WorleyParsons names South Africa practice as Centre of Excellence for mining

Energy consultancy Worley Parsons has opened a mining Centre of Excellence (COE) in South Africa, a continental hub for mining. The COE will help with the execution of a number of services that the firm offers in the mining value chain, including exploration, planning, development, material handling, and a range of other activities.

Mining is one of the sturdiest pillars of the South African economy, contributing nearly 10% of the country’s GDP on an annual basis. Firms across the country have been engaging in deep level mining and its surrounding processes for more than 120 years, which has made it a hub of sorts for mining across the continent and the globe.

However, in tandem with the entire economy of the country, the industry has been navigating a rough patch in recent times. A dip in the prices of precious metals such as gold and platinum has dealt a blow to revenues across the entire industry, barring the coal and iron ore segments, which have remained lucrative.

As the industry struggles its way out of this slump, it will need to look beyond traditional methods and embrace innovative strategies, for which firms will increasingly turn to the consulting industry. WorleyParsons has recognised this opportunity, and has opened an industry-specific COE for mining to help firms in the country with the entire strategising process.

The Australian consulting firm entered the South African market in 2006, with the aim of providing professional services in the energy sector; primarily with regard to water resources and power. Over the years, the firm’s expertise has expanded into a number of other energy segments, including nuclear energy, deep-water hydrocarbon systems, and mining.

Most impressively, the firm boasts the management of more deep-level shaft projects than any other firm in the world, the majority of which were completed in South Africa. The South African practice of the firm will now act as the global COE, coordinating projects across the world in a centralised manner.

In essence, the COE will provide “concept-to-completion” expertise, ranging from the mass distribution of minerals to the marketing of precious metals. In terms of projects, the centre will provide solutions for the development of new projects, as well the upgrade of existing facilities.

The “mine-to-market” solutions handle every stage of the process, ranging from exploring to handling, processing, waste management, hydrometallurgy, pyrometallurgy, transport, regulatory approvals, environmental approvals, and even support with a mining firm’s non-process infrastructure.

Commenting on the firm’s expertise, CEO of WorleyParsons in South Africa, Denver Dreyer said, “We take a multidisciplinary approach, with teams comprised of experts from across the mining and mineral processing, pyrometallurgy or light metals project lifecycle, to identify challenges early and produce tailored strategies that mitigate risks. We understand the outcomes that our customers want to achieve by using our services and position our value chains accordingly,” 

He added, “We are also in a unique position to be able to offer front-end technical specialist consulting and high-end advisory consulting through Advisian, a WorleyParsons global business that provides management and strategic advisory services coupled with technical consulting and deep domain expertise to address our customers’ business and asset challenges.”