As demands on the mining sector become increasingly onerous and complex, mines’ reliance on consulting engineers has grown, particularly in terms of health and safety, as well as environment, social and corporate governance (ESG), says engineering consultancy SRK MD Vis Reddy.
Over the past 20 years, most mining firms have, for various reasons, scaled down their in-house technical capability, resulting in their relying more on consulting engineers and scientists.
“It is certainly no understatement to say that the demand for our expertise and advice is greater than ever,” he adds.
Reddy tells Mining Weekly that client requirements have become more diverse, whereby consulting engineering services now include greater involvement at the level of operational support, whereas traditionally, consulting engineers would focus on client requirements at strategic, planning and design level.
As a result, project teams on mining projects now require environmental expertise, social scientists, data scientists and data experts, in addition experts in traditional mining discipline.
Meanwhile, consulting engineers are filling skills gaps in various sectors, and are increasingly relied upon as a repository of institutional knowledge and experience, explains SRK director and principal consultant Andrew van Zyl.
“Consulting firms typically generate and store large volumes of information and technical data and mines will often request this data from us, especially where rapid staff turnover or a change of ownership disrupts the mine’s information sources.”
Consequently, SRK is contributing specialist skills in areas where individual operations or companies cannot warrant having their own experts or where the number of experts that could be employed does not facilitate growth and innovation, he says.
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