead to poor performance in operations.

The AusIMM and its members can guard against these problems through ongoing development of Codes like JORC and VALMIN and by discussion and communication of the issues. We should encourage senior managers, whatever their professional discipline, to become members of AusIMM and participate in the discussion.

Travel

Mining has always been a global business. One hundred years ago, even the busiest mining people travelled by ship and might spend weeks at sea. Mining engineer Herbert Hoover travelled and read a lot. He lamented that there might not be enough books in the world to keep him entertained while onboard ship. With the coming of air travel, Australian leaders like Sir Maurice Mawby and Essington Lewis had schedules that were constant and gruelling. Yet it was still possible, when travelling by air, to use that time for relaxation. Today, wireless connections and devices make it difficult to escape the office.

In the future, personal time management will be more disciplined. Self-monitoring devices will ensure that we live more balanced lives. We will get reminders to exercize, to unwind and to get sufficient sleep. Employers will insist that we do.

Many Australian towns and cities began as mining towns, with roads, railways and ports to service them. Low-cost aviation and the Fringe Benefits Tax marked the end of most residential mining sites. In the future, fly-in, fly-out operations will likely give way again to local employment, particularly where towns and infrastructure already exist. This will be better for families and for local communities. Remote living will become more practical and attractive using broadband communications. Online education and medical consultations are just two areas that help make this possible.

Safety

An old saying went ‘A mining engineer does for fifty cents what any damned fool can do for a dollar’. Mines worked to a fixed product price, and had to manage costs or go out of business. Miners took shortcuts and safety often suffered.

Today, in the developed world, mining is among the safest industries. Safety professionals argue that this also reduces costs, but the statistics suggest otherwise. Unit operating costs for comparable activities have risen. Productivities have fallen. It is easy to see why. Where we once barred down bare rock tunnels, or used random rockbolts, today we use pattern bolts and fibrecrete.

Open pit mines have clean, wide catch benches and haul roads. Geologists no longer spend weeks in the field beyond radio contact while acting as their own mechanics to keep vehicles moving. Metallurgical plants have isolation switches and lockout procedures for maintenance. We take time for toolbox meetings and step-backs and we don’t take shortcuts.

We must preserve and improve upon the safety benefits already achieved. So how can we improve the efficiency of working? Probably through increased automation and use of robots, with more attention given to identifying productive activities and less rework.

An exciting future

Future success will be measured by more than just the return on shareholders’ funds. There is a need for a new paradigm involving the community and the environment. Future mines will be designed accordingly or they will not be approved. More mines will go underground – there will be few places in the world where large open pit mines will be acceptable. Selective mining and ore sorting will greatly reduce the size of tailings dams. Impacts on water resources will be minimized. International trade in waste products will become more restrictive, forcing industries and communities to develop local solutions.

In some ways, we are coming full circle. Sir Maurice Mawby sought, in the late 1930s, to establish ‘the green belt’, and engaged Albert Morris to regenerate flora and fauna in the arid, dusty country surrounding mines in Broken Hill. Other mines and the local council followed his example. Mining then was highly selective, with skilled miners able to follow veins and, if necessary, sort ore from waste underground. Tailings dams were built high, to minimize dust and their geographic footprint, even when plenty of land was available.

A revolution is coming, and is not far off, in areas including:

Discovery of economic mineralization under deep cover.
Application of electric batteries to mining equipment.
Machines to break hard rock from the face.
In-stream selection of ‘ore’ from ‘waste’ at high production rates.
Hydrochemical processes to replace pyrometallurgy.
Extraction of valuable products from recycled waste.

Even as these technologies are realized, there will still be many challenges for professionals. Here are some of the big ones:

Educate the next generation to do better than we did.
Build community support for mining and processing through exemplary operations.
Confidently reject geophysical targets at minimal cost (we generate too many targets).
Develop new techniques for selective mining, to minimize the amount of waste rock and tailings on a mine site.
Develop new underground mining methods to supersede open pit mining and thus avoid the need to move and dump overburden while reducing energy requirements.
Reduce the power needed for comminution.
Eliminate tailings storages.
Apply alternative energy sources such as solar and wind to mining and processing.
Greatly reduce water consumption and generally improve environmental performance.

Some of the more speculative technologies are listed below, although people are actively working on them right now:

Extensive sea floor mining.
Mining in space – the moon, Mars and asteroids.
In situ leaching in low-permeability and hard rock.

These developments provide exciting opportunities for resources professionals. Our industry is vital for the requirements of our modern society, but there is much work to be done. The measure of success will be how well we are accepted and integrated into communities as the 21st century continues to unfold.

Peter McCarthy

Chairman Emeritus / Principal Mining Consultant

Copper to the World 2018: Undiscovered large deposits in South Australia?

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Tue, 03 Jul 2018 15:45:08 GMT

Copper to the World 2018: Undiscovered large deposits in South Australia?

In a recent Australian Mining article, Charles Moore, Director, Resource Information at Department of the Premier and Cabinet, stated that “miners will need to produce as much copper in the next 25 years as has been mined in humankind’s history”.

To discuss the role that Australia may play in the future of copper production, the Copper to the World Conference was held in Adelaide on 26 June 2018, with experts from the UK, Chile, and Australia sharing their views on the red metal. More than 300 delegates attended the conference.

The conference was opened by the Honourable Dan van Holst Pellekaan, South Australia’s Minister for Energy and Mining. The opening keynote presentation was by Vanessa Davidson, Director, Copper Strategy and Research, CRU. This was followed by 18 great presentations, providing insights into the local and international copper industry, including presentations by BHP’s General Manager, Marketing (Patricio Hidalgo), CEO of the International Copper Association (Australia) (John Fennell), and Deputy Chief Executive of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet (DPC) of South Australia (Dr Paul Heithersay).

Dr Heithersay presented a graph summarizing the typical style and distribution of copper deposits in the main copper-producing regions of the world. Of particular note, is that the size of deposits in most regions follow an exponential distribution. In South Australia however, this is not the case. The size of Olympic Dam is disproportionate to the size of the rest of the known deposits. Dr Heithersay postulates that there is a gap between the Olympic Dam Deposit and the next largest deposit, which contrasts with the pattern followed by copper deposits around the world, and which indicates that there is a likelihood that there are some large undiscovered deposits in South Australia.

Australia is the third largest exporter and the 7th largest producer of copper in the world. The US Geological Survey rates Australia as holding the second largest economic resources of copper (13%) after Chile (28%), followed by Peru (11%), and USA and Mexico (6% each).

AMC has completed more than 100 copper projects in 20 countries across the world. Most recently we have completed studies for two of the major copper companies in South Australia, Olympic Dam and OZ Minerals, and continue to build relationships with these and other investors in copper.

Carrapateena is OZ Minerals’ newest project under development in South Australia. The twin declines are currently being developed and level development is about to commence. A CAPEX of just under A$1 billion will be required to establish the mine, which is expected to start producing next year. It will mine 4.25 Mtpa by sub-level caving to produce 65,000 t of copper and 67,000 oz of gold per annum over 20 years.

BHP is evaluating options to expand production at Olympic Dam. One option is a A$2.8 billion expansion that will increase copper production to 330,000 t per annum.

AMC had a booth at the conference and had the opportunity to catch up with many of our existing clients and new clients.

Johann van Wijk

General Manager, Adelaide,

Principal Geotechnical Engineer

AMC joins CRC ORE

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Tue, 03 Jul 2018 15:36:29 GMT

AMC joins CRC ORE

As part of our commitment to unearth a smarter way, AMC has joined CRC ORE as a METS (Mining Equipment, Technology and Services) Associate.

CRC ORE is the Cooperative Research Centre for Optimising Resource Extraction. It is jointly funded by industry and research participants and the Australian Federal Government. Industry participants include mining companies, Newcrest, BHP, Anglo American, AngloGold Ashanti, Glencore, Teck and Sumitomo, and METS companies.

The primary objective of CRC ORE is to apply innovation to improve the productivity of mineral resource extraction. It achieves this by coordinating partnerships between mining companies, researchers and METS companies to focus on significant industry challenges. Current major areas of focus are the deployment of grade engineering to exploit natural ore heterogeneity, sensor-based “whole stream” integration, and the development of innovative methods to optimize whole of stream productivity.

Participation in CRC ORE allows AMC to match its capabilities and experience to collaborative opportunities with miners, researchers and other METS companies and to help shape the future of mine development and optimization.

For more information check out the CRC ORE website https://www.crcore.org.au/index.php

Ian Lipton

Corporate Consulting Manager,

Principal Geologist

May 2018 Digging Deeper | Launching AMC's New Brand at PDAC

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Wed, 30 May 2018 09:49:11 GMT

May 2018 Digging Deeper | Launching AMC's New Brand at PDAC

This year has already brought a number of exciting changes for AMC Consultants starting with the launch of our refreshed brand and website, which reflects an energized and forward-looking outlook on our company and industry.

We have also made some changes to Digging Deeper itself. After this edition, it will a briefer and more frequent publication, with one or at most two pieces of content per mailout that will arrive in your inbox around once a month. We look forward to continuing to dig deeper into the industry issues that matter to you, more often, through this new format.

More accessible blasting

Could MineExcellence make technology for blasting easily accessible anywhere, anytime? Peter McCarthy reviews the possibilities offered by MineExcellence's solution.

More accessible blasting

Could MineExcellence make technology for blasting easily accessible anywhere, anytime? Peter McCarthy reviews the possibilities offered by MineExcellence's solution.

Editorial

With the AusIMM celebrating its 125th year in 2018, industry veteran, Peter McCarthy, takes the opportunity to reflect on the history of our professional bodies.

Editorial

With the AusIMM celebrating its 125th year in 2018, industry veteran, Peter McCarthy, takes the opportunity to reflect on the history of our professional bodies.

Featured Case Study

When many other operators where busy cutting costs, AGA CEO, Ludwig Eybers, had the foresight to place four of its open pit mines on a different trajectory. Today that decision is paying off in spades.

Featured Case Study

The official lunch of AMC's new brand

We chose this year’s PDAC conference to launch our new brand and website. Guided by a fresh focus—mine smarter—the move signals a new chapter for this veteran of mining that sees a bright future for the industry.

Welcome to AMC!

AMC welcomes Anastasia Boronina,

Ellen Morton and Ian Squair.

The official lunch of AMC's new brand

Welcome to AMC!

AMC welcomes Anastasia Boronina, Ellen Morton and Ian Squair.

Mapping with a view of the Al Hallaniyat islands

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Wed, 23 May 2018 15:34:48 GMT

Mapping with a view of the Al Hallaniyat islands

Geologist Rod Carlson’s recent trip to Oman

We continue our interview series this time with Rod Carlson, Geology Manager at AMC’s office in Brisbane on his recent assignment in Oman.

What was the most surprising thing you saw or did at your most recent trip?
The splendid vision of the Al Hallaniyat islands appearing like magic on a beautiful clear day as I was mapping on the southeast coast of Oman. The area is renowned for its Khalifa season (which brings constant fog and mist for 4 months of the year) and then the hot dusty winds off the Arabian peninsula for the rest of the year that reduces visibility to a murky hot sweat box.

The Al Hallaniyat islands in Oman.

How long did it take to pick up some of the language?

Arabic is not the easiest language to pick up! But As-Sa’alam Alaykum is essential .

What was the scariest moment?

Trekking 2 km from the nearest access point in the northern Batinah mountains of Oman, up a steep ravine and finding that by 7 am it was already 39 degrees and I had only 1 litre of water left and a colleague who was throwing up.

What were the locals you met like?

The Omani locals are a generous, friendly and devoted people. They hold trust as one of the highest forms of honour. I was privileged to meet a local in the small town I was working out of who was just so generous with his time and fish! He had no English and I had no Arabic, but his generosity of spirit and desire to see something happen for his township from the work we were doing was genuine. He gave me some amazing woven baskets made by his wife. This boat was given to the client.

Boat handcrafted by an Omani local.

Did you find any sights or activities a bit off the beaten track? Beyond the tourist traps?

The sights of northern Oman in the mountains and on the southern coast where I was mapping are beyond amazing.

What was your favourite meal?

The fish and squid in Shuwaymiyah in southern Oman is straight out of the ocean and is genuinely delicious and served in the traditional way simply with a light paprika dusting and lots of local flat bread.

What was the strangest thing you ate?

Not too many strange things in Oman food, although fermented unpasteurised camel milk is not something I plan to try. Although I did not venture into this establishment either!!

What was the funniest/strangest/most insightful thing a local said to you?

The funniest thing is that as a geologist I always know where I am, and telling the locals where the next turn-off is before getting there always gets strange looks.

Where would you revisit? Would you ever move to any of those cities?

The capital Muscat is a beautiful city with many modern conveniences. I would happily live there, although the long very very hot summers would be a challenge.

Is there anything else from your trip you would like to share?

Consider Oman for a holiday, it is genuinely a fascinating place to visit, with some amazing tourist attractions and beautiful locations.

When is a Mineral Resource not a Resource?

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Mon, 14 May 2018 12:46:04 GMT

When is a Mineral Resource not a Resource?

Many mining companies are cutting exploration budgets to survive the current mining downturn and low commodity prices. As a result, some firms either do not have enough geological and support staff or they have inexperienced staff members who do not adequately understand the geology, mining method used and processing aspects of their operation or project. This can negatively impact the quality of Mineral Resource or Reserve estimates and statements as well as the preparation of long-term mine plans.

When a company lacks proper staffing, the quantity of the remaining Mineral Resources and Reserves after initial mining suffers. Some mines, for example, now live a hand-to-mouth existence, with enough defined Mineral Reserves for only a year, or perhaps just a few months, due to a lack of drilling, geological evaluation and mine planning. Some mines are being forced, because of this dearth of defined Measured and Indicated Resources, to include Inferred Mineral Resources (as defined by the National Instrument 43-101 code) as Reserves. Both instances result in a limited understanding of possible dilution and ore losses, stemming from a poor understanding of the mineralization, geology and geotechnical issues.

Most international reporting standards define Mineral Resources as having “a reasonable prospect of eventual economic extraction.” The company CEO and investors must ask if this requirement is being overlooked or ignored to keep the remaining reported Mineral Resources at a reasonable level to maintain the share price. Is the modest exploration that is now being carried out concentrating on known areas of higher grade in order to maintain the company’s key market-related performance indicators?

Companies should focus on areas necessary to underpin their medium- to longer-term future. It is a frustrating catch-22 situation, where a lack of reported Mineral Resources and Reserves, due to limited exploration and geological modelling, or even doubts as to the quality of those Resources and Reserves, lowers the perceived value of a company. This results in a lower share price, a reduced ability to raise funds and a need to conserve existing funds. It also reduces a company’s ability to undertake exploration, Mineral Resource modelling and mine planning resulting in a further reduction in Mineral Resources and Reserves.

Other problems that have been recognized recently in the estimation and reporting of Mineral Resources and Reserves include:

Inclusion of low-grade Mineral Resources located deep below the surface, when it is unlikely that this material can be mined by underground means at such a low grade or by open pit methods at that depth.
Substantial tonnages of Mineral Resources and Reserves being based on one drillhole intersection, with the influence of that intersection being unreasonably extrapolated.
Large areas of what is most likely barren material being classified as Mineral Resources and Reserves due to “smearing” (or spreading) of high-grade drillhole intersections into areas of limited data by inexperienced resource modellers.
A percentage of the remaining Mineral Resources and Reserves being based on very narrow veins adjacent to previously mined underground voids, which would most likely never be mined based on the vein width, grade, geotechnical issues and, if applicable, cost of backfill.
Crown and sill pillars being included in Mineral Resources and Reserves where there are no reasonable prospects of mining due to ground support or surface environmental issues.
The classification of Mineral Resources, and hence Reserves, being based only on statistical parameters (generally distance to samples) and not on geology or trends in mineralization.
Insufficient understanding and use of geological interpretations during Mineral Resource modelling and grade estimation, due to advances in software and extensive use of statistics. This results in models not properly representing the mineralization, especially around the margins, of many advanced mines.
Areas of previous underground mining not having been removed from the Mineral Resource and Reserve statements.
Poor allowance being made for the minimum mining width within narrow veins, resulting in excessive dilution and a lowering of the mill head grade below that required to be economic.
Poor auditing of Resources and Reserves for operating mines.
Limited due diligences being carried out on existing Mineral Resources and Reserves by potential purchasers of existing mines or recent discoveries.

Substandard estimation and reporting of Mineral Resource and Reserves can lead to serious problems. Shareholders and company directors need to know the true value of a company, and one of the most important measures is the quantity and quality of the Mineral Resources and Reserves. Having the necessary qualified and experienced staff, either in-house or on hand, to carry out detailed project-focused exploration, high-quality Mineral Resource and Reserve estimation and practical mine planning with sound geotechnical input is a necessity, not a nicety.

This article originally appeared in the October 2015 edition of CIM Magazine.

Rod Wester

Geologist

Consolidation of underground rockfill for increased ore recovery: the Toguraci case study

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Wed, 09 May 2018 12:20:33 GMT

Consolidation of underground rockfill for increased ore recovery: the Toguraci case study

PT Nusa Halmahera Minerals (PT NHM) is an Indonesian joint venture company owned by Newcrest Mining Limited (75%) and PT Aneka Tambang (Persero) (25%). PT NHM operates two underground gold mines, Kencana and Toguraci at the Gosowong mine site in North Halmahera District, North Maluku Province, Indonesia.

Due to several major stope over-break events at Toguraci, NHM changed the mining method from a bottom-up Avoca stoping approach using waste rock as fill material and leaving sill pillars; to a top-down open-stoping method using paste fill without sill pillars.

The revised mine plan originally had stoping progressing from the current operating level to the base of reserves followed by extraction of the sill pillars at the interface between the two mining methods at the end of mine life. Geotechnical modelling was conducted on the revised mine plan. It was recommended that these high-grade sill pillars be extracted earlier in the mine sequence. This reduced the risk of pillars overstressing, and more difficult recovery at the end of mine life. The backfill material above the sill pillars is unconsolidated run-of-mine development waste rock or unconsolidated rockfill (URF).

Due to earlier attempts to extract sill pillars under URF not being successful in the upper areas of the mine, it was stipulated that the URF above the five remaining pillars must be consolidated prior to stoping. Cost-benefit analysis showed this to be justifiable due to the high grade of the ore locked up in the pillars.

Key to design of the consolidated rockfill (CRF) was having a suitable product in place with sufficient strength and quantity to tolerate stresses and to prevent caving of the URF as this would sterilize or dilute the ore, and potentially cause regional instability due to large amounts of fill mobilizing.

Approach

As an example, in TY5025 of Yahut Iode (Figure 1), the geometry of the hangingwall (HW) and the wide span, up to 15 m, required a degree of conservatism. Here a factor of safety (FOS) of 2 was considered acceptable and the extraction sequence was assessed. The TY5025 pillar was extracted as two parallel stopes on the hanging wall and footwall with the one being backfilled with paste before mining the other. With an assumed failure span of 7.2 m, and with the HW extracted first, the FOS of 2 was achieved with 4 m to 5 m of grout, whereas extraction of the footwall and the same conditions required 5 m of grout for a FOS of 2.

In Yahut TY5015 the narrower orebody resulted in a higher FOS for 5 m thickness and indicated a CRF height over 4 m was acceptable for spans between 6.7 m and 7.4 m. Above the Damar Iode pillars five-metre-thick consolidation was required.

Grout was initially planned on site to be injected in one pass through pre-installed self-drilling anchors (SDA) in a 2.5 m pattern. Initial attempts to do this failed due to the small SDA aperture, the annulus outside the SDA, grout consistency and insufficient means of quality assurance or quality control.

Consequently, the use of SDAs was discarded and an alternative method of injection was developed utilizing open holes. The revised grouting method used the same grout product and grout pump but modified the way the grout was delivered to the URF. The revised method focused on addressing several factors identified from early work:

Larger diameter drillholes created a larger surface area in the hole exposing more voids to receive grout. The 89 mm retractable drill bit provided a suitable hole size for successful grouting, and could drill URF without getting stuck. Drill holes 76 mm in diameter were also used, the maximum diameter on the Cablebolter, but were problematic due to the coupling sitting behind the drill bit causing rods to get jammed.
The 40 mm PN16 pipe from the pump was inserted directly into the holes providing a uniform and larger aperture for grout delivery.
Holes to be grouted were drilled several rings apart to reduce leaks or backfilling of holes.
Quality control processes were established including probe drilling and camera inspections. These were key to the success of the project.

Grout mixture

A design grout mixture of 2:1 water:grout was required. To check the mixture ratio, samples were collected during pumping in one litre cubed polystyrene moulds (cube samples) and weighed while wet. The specification required cube sample weight of 1250 g for 2:1 water:grout. A weight of 1260g was targeted to ensure a suitable strength was achieved.

When a cube sample weight varied from the required 1260 g during injection the rate of water feed at the pump was adjusted up or down to compensate, and a new sample was taken.

Strength testing

Cube samples were cured for three, seven or 14 days and were tested for unconfined compressive strength (UCS) strength on site. Results show the UCS for 2:1 water:grout averaged approximately 8 MPa with a range between 4 MPa and 16 MPa.

Camera inspections

A camera was used to inspect holes, initially frequently and periodically thereafter. A specifically designed up-hole camera was acquired with a stiff cable and reel feeder and protected camera lens. The camera was fed up the holes from the integrated tool carrier basket. The cameras confirmed the condition of the URF and the grout, and the presence of pre-existing paste in some cases. An example of injected grout is shown in Figure 2a. The nature of some voids is shown in Figure 2b.

Probe drilling

The length to breakthrough from CRF into the UCF was measured in each drillhole. The vertical thickness of the grouted layer was calculated from this and plotted for each drive (Figure 7). Drill sites were chosen to check recent injection using the 2.5 m spaced ring design in case further grout was required. The grout was shown to flow along the URF and build up where it was injected. Drilling was delayed 24 hours after grouting to allow the grout to cure. Once the grout had cured the levels in holes was confirmed through probing campaigns.

In practice

Rate of Injection

The rate of injecting in each level was initially slow. This was due to leaks, filling of cracks and fissures, and holes drilled only two metres past breakthrough restricting void volumes to fill. Initial injection sealed the bottom of the UCF and flow direction became more predictable. Second pass drillholes were drilled to the top of the target zone providing greater volumes to grout with less hole changes, hence more tonnes per shift.

Once areas were close to filled, injection locations became more selective, smaller volumes were accepted before holes pressured up and hole changes were required more frequent.

Dilution when mining

The extraction method for mining of the pillars beneath the consolidation required blast holes to be drilled from beneath. Stopes were generally 15 m long with the sill pillars to be extracted 5 m to 10 m high. A maximum of two to three rings were fired at a time, depending on geotechnical conditions.

The consolidated URF exposed in the backs of the stopes in TY5025, TD4998 and TY5015 after mining has shown to hold up well. The consolidated backs look very similar despite the different URF encountered during injection. Figures 3a, 3b and 3c show the respective conditions seen, and suggest the nature of the material once grouted was similar.

Lessons learnt

Planning

Ensure the proposed design is aligned with site conditions and meets the required outcomes. With appropriate planning a trial of the proposed process will help guide set up. Be prepared to change the overall strategy and daily plans. Conduct a placement trial before locking in your implementation plan.

Drilling

Ensure the hole diameter is suitable for the pipe used and easy flow. Ring spacing should be comparable with the flow nature of the grout. Here 2.5 m spacing was reasonable. Drilling the first pass a limit of 2 m into the URF helped establish a sealing layer and consolidated the URF-pillar interface. Probe drilling close to recent grouting was best achieved at least 24 hours after injection.

Grout

Equipment should have sufficient aperture and the grout should be free of lumps. Grout mix was maintained at 2:1 water:grout ratio. A thinner mix would have reduced strength properties. The mix was thickened when excessive leaking occurred in an effort to seal the leaks. Cloth pads were used to block drillhole collars and larger leaks such as from split sets. If pads and/or thickening up the mix did not work the hole was stopped and returned to at a later date.

Leaks

Predrilling of multiple holes in areas to be grouted created pathways for leakage and was stopped.
Leaks from fractures in the rock were retarded by pretreating the backs with a layer of shotcrete.
URF rill had been left exposed in level development at the base of the fill. These required shotcreting before grouting commenced to prevent leaks. Periodic checks were also required to confirm integrity of the shotcrete. Grout, or displaced water was observed leaking from the shotcrete on occasion.
The presence of inaccessible headings with exposed URF should be clearly understood during the planning stage. These are developments such as sumps or cuddies that have been isolated by the URF but not backfilled leaving voids adjacent to the grouting target.

Support

The pumps require consistent high volumes of water and air, and at sufficient pressure to push the grout up to 300 m without having it set in the pipe. Double-shifting activities benefited from a general hand familiar with the site available to support the grouting team. This role was to troubleshoot and facilitate effective changes quickly arising from changes in mining activities or breakdown of support equipment and services.
Full time availability of IT support was required.
Full time availability of a drill rig was critical, particularly on double shift. On single shift, drilling was achieved on night shift.

Stope Extraction

Stopes were not blasted for their full strike length in one firing. Blasting of only several rings at a time allowed monitoring of the performance in the consolidation, with the option to fill the incomplete stop before continuing. For pillars fired against intact rock vertical slot was used. For the pillars fired against paste backfill, a radial or drag slot was employed. On completion of the stope, a fill fence was constructed beneath the next pillar and the stope was filled with 1 MPa to 2 MPa paste backfill.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the management of PT. Nusa Halmahera Minerals and Newcrest Mining Limited for permission to write and publish this paper. Many thanks to the individuals both internally and externally who have shared their knowledge and put considerable effort into establishing a functioning grouting process, working with the changing conditions and making this project a success.

This article is based on the paper Rockfill consolidation for the extraction of sill pillar stopes at Toguraci gold mine by A Proudman, J Isles, R Lawolo and G Forster presented at the 13th AusIMM Underground Operators’ Conference.

Andrew Proudman

Principal Consultant

Editorial May 2018

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Mon, 07 May 2018 10:25:37 GMT

Editorial May 2018

AMC has always supported its regional professional institutes and has encouraged staff to participate in their activities. With The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) celebrating its 125th year in 2018, it is a good time to reflect on the history of our professional bodies.

The American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers (AIME) was founded in 1871 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and today has over 145,000 members worldwide. It is the original parent organization of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration (SME), The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS), the Association for Iron and Steel Technology (AIST), and the Society of Petroleum Engineers. AIME members provided valuable advice to their Australian colleagues when the AusIMM was established in 1893.

Several organizations in the British coal industry formed The Institution of Mining Engineers (IMinE) in 1889. Similarly, earlier groups in hard rock mining merged to form The Institution of Mining and Metallurgy (IMM) in 1892.The IMinE absorbed the National Association of Colliery Managers (1968) and The Institution of Mining Electrical and Mining Mechanical Engineers (1995), before itself being absorbed into the IMM in 1998. The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) was formed from the merger of the Institute of Materials (IoM) and IMM in 2002, today having over 18,000 members. IOM3 today spans a broad spectrum of materials and covers all aspects of materials production, processing, design and end use.

The AusIMM was founded as the Australasian Institute of Mining Engineers in 1893 by a meeting of mine managers in Adelaide, South Australia. New Zealand members were admitted in 1900 and Metallurgy was added to the name in 1919, reflecting the large number of metallurgist members. Today it has more than 13,500 members drawn from all sections of the industry and supported by a network of branches and societies in Australasia and internationally.

In 1894 the Chemical and Metallurgical Society of South Africa was started. It became the Chemical Metallurgical and Mining Society of South Africa in 1904, then in 1956 it became the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. In 2006 the name was again changed to The Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM) to reflect the representation of the SAIMM branches in neighbouring Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The Canadian Mining Institute was founded in Montreal in 1898. Metallurgy was added to the name in 1920 and it became known by the abbreviation CIM in 1942. It became the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum in 1990. CIM has grown from a small association to Canada’s leading professional association for the minerals related industries, with technical societies and over 30 local Branches across Canada and one overseas.

There are many other professional bodies, but these are the principal ones in the English-speaking world. Of these, the AusIMM remains the most specialized. The USA includes materials and petroleum, while Canada includes petroleum in its remit. In the UK materials dominate a greatly reduced mining membership. In Australia, Engineers Australia is the home for most non-mining engineers and there are two bodies competing for geologists as members. Despite this, geologists comprise a large membership within AusIMM.

It is interesting that apart from AIME, these bodies all formed in the decade from 1890. It was a period of great innovation, with steam giving way to electric power and cyanidation being applied to challenging gold processing. Problems with lung disease and treatment of sulphide ores had emerged and demanded research. Economies of scale were beginning to be appreciated, particularly in open pit mining. Stamp mills were being replaced by crushing and grinding. Professional training in Schools of Mines and universities was producing recruits for the new institutes. The day of the Cornish Captains had passed.

Research and education arranged through the new institutes was to set the industry up for success in the 20th Century. Those institutes generally kept pace with the need to organize conferences, publish papers and technical articles, and provide a social network for industry professionals. Today we have a different type of social network at our fingertips. Publication of technical articles happens instantly and is widely accessible. Conferences are still attractive, providing some welcome human interaction in an increasingly on-line world.

What strategy should a professional institute adopt to remain relevant today? It is a question that challenges the volunteer directors, committees and full-time staff. Get it wrong, and the coming generation of professionals will not see a benefit in membership. Get it right, and membership will continue to reflect the numbers employed in mining and related fields, including IT and technology areas that are under-represented today.

Consultancies like AMC must change with the times too, reflecting the make-up of professional skills being applied in the industry. We pay close attention to what the professional bodies are doing and where they are heading. It is also good to know where we have come from.

Peter McCarthy

Chairman Emeritus / Principal Mining Consultant

Cloud and mobile make technology for blasting easily accessible anywhere, anytime

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Mon, 07 May 2018 10:14:48 GMT

Cloud and mobile make technology for blasting easily accessible anywhere, anytime

Blasting is a core activity in mining and impacts downstream operational activities such as excavation, transport and processing. Software for use in blasting, particularly blast design, has been available for many years but it has not been readily accessible to an average blaster in the field. Integrated tools for blast design, data collection and performance analysis have been largely missing from the industry.

MineExcellence provides an integrated cloud and mobile based technology platform for blasting. It enables an average blaster to not only design blasts but also anlayze how it is performing and cater for adverse impacts commonly seen during blasting such as vibrations, flyrock etc. This platform is a significant innovation since it puts high quality drill and blasting intelligence in the hands of an average blaster, supervisors and senior mine management. It is accessible anywhere, anytime via a SaaS and mobile based enterprise platform. This platform has been used by a number of Tier-1 miners quite successfully for some time.

Key aspects of the platform include:

Cater for Blast Lifecycle: The platform caters for blast lifecycle (blast design, blast data collection, analysis, predictors / optimizers (vibration, fragmentation, flyrocks etc).
Users: A number of large tier-1 miners (and small miners too) are using this platform centrally cross all of their mines. Multi Tenancy makes this platform extremely flexible and hence is being used by a number of large blasting contractors and their clients.
Flexibility: Software-as-a Service (SaaS) means anyone can access it anytime from anywhere without the need for infrastructure (servers, computers). Smart Blasting Mobile app is integrated with the online platform and provides ability to capture detailed blast information and do analysis in the field including capturing GPS locations, date/time, photographs and video etc. Currently apps available in the market only provide information but do not let an average blaster do a lot. This app solves that problem and it also works in an offline mode.
Blast Performance Analysis: Systematic storage, retrieval and analysis of blasting data allows users to determine how blasts are performing. Industry has typically only concentrated on blast design but the analysis of how blasts are performing and appropriate actions has typically been missing.
Improved Blasting: This platform enables blasting personnel to vary critical parameters such as dilution, vibration, fragmentation, fly rock and fines generation. It is expected that in due course this will result in significant productivity gains. It is also a move towards safer blasting to factor in vibration and flyrock prior to a blast.
Cost Optimization: It is possible to capture explosive and manpower and associated costs during blasting to report and analyze.
Blaster’s Management Portal: The blaster’s management portal provides visibility to central mine management and blasting supervisors cross all the mines in a large organization from the same central system. It enables assessment / comparison across all mines for important parameters (powder factor, costs, production etc).

The mining industry is cautious in adopting technology innovations. The widespread successful adoption of a SaaS and mobile based model for technology for blasting is a global first and is the trend of the future. AMC has supported and encouraged MineExcellence to further develop this technology and the necessary technical support. A number of large miners have successfully implemented and supported this system across multiple mine sites. We believe that the MineExcellence platform will be a significant aid to miners in improving overall mine to mill productivity.

Peter McCarthy

Chairman Emeritus / Principal Mining Consultant

AMC helps pave way for more women in METS

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 16:05:42 GMT

AMC helps pave way for more women in METS

AMC Consultants (AMC) was pleased to participate in Austmine’s Women in STEM: METS Career Pathway Program and contribute to the career development of young professionals. Supported by funding from METS Ignited, this program provides a direct route for female STEM students to gain work experience and employment within the METS industry. It also increases awareness of the potential career opportunities in the METS sector for women studying STEM subjects at university.

Over a period of ten weeks, UWA Masters of Civil Engineering student, Amelia Tedja, joined AMC’s team in Perth as part of Austmine’s Women in STEM: METS Career Pathway Program. She describes the program as “challenging in that I had to learn new software and new concepts in a short period of time but it was rewarding in that I was able to push my limits”. She adds that “the knowledge and skills I’ve gained have been extremely important and something I would not have been able to learn in my university education”.

AMC Managing Director and CEO, Patrick Smith, views the program as “an opportunity to meet the leaders of the mining and the METS industry of the future” and encourages other companies to “come and join the program and you’ll get to see the future right now”.

Recruitment for the second round of the program has started. Organizations and students interested in being involved in the program can register their interest by emailing admin@austmine.com.au. To find out more about AMC’s employment opportunities, visit our careers page and don’t forget to follow us on Social Media!

The secret behind AngloGold Ashanti’s operational improvements

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 10:34:32 GMT

The secret behind AngloGold Ashanti’s operational improvements

Editorial from the Australian Mining Review February 2018

Three years ago, when many other operators where busy cutting costs, AngloGold Ashanti (AGA) Chief Operating Officer, Ludwig Eybers, had the foresight to place four of its open pit mines on a different trajectory: operational excellence. Today that decision is paying off in spades.

Under the expert guidance of AMC Consultants’ Improve team, the operations implemented tailored business improvement initiatives that have lead to improved operational insight and decision-making, a stronger familiarity with operational behavior, and an increased understanding of site interrelationships.

The numbers speak for themselves. One continental African operation saw a 54% improvement in drill fleet operating efficiency. That is a whopping 2,500 annualized operation hours in an area that was identified as the bottleneck of the operation and therefore the most important area of focus. Similarly, one of the Australian operations recorded a year on year improvement in average daily movement (BCM) of 24% last year compared to 2016.

“AMC’s benchmarking studies, in conjunction with its detailed operational analysis studies at AGA’s Continental African Region operations provided us with insights into the key drivers of open pit mining performance and the potential operating cost savings that could be realized,” Mr Eybers said.

“AMC were able to provide an independent analysis of the current and future cost bases for each operation, providing valuable input to AGA’s mining task force project.”

To find out how AMC’s unique Improve approach could help uncover hidden value in your operation, see their Improve offering.

Cameron Drummond

Subeditor and Journalist, Australian Mining Review

AMC Consultants Launch New Brand at PDAC 2018 Conference

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Tue, 27 Mar 2018 11:02:42 GMT

AMC Consultants Launch New Brand at PDAC 2018 Conference

AMC Consultants (AMC) chose this year’s PDAC conference to launch its new brand and website. Guided by a fresh focus—mine smarter—the move signals a new chapter for this veteran of mining that sees a bright future for the industry.

The brand was launched on 4 March at the Mining 4 Beers PDAC event, of which AMC was also a sponsor. Led by Managing Director, Patrick Smith, representatives from AMC’s global offices gathered to mark this important milestone. The launch was well attended by both local Toronto and global industry guests, and covered by leading industry publications.

“Five years after the downturn, the now recovering mining industry is leaner, more agile, and hungry for the best talent to create long-term, sustainable value. With this in mind, September last year, we embarked on a process of exploration of our strengths and what makes our approach unique. The result is a new brand and focus that reflect our continued commitment to the mining industry and our mission to continue helping our clients find smarter ways to mine and uncover hidden value”, said Managing Director, Patrick Smith.

Ryan McEachern, the Mining Suppliers Trade Association Canada’s (MSTA)Managing Director said, “we are very pleased that AMC decided to launch its new brand and website at the PDAC Conference here in Toronto. As one of the largest mining supply and services industry associations in the world, it is encouraging to have such respected advisors marking this important milestone in our market.”

As part of its Mine Smarter series for the PDAC Conference, AMC also presented two breakfast workshops at the Marché. One on geological risk by Geology Manager (the UK), Justin Glanvill, and a second one on best practices in underground mining by Managing Director, Patrick Smith. Both events were well received by full audiences from both Canadian and international companies.

About AMC Consultants

With 8,000+ projects for 1,800+ clients in 111+ countries across 60+ commodities, AMC’s global team has seen most challenges. And chances are, it has created a smarter solution to solve them by using its smart data system. Built over 30 years, it is the world’s most comprehensive site-level validated data and it underpins every AMC report. This data also powers AMC’s Dynamic Mining Intelligence™, which provides data-driven advice so miners understand where their next win is, fast.

Cameron Drummond

Subeditor and Journalist, Australian Mining Review

Bowdens Silver Project Rapid Mapping of Ore Hardness in 3D Case Study

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Fri, 02 Mar 2018 09:49:49 GMT

Bowdens Silver Project Rapid Mapping of Ore Hardness in 3D Case Study

Project Overview

Highly variable ore hardness presented a challenge for process plant design, mine scheduling and operations. A programme of conventional comminution testing to map ore hardness in 3D would be expensive, slow, and would require a vast amount of new core drill holes. AMC’s field trial and multivariate analysis established predictive relationships that enabled the results of 14 SAG mill comminution (SMC) tests to be extrapolated, using 12,529 sample assays from previous core and reverse circulation drill holes. This leveraged off existing resource drill hole data, saving time and money.

The challenge

Forecasting the hardness of the ore and correctly scheduling the mining sequence will be important for comminution circuit design and for meeting throughput targets. The results of the conventional comminution tests indicated a wide range from soft to very hard ore, even within the same rock type.

The result

The tests demonstrated that the Equotip can be used to map hardness variations in drill core at a scale that can be correlated to comminution test data and geological observations. At a cost of a few dollars per metre, the Equotip survey was much less expensive than conventional comminution testing. Systematic logging of all the drill core from the deposit with an Equotip is, therefore, a cost-effective option. The ability to map hardness in 3D provides a basis for much better estimates of power consumption, mill throughput, and operating costs for the Bowdens project.

Our approach

As part of a geometallurgical programme to characterize the ore, AMC conducted an orientation survey using an Equotip impact hardness tester, using both old and new drill core. The programme also included multi-element geochemical analysis. The hardness measurements showed remarkably strong correlations with Bond ball work index (BBWi) and the A x b parameter used for SAG mill circuit design. The hardness values also showed a positive correlation with potassium and sodium in all rock types. This is strongly suggestive of a relationship between hardness and hydrothermal alteration of the volcanic rocks.

Our approach

AMC’s approach to assessing the optimal combination of open-pit and underground mining at San Sebastian focused on:

Constant client collaboration.
Geotechnical analysis and recommendation of pit slope angles, crown pillar requirements, and underground stope dimensions.
Mining method options assessment based on AMC’s country-specific experience.
Pit and stope optimizations.
Determination of optimal open pit / underground interface and development sequence to sustain continuous production.
Practical mine design, sequencing, and detailed mine schedules.
Cost

Project Facts

Project:

Bowdens Silver Project

Location:

New South Wales, Australia

Commodity:

Silver

AMC Consultants is proud to work in conjunction with Silver Mines Limited.

Sebastian Jones – Ex-vice-President, Singapore Mining Club

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Wed, 28 Feb 2018 13:46:34 GMT

Sebastian Jones – Vice-President, Singapore Mining Club

Foong Chong lek – Director, Listings – Singapore Exchange

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Wed, 28 Feb 2018 13:41:53 GMT

Foong Chong lek – Director, Listings – Singapore Exchange

Chan Koong Mong – Director, Angka Alamjaya Sdm Bhd

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Wed, 28 Feb 2018 13:37:15 GMT

Chan Koong Mong – Director, Angka Alamjaya Sdm Bhd

WH Lim – CFO Aras Kuasa Sdn Bhd

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Wed, 28 Feb 2018 13:30:06 GMT

WH Lim – CFO Aras Kuasa Sdn Bhd

Alex Tan– Managing Director, Canaccord Genuity

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Wed, 28 Feb 2018 13:16:50 GMT

Alex Tan– Managing Director, Canaccord Genuity

Long-term mine planning and the mine-planning process

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Wed, 21 Feb 2018 17:21:53 GMT

Long-term mine planning and the mine-planning process

Successful mining executives know how to set up a good planning process and they know what benefits this will bring. Most operational problems can be foreseen and avoided with good planning.

It is easy to see the costs of the technical team in the cost reports, but we mine to make money, not to save costs. The major benefits of a good planning team, and of good plans, are orders of magnitude greater than their costs—particularly from the mistakes that weren’t made and the problems that were foreseen and avoided. A good plan is like good health: you don’t notice it till you don’t have it. “Prevention is better than cure” is a truism that is just as relevant to the health of our mining operations as to the health of our bodies.

An integrated planning process, working in a hierarchy from long term to short term, is essential. Longer-term plans set the overall strategic direction. Progressively shorter-term plans provide more detail and accuracy at the front end of the longer-term plans. Approvals processes should also work from longer term to shorter term. Longer-term plans must be focussed on delivering the corporate goal in the long run. Shorter-term plans must then detail how operations in the near future will contribute to the achievement of the longer-term plans.

The Strategic Options Analysis (SOA) evaluates, at a high level, the impacts on value of all the various strategic decisions that the company can make, both separately and together. A full SOA is not normally done on an annual basis but should be reviewed annually as part of the planning cycle to ensure that the approved life-of-mine plan continues to be the best long-term plan. Major updates and reworking of the SOA should occur every three to five years.

The Life of Mine Plan (LOMP) is the formally approved long-term plan for the mine. It is selected after conducting an SOA, and is the plan identified as best delivering the corporate goal. It establishes the framework within which all other shorter-term plans are developed. The LOMP is reviewed and updated annually as part of the planning cycle, taking account of constraints identified in shorter-term plans or resulting from actual events, and changes identified in the SOA.

The Five-Year Plan (5YP) forms a critical medium-term link between the high-level strategies in the LOMP and the detailed shorter-term implementation plans. The 5YP is generated annually, with quarterly time periods modelled. Its timeframe is selected to provide sufficient “look-ahead” time for long-lead activities to be identified and adequately planned for, once they appear at the end of each new 5YP. Formal approval of the 5YP is part of the annual planning cycle. Failing to look far enough ahead is a common cause of operational problems in a mine.

The Two-Year Rolling Plan (2YP) provides a higher level of detail, supported by more-detailed engineering work, at the front end of the 5YP. It is updated quarterly with activities reported against it on a monthly basis. It is a regular ongoing part of the short-term planning process and, importantly, is not just done once a year as part of the annual budgeting cycle. The 2YP update cycle requires operators and planners to regularly look at the effects of current operating and planning issues up to two years ahead, avoiding actions that may be expedient in the short term but that create problems in the longer term. The appearance of an activity at the end of the 2YP is the flag for detailed design work to begin, with the aim of having all activities occurring in the first 12 – 18 months of each 2YP planned in detail and solutions found for any problems that have been identified. A good 2YP ensures that the mine operations will have as few unpleasant surprises as possible.

The Annual Budget (Budget) plan is simply the plan for the budget year in the version of the 2YP created three to six months before its start. Its preparation does not require any special attention or additional work, since the rolling process of plan and schedule generation and associated approvals ensures that the plan is realistic and achievable and is aligned with the corporate goal. Physical quantities in the Budget plan drive the Budget costs via appropriate cost models, which evolve in detail and accuracy in the same way as the physical plans and schedules. There are of course some formal processes that are specific to the budget, but if an integrated LOMP / 5YP / 2YP / Budget process is in place, the additional work required at budget time can be significantly less than is common at many mines.

Key performance indicators (KPIs) cascade down through the organizational structure to ensure the ultimate delivery of the LOMP. KPIs for more-senior operating managers (and market analysts?) focus not on short-term production measures but rather on measures related to the LOMP. Focussing on short-term plans and one-year budget KPIs is almost guaranteed to result in outcomes that are at variance with the optimal LOMP and activities that are suboptimal and value-destroying, not value-adding.

Our knowledge of rock conditions and ore grades will never be as complete as we might like these to be, so we will always have to respond to unexpected situations in the short term. To use a first aid analogy, we must attend first to breathing and bleeding to maintain life, and can worry about fixing up broken bones later. There may therefore be times when we are focussed solely on the short-term survival of our operation. But this should be the exception, not the rule, and having survived the emergency, our day-to-day actions should deliberately contribute to the long-term good health and well-being of the operation. To extend the safety analogy, continual accidents trigger a review of operating practices and changes are made to prevent reoccurrence. In the same way, continual short-term operational problems cause us to ask what is wrong with our planning systems if we are always operating in crisis mode. The best-planned mine will have a problem from time to time, but it does not continually lurch from crisis to crisis.

So to summarize, what is long-term planning, how does it differ from short-term planning, and what are its benefits? In one sense, if we only look at the processes involved in developing plans—gathering geological and geotechnical information, generating mine designs, scheduling mining and treatment operations, and forecasting cash flows, etc.—the main differences between short and long-term planning are the timeframe and the level of detail and accuracy. The more important difference is the underlying motivation and ethos of the planning process; whether the focus is on long-term value generation or short-term achievement of a set of annual targets.

Long-term planning clearly puts the focus on identifying the plan that delivers the corporate goals in the long term, with all shorter-term plans focussed on achieving the long-term plan. In the absence of a proper long-term planning process, short-term thinking leads to sterilization of Mineral Resources, lower production rates, and less efficient and profitable operations.

Where does your planning process fit?

Text attributed to Hall.

Why feasibility studies fail

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Wed, 21 Feb 2018 17:13:18 GMT

Why feasibility studies fail

There is no international agreement on the terminology for each stage of feasibility study and there is no agreed standard for quality or accuracy. The AusIMM’s Monograph 27, Cost Estimation Handbook (second edition 2012) provides a set of standards that may become more widely used.

Surveys of many studies reported by RL Bullock in 2011 reveal that accuracy ranges are:

Scoping -50% to +30%
Prefeasibility -27% to +30%
Feasibility -20% to +27%
Detailed engineering -12% to +20%

These ranges are wider than generally understood but are constrained by what is practical. For example, many people expect a feasibility study accuracy to be +/- 10% but this is rarely achievable other than within the constrained boundary of the processing plant. Estimates for mining and infrastructure are much less reliable. It takes twice as much effort (and cost) to reach +/- 10% as it does to reach +/- 15%. Bullock also reported that the average capital overrun (over the last 50 years) was 26%, with no evidence that estimation accuracy has improved over that period despite the use of computers. The average overrun has been worse in recent years due to rapid cost escalation, but has probably now stabilized. There have been many studies over the years that reveal the generally poor performance of feasibility studies.

A feasibility study should be considered a failure if:

The capital cost is higher than expected
The operating cost is higher than expected
The recovered grade is lower than expected
Sales revenue is lower than expected
It takes longer to build and ramp up than expected
Initial performance cannot be sustained, though it may take several years for the failure to become evident.

AMC data suggests that around 25% of projects fail, a further 20% perform better than expected and the remaining 55% perform more or less as expected. There is no apparent difference in performance between junior and major companies, large and small projects, or locations around the world. Common causes of failure are:

Mine design and scheduling
Over-optimistic ramp-up schedules
Learning curve not considered
Over-optimistic production schedules
Geology, resources and reserves estimation
Inadequate attention to local variability
Statistics and modelling override common sense
Metallurgical testwork, sampling and scale-up
Metallurgical domains within the orebody not understood
Testing is done on unrepresentative composites
Failure to identify process contaminants
Inability to handle ore types as per mining schedule
Process water chemistry differs with lab

Often, the root cause of failure is an inadequate understanding of the geology of the deposit. In general, failure of a feasibility study can be attributed to inadequate resources or human factors.

Inadequate resources
time (and artificial deadlines) or skipping stages
budget
availability of skilled personnel for studies and for construction management (or poor choices made)
Human factors
prescient CEO syndrome (already announced the answer)
the innate drive to make it work, when it doesn’t (corporate momentum)
pressure to make it work, when it doesn’t (stretch targets)
the consulting firm fee cycle (agree or we won’t pay for work already done)
study is a loss leader for an EPCM engineer (if feasible, we build)
structure and timing of bonuses to executives, project managers, consultants and bankers (long gone before the truth emerges)
confirmation bias (I only accept what fits my existing beliefs)

The average operating company has limited experience in developing projects, often has cut back or eliminated corporate engineering staff and usually does not involve experienced project managers in preparing the execution plan in the feasibility study. Cost overruns sometimes occur because substantial owner’s costs are overlooked in the study. These include cost for the owner’s employees, financial fees, interest charges, insurances, and legal and consulting fees. Contingency amounts are often inadequate. These are amounts that will be spent, it is just not possible to identify where they will be spent at the time the study is prepared. Based on many examples, the average contingency allowance across a feasibility study is 13%.To improve the performance of studies they should receive increased scrutiny through peer review and audit. Allocation of time and budget for studies must be adequate. There should be an independent audit of data gathering and analysis for each step in the study process. The formal process of risk assessment might include peer review by a specialist team that has no interest in the project outcome. More use should be made of benchmark data from existing operations. The AusIMM Cost Estimation Handbook is an excellent resource for anyone working on a study.The scope of work must be “is it feasible?” and not “make it feasible”, because sometimes the answer is “no”. “Not feasible” is a function of orebody, location and market conditions. It does not mean the study team are nincompoops. It does not mean the study budget was wasted. It is better learned from a study than from experience.

Text by Peter McCarthy.

Mineral Resource Validation

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Wed, 21 Feb 2018 17:11:32 GMT

Mineral Resource Validation

Introduction

Almost all Mineral Resources reports prepared in accordance with international codes (e.g. JORC, NI43-101) contain a section called Mineral Resource Validation. The purpose of this section is to validate the accuracy of the estimated block grades used for stated Mineral Resources. When the model has been developed for a deposit being mined, the truest validation is usually against mine or mill production. In addition there is the opportunity to compare the modelled grades against a more detailed model based on closer-spaced data obtained during grade control drilling or sampling. These are usually addressed under a Reconciliation section of the report, but are not discussed further here.

This article looks at recent changes in validation methods and expands upon the ideas presented by Jacquie Coombes in Validation of Resource Models – Myths, Materiality and Modern Approaches (Coombes, 2009).

Generally the results from a number of validation methods should be considered, as the results from any one or two methods are rarely sufficient to adequately check the estimated block grades.

The most common methods of validation are:

Visual inspection in section and plan comparing the block model grade distribution to the original drillhole and other sample grades.
Creation of swath plots comparing the block grade distribution to the sample grade distribution along coordinate lines and elevation.
Comparison of primary estimated block grades based on the results of using alternative estimation methods.
Global summary statistics comparing the composite grades to the block grades.
Comparison with previous Mineral Resource estimates.

Validation methods

Each of these methods, although they act as a check against the model, also have issues that should be taken into consideration when relying on the validation results.

Visual inspection

Visual inspection highlights areas of unestimated blocks and possible negative grades, along with the agreement between the estimated grade with the original assay data. The visual comparison of block models and drill sample data is generally completed in plan and along cross-sections aligning with the dominant drill direction, with only one line or level of drillhole data being viewed at a time. This results in the lower or higher grade intervals on adjacent sections or even between sections being hard to visualize. It is recommended that additional sections that lie orthogonal to the drillhole section lines are also viewed. This will allow a more detailed appreciation of the continuity of grade to be gained, and highlight areas between sections where areas of poor estimation have occurred.

Swath plots

Swath plots are designed to compare two sets of data. Commonly used data are the declustered sample grades used for the estimation against the block grades. The plot takes an average grade over set intervals in a specific direction (e.g. north-south sections at a constant 50 m interval). Alternatively, block grades estimated using two different estimation methods may be compared to identify differences created by using the different estimation techniques. These plots only show averages over intervals and not the local block grade estimates. The following should be avoided:

Inclusion of sub-blocks.
Inclusion of all sample data rather than declustered, composited, top-capped data.
Inclusion of blocks below or outside the area of drilling.

A grade bias can be identified if the primary swath line is consistently above the validation swath line (biased high) or if the primary swath line is consistently below the validation swath line (biased low).

Swath plots can also identify grade smoothing to a certain degree. If the peaks and troughs of the primary estimation method have noticeably lower peaks and higher troughs than a Nearest Neighbour (NN) swath plot, this is a strong indication that grade smoothing has occurred. It is then important to look at the estimation parameters (assay length versus composite length, maximum number of composites per drillhole, maximum number of composites per block grade, etc.) to determine if grade smoothing has been excessive.

Comparison of model block grades using different estimation methods

Comparing the estimated block grades by the preferred method against the grades estimated using alternative methods does not generally validate the estimated block grade. This comparison generally only highlights the different weighting applied to the individual sample grades by the different methods. It does not take into consideration the main estimation parameters that will impact on the estimated grade. These are the search parameters (including orientation and radii), block size, minimum and maximum number of samples, minimum number of holes used, composite length, grade domains, discretization, etc. Single sample NN estimates should compare well with the input sample data statistics, but do not allow for any trends in the mineralization or differences between grades based on a block size and sample grades. When inverse distance to the power of three (ID3), or to a higher power, is used as the main estimation method and compared to NN, there should always be a good correlation. This is because the ID method using powers greater than two applies a high weight to the closest sample/s, resulting in an almost NN estimate.

Comparing NN block grades estimates to ordinary kriging (OK) block grades estimates should give very similar results to comparing sample grades to the OK estimates.

Global statistics

With this method, the block grades are compared to the declustered, composited sample grades. The comparison should use top-capped values, if this has been employed. This exercise can be done by domain as long as the population is statistically meaningful. It will give general information comparing the mean values (which should be similar) while the block grade variance should be smaller than the composited sample data. It does not provide information on the local estimates or whether correct domaining of the mineralized areas has been used, and can be misleading due to the following:

Sub-blocks biasing results (the grades of sub-blocks given the same statistical weighting as a parent block);

Including blocks estimated outside the area of drillhole information. This can create a low grade bias for the model grade;

The impact of grade/geology domaining and mineralization trends;

Comparison with previous estimates

Although comparison with the previous Mineral Resource estimate is an essential part of a good Resource report, caution has to be exercised when using the results as a means of validating the new estimate. This is because of the changes that may have occurred between the two estimates, such as new data, mine production, differences in the estimation method, domaining, variography, search parameters, etc., even a change in the person undertaking the estimate. If the changes are relatively minor, a comparison between the two estimates may help to validate the new estimate (or conversely, invalidate the previous estimate).

Comparison with historically reported Mineral Resource estimates, where the input data cannot be validated or is no longer available or parameters and estimation method is not known, does not validate a Mineral Resource.

Other methods to consider

A number of other checks on the estimated block grades should also be included in the validation:

Volumetric comparison – compare the volumes of the wireframe solids to the total block volumes to ensure the sub-blocking is appropriate.
Other statistical checks including quantile-quantile (QQ) and probability (PP) plots.
Comparing the declustered sample statistics to the block grades, based on the estimation pass. The first pass should have closer spaced data, and often higher grades, while the last pass would have limited data and therefore have increased variability between block grades and sample grades with higher kriging variances.

Recommendations

AMC recommends the following checks be undertaken to confirm the estimated block grades are appropriate, based on available data and a good understanding of the geology:

Ensure the search parameters are adequate for the trends in mineralization – not too tight a search ellipse that would result in limited samples per estimate (similar to NN).
Ensure the longest search axis is in the direction of greatest grade continuity, shown by the variogram.
Check that the number of samples used to estimate the block grades is not so large that each block has a global grade estimated instead of a local grade (i.e. over-smoothed).
Carry out a visual comparison comparing the block grades with the sample data used for the estimate, focusing on the very high and low grade blocks, and block grades around the margins of the deposit where there is limited data. Also look in all three directions (plan, cross-section and longitudinal sections) and between drill sections.
Prepare swath plots based on constant block size and only for the area of drilling. Look at each estimation domain separately, as one domain biased high can be offset by another domain biased low, resulting in a global estimate that appears unbiased.
Compare the declustered composited sample statistics to the statistics of constant size block grades.
Compare the statistics between the estimated block and NN grades.
Ensure the estimated density values are consistent with the geology and check whether they are correlated to the grade.
Review the kriging variance and check the areas of high variance indicating poorly estimated block grades.
Ensure the estimated density values are consistent with the geology and that they are correlated to the grade.
For total block estimation, ensure the sum of individual elements does not exceed 100%. An example would be a mineral sands deposit where the sum of the estimated heavy minerals, slimes and over size material, contained within the sand, cannot be greater than 100%.

Conclusion

There is no single method of comparing the drillhole sample data to the estimated block grades that can simply validate a block model and Mineral Resource estimate. Even reconciliation with the tonnes mined and milled may not definitively confirm the estimated block grades due to issues with mining due to dilution, mining losses ore/waste going to the wrong stockpile pile and mill losses.A number of checks must be carried out with full consideration given to the geology and trends in mineralization. Most importantly, it is the responsibility of the Competent or Qualified Person to not just perform a standard checking procedure, but to interpret the output model based on experience and to consider if it matches the available data, including the geological interpretation of the deposit being estimated.

Reference

J Coombes 2009 “Validation of Resource Models – Myths, Materiality and Modern Approaches”. AusIMM Project Evaluation Conference

Text by Rod Webster

Reporting Codes – GKZ and CRIRSCO

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Wed, 21 Feb 2018 17:02:57 GMT

Reporting Codes – GKZ and CRIRSCO

AMC recently attended the Minex 2017 Central Asia conference in Astana. This year’s conference was particularly significant since Kazakhstan joined CRIRSCO with KAZRC earlier in the year, becoming the latest of the CRIRSCO family of reporting codes.

Kazakhstan becomes the 10th member of the CRISCO organization whose origins began in 1994 with the objective of standardizing the reporting definitions for mineral resources and ore reserves for the purposes of market reporting.

The joining of CRIRSCO is part of the 100 Concrete Steps set out by President Nursultan Nazarbayev for institutional reform. The step, number 74, translates as;

74. Transparency and predictability of subsoil use shall be maintained via introduction of the CRIRSCO reporting standards.

The areas that are now covered by CRIRSCO codes are Australasia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Europe, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia, South Africa and the United States of America. Collectively these jurisdictions are estimated to cover 80% of the global invested mining capital and hence as Kazakhstan seeks to attract international investment and funding to its mining sector, the adoption of such a widely-recognized reporting system is seen to ease the evaluation of projects by the international community.

The current system of resource and reserve reporting is widely referred to as the GKZ “ГКЗ” system. Under this system, a project is prepared by licensed design institutes using a prescribed methodology that is dependent upon the nature, status, and scale of the project. The project is then presented to a state-appointed body called the Committee of Geology and Subsoil Use, which reviews the project and can ask for changes to the project. Once the committee is satisfied, it approves the estimate and the classification of that estimate. This reporting methodology was common throughout the Soviet Union and hence can be found throughout the FSU states.

AMC presented a conceptual discussion of the similarities and differences between the GKZ and CRIRSCO methodologies and perhaps philosophies. This was obviously not an official view from the perspective of any organization but rather the thoughts of practitioners who have observed both systems.

All reporting codes have grown out of a need to have a set of standards according to which resources can be reported and hence compared and evaluated on a common basis. The adherence to a set of reporting standards also provides the user with confidence in the estimate.

The differences between the systems are in part a result of them being developed independently for different environments and end uses. The GKZ methodology grew around centrally owned assets where a common owner was making all decisions and hence was focussed on making comparison on a common basis. In contrast, designed for assets owned by investors, the CRIRSCO methodology addressed investors’ need to be able to consider the merits of a project and the development strategy being proposed by whoever is managing the project. The CRIRSCO codes also were designed to protect an investor from misrepresentation of a projects potential by a project developer, either through dishonesty, application of an inappropriate methodology, or through an overly optimistic assessment.

In our discussion, we focussed on two key areas where the concept within the CRIRSCO codes is different to GKZ;

Responsibility – Competent Person

Methodology – Non prescriptive

Responsibility – In the case of the GKZ the project is prepared by a design institute but the final responsibility for the estimate rests with the Committee of Geology and Subsoil Use. In the case of the CRIRSCO system, the responsibility lies with the Competent Person who is taking responsibility for the estimate, so it is a personal responsibility rather than resting with an organization.

Methodology – Under the GKZ system for a given deposit size and type, the methodology for developing the estimate is largely mandated. The first organization to assess a deposit will define the deposit class and hence the methodology that applies. Any subsequent assessment will use the same deposit class or must justify a change. The drilling density, the sampling, the metallurgical program etc. are all defined and the project must comply with the methodology for the class of deposit defined.

The CRIRSCO codes place the responsibility for selecting the methodology for the estimation with the Competent Person. The later versions of the codes such as JORC 2012 or the KAZRC code include a list of issues which must be addressed, known as Table 1. However it is up to the Competent Person to determine how the subjects in Table 1 are addressed, or to explain why that topic from Table 1 does not apply to the estimate in question.

These key differences rely on the idea of an individual as the Competent Person taking responsibility for the estimate and for the methodology applied in making the estimate. We discussed who a Competent Person is and what they need to consider in reporting an estimate. In terms of the CRIRSCO codes there are three key reporting principles which are;

Transparency – Reports to contain sufficient information in a clear and unambiguous manner so that the report can be understood and does not mislead.

Materiality- Reports to contain all relevant information at the time of disclosure that users of the report might reasonably require and reasonably expect to find in a Public Report.

Competence – Reports must be based on work that is the responsibility of a suitably qualified and experienced person who is subject to an enforceable professional code of ethics and rules of conduct.

The definition of a Competent Person is very similar in all of the CRIRSCO codes. The KAZRC definition is shown below.

A Competent Person is a minerals industry professional who is a professional member of a recognized professional organization which has disciplinary processes including the powers to suspend or expel a member.

A Competent Person must have a minimum of five years’ relevant experience in the style of mineralization or type of deposit under consideration and in the activity which that person is undertaking.

With respect to the Competent Persons experience, we considered that the key phrase is relevant experience. We suggested that the range of mineral occupancies and mining projects is such that no one has relevant experience in all deposit types and commodities. As such, a person can be a Competent Person for specific types of project but no one is a Competent Person for everything. However, relevant experience does not need to be in the same commodity but it needs to be appropriate experience in the style of mineralization and operation. The Competent Person must decide if he or she has the relevant experience, and would be able to face their peers if challenged. Only if they feel they pass this test should they take on the Competent Person role.

Martin Staples
Director / Principal Mining Engineer

Guidance for those preparing and publishing NI 43-101 Technical Reports

hello@honeybadgersme.com (Neil Tanner) — Wed, 21 Feb 2018 17:01:41 GMT

Published: December 2015

Guidance for those preparing and publishing NI 43-101 Technical Reports

The following discussion and guidance focuses on areas to which, in AMC’s experience, regulators pay particular attention when reviewing Technical Reports prepared under NI 43-101. It is not intended as a replacement for guidance contained in NI 43-101 and its companion documents, to which those preparing Technical Reports should always refer (see list at the end of the article).

This article is based on a presentation by Mort Shannon to the annual meeting of the American Exploration and Mining Association in Spokane, Washington, in December 2015. The Item Number, where shown in the following table, refers to Form 43-101F1.

AMC’s principal recommendation:

Read and be familiar with NI 43-101, 43-101CP, Form 43-101F1, CIM Best Practice Guidelines and other guidance published by CIM and regulatory authorities from time to time.

References:

National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, June 2011

Companion Policy 43-101CP to National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, June 2011

Form 43-101F1 – Technical Report, June 2011

CIM Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, developed by CIM Standing Committee on Reserve Definitions, May 2014

CIM Estimation of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, Best Practice Guidelines

CSA Staff Notice 43-307. Mining Technical Reports – Preliminary Economic Assessments, August 2012

British Columbia Securities Commission – 2012 Mining Report, January 2013.

National Policy 51-201, Disclosure Standards

National Instrument 51-102, Continuous Disclosure Obligations

Useful link: http://www.bcsc.bc.ca/For_Companies/Mining/

This article, originally authored by Mort Shannon, was published in 2015. Please note that Pat Stephenson and Mort Shannon mentioned in the article have left the organization.

Visualizing Multivariate Data with UMAP: A Geometallurgical Approach to Sample Representativity

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