Despite the slowdown in the mining indus- try in other parts of the world, the fundamental demand is still present in Africa, with a sufficient number of resource projects in the pipeline that are robust enough to be developed, says engineering, project delivery and advisory services group Aurecon Africa and Middle East technical director and resources industry leader Mark Berger.

He notes that events such as the Investing in African Mining Indaba, which highlight such projects, are important for the continent’s economies and its mining industries, as they showcase mining projects in Africa and the capabilities that are available.

Berger adds that the Indaba allows mining company owners and service providers to interact on a face-to-face basis.

“Aurecon’s exhibition booth at the Indaba, which will be held in Cape Town from February 4 to 7, will allow delegates to personally speak to the company’s leading experts. It will also increase awareness of Aurecon’s mining capabilities and stimulate follow-up meetings with contacts made at the event.

“The Mining Indaba is the world’s largest mining investment event and Africa’s largest mining event. It is also a focused event, attended by many of the industry’s major decision-makers. This is a fantastic opportunity for Aurecon to showcase its mining capabilities to the world’s leading resources companies,” Berger enthuses.

Personnel from the company’s resources teams in South Africa and Australia will man the booth and the company is looking forward to attending keynote speakers’ addresses and the networking opportunities that the event will present.

Operations, Logistics and Development Aurecon mining infrastructure leader Andrew Keith says there are some challenges as mines become more remote in landlocked African regions. “There is an increased need for infra- structure as ore chains become longer and more complex and communities situated well beyond the boundaries of mines are impacted on.”

The key to the sustainability of African mining operations lies beyond the traditional mine, process plant development and pit approaches.

Keith says that, for a mine to be sustainable, it must be able to operate profitably throughout its resource life and increase returns to shareholders, the community and the country in which it operates.

He also notes that the viability of a mining process is dependent on a logistics chain, which is important for interaction with geographical, technological, financial and socioeconomic influences.

“There is an ongoing trend towards longer, more complex supply chains, with longer and heavier trains, as well as trends towards rail signalling, remote sensing and in-motion sensing, which are providing a wealth of information, allowing cargo to be tracked from mine load-out to the ship’s hatch and beyond.

“As logistics chains lengthen, the risks posed by each of these elements multiply and the cost effectiveness of building in redundancies diminishes, making mines dependent on long, and sometimes fragile, logistics chains,” Keith notes.

Berger says, therefore, miners need to look at increasing the value of integrating the logistics chain with the mining process in a way that will improve life-of-mine operability and drive long-term shareholder value.

“Aurecon works with its clients to ensure our project solutions are designed from the outset to enhance the project’s business drivers to meet the client’s needs. It also tailors solutions to reduce the whole of life cost and project risk of a mine and improve the operational effi- ciency of various mining projects using its entire logistics chain expertise.

“We also drive improved sustainability outcomes and life-of-mine operability through our renowned sustainable development, whole-of-life asset management processes and alternative method of delivering projects through the JK Aurecon alliance,” Berger says.

JK Aurecon is a strategic alliance between Aurecon and mining services company JKTech. The alliance delivers client solutions, effectively reducing total costs on resources projects.

Aurecon uses the latest methods to enhance the robustness of logistics chains by reducing the risks associated with these chains.

Methods vary according to the nature of the risk but include cost efficiency through logistics chain simulation and increased efficiency, social licence through community engagement in labour-intensive community projects associated with the mine and logistics ore chain, and the incorporation of sustainable-development principles into design, operation and business.