My apologies to my 8th grade English teacher right now.
6 Reasons Why You Should Speak to a Mining Engineering Consultant
The mining industry supports roughly 45 percent of the world's economic activities. But there has never been a more volatile time to utilize natural resources.Society thinks companies do nothing but exploit the earth, consuming energy and water. Corporations leave behind industrial waste and pollution.
If your company is starting a new mine, you have specialized needs. Expanding or extending the life of an existing mine requires a different skillset. Closing a mine is a completely different process.
A mining engineering consultant brings a fresh perspective and outside experience to the job. He can save you time and time. Here is why you should consider hiring one:
Expand Your Capacity
Why maintain a large permanent cadre of full-time engineers? A mining engineering consultant can step in when necessary to bolster your staff.A project deadline, changes in project direction, or a windfall contract will no longer be a problem.
The costs to develop and run mines escalate due to poor planning. Inefficient or wasteful operations are poor uses of limited capital.
Address challenges by bringing in experienced experts. A mining engineering consultant can produce a full range of studies and reports without adding to your employee count:
- scoping
- feasibility studies
- mine planning
- technical audits
- mining methods selection
- mine design
- mining strategies development
- drill and blast design
- ventilation system design
- operational assistance
- extraction strategy implementation
- financial evaluations
- risk analysis
- project reviews
They can also provide shareholder information, independent expert reports, and more.
Expand Your Focus
You probably maintain staff with the essential knowledge necessary for your core business. Sometimes you need expertise in specific areas outside of your current comfort zone. You don't have time or budget to hire, train and onboard an employee.This is an excellent opportunity to bring in an expert to get the job done without time or money wasted.
Consultants have direct operations experience in the fields you need.
Want to try new extraction methods? The challenge is welcome.
A Mining Engineering Consultant Offers Fresh Eyes
A team can get used to working in a certain way or certain technologies. Your "well-oiled machine" can be blind to inefficiencies.Plus, employees tend to overlook different solutions due to their familiarity with "how we do things here."
Disrupt identical views with mining engineering consultants. Break up groupthink with engineers from wide-ranging backgrounds. Have consultants bring knowledge from different sectors.
Cross-disciplinary thinking is a great way to innovate and explore new solutions to existing challenges.
Bring in inventive thinkers to look at new ways to increase mine productivity. They can suggest simultaneous ways to decrease capital, energy, and personnel requirements.
Mining Engineers Are Serious about Sustainability
Society holds mine operators responsible for damage to the environment and community. A mining engineer weighs mine productivity and profitability against the cost to stakeholders.The engineer considers the environment, community, and worker safety. Sustainability is a key metric for capital investors as well as government regulators.
A well thought out and articulated sustainability strategy can help:
- Maintain your operating license
- Cut interference risk
- Reduce production costs
- Encourage innovation in products and services
- Earn preferred contract status
- Build long-term brand equity
- Attract and keep the best employees
- Improve mine performance
- Strengthen government relations
Mining efficiency has improved, and environmental impact has lessened since 2015. This is due to the many changes in technology and regulation.
The current "green" mining techniques continue to improve. There is a focus on reduced environmental impact and community preservation. New legislation in many countries requires planning years beyond extraction.
Mines are not just looking at lifespan plans of a few years to a few decades but at 100+ year plans. The plan for after a mine closes has an important influence on capital investors and regulators.
International Regulation Requires Expertise
The nature of mining development requires a substantial degree of risk-taking. Governments recognize the environmental impacts of mining. There is increasing regulation and oversight of oil and mineral extraction.Environmental regulations of the mining industry are now tougher and more complex. This is historically true in the U.S. and the European Union. It is increasingly true of Asian, African, and South American countries.
China's new coal restrictions are in the headlines. Gabon has captured attention in the past year with more complex restrictions for oil. Brazilian legislation, which aims to protect communities from mineral extraction harm, is in the news.
With each layer of legislative complexity, the need for consultants with a narrow focus grows.
Industry Looking Up (or Down) in 2018
The news is mixed depending on the source."For the first time in several years, the global forecast for mining was looking up..."
Also noted, "...many presenters gave optimistic views for the next 5 years."
At the same time and in the same report, "it's going to be difficult to convince publicly traded companies to invest..."
Another quote says that "commodity price trends are showing steady erosion since the early part of 2017."
Mine operators continue to focus on operational efficiency. The continued limitation of capital continues to slim budgets despite reported optimism.
Reports indicate activity in energy and water reduction. The use of shared services and outsourced back-office operations is on-trend. The number of people employed in the mining industry continues to shrink.
Conclusion
Nowadays, a mining engineering consultant is a good choice for mine operators.The mining industry struggles with reduced capital availability due to social pressure. There are greater concerns about sustainability, increased regulation, and greater production.
The use of consultants over employees is a win-win for everyone. Mine operators can build the agile team of experts they need for a specific project or deadline. They can have the knowledge and experience needed without wasting time or money.
There is a mining engineering consultant who can join you at the beginning, middle, or end of a mining process. Take a look at one of our case studies here.
Whether you are looking to improve operations or plan a closure, we have qualified, experienced experts available.
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