Modern Mining March 2016

MINING News

People on the move at SRK SRK Consulting (SA) has announced a number of new appointments within the firm, including a new Chairman, board member and heads of business units.

Taking on the chairmanship from January 2016 is partner and principal engineer Graham Howell, filling the role formerly played by Roger Dixon – who retired at the end of last year but remains at SRK as corporate consultant. With 40 years of experience in his field, Howell is a structural and geotech-

Graham Howell, Chairman, SRK Consulting SA.

nical engineer focused mainly on soil-rock-structure interaction. He first joined SRK in 1985 and has worked in the Johannesburg and Cape Town offices, while working closely with colleagues all over Africa, Australia, the UK and North America. He also has the honour of having been elected a Fellow of the South African Academy of Engineering. Taking over Dixon’s roles on the board and as head of SRK’s mining business unit are William Joughin and Marcin Wertz, respectively. A partner and principal mining geotechnical engineer at SRK, Joughin joined SRK in 1998 from a career in South Africa’s largest gold mining companies, and specialises in underground rock engineering investiga- tion and design. Wertz, principal mining engineer at SRK, has over 25 years of experi- ence in his field and has been with the company since 1996. His focus areas have included reviewing mining methods, underground layouts and production scheduling for underground hard rock mines, and con- ducting reserve audits. He has also coordinated and managed mining engineering studies from scoping through to full feasibility study level to bankable standards involving multi-disciplinary teams. The environmental geotechnical (Engeo) unit also has a new head in Adriaan Meintjes, a principal geotechnical engineer at SRK, who assumes this role from Graham Howell. Meintjes joined the company in 1992 as an expert in soil and rock engineering, and also specialises in tailings and slimes projects in various parts of the world.  BBE Consulting opens Canadian office BBE Consulting, the internationally recognised world leader in mine ventilation and bulk air conditioning founded in 1989, is now expanding its global footprint to Canada. BBE works alongside mining clients in all sectors to find project- specific solutions by offering an integrated approach to ventilation, bulk air conditioning, refrigeration and chilled water reticulation from conceptual ventilation and heat load analysis through to detail engineering and procurement management. The Canadian office, located in Sudbury Ontario, will be supported by over 100 engineers from established BBE offices in South Africa and Australia. BBE Canada will be headed by Dr Stephen Hardcastle, previously senior scientist with Natural Resources Canada and head of CanmetMINING’s Mine Ventilation Research. Hardcastle has over 30 years of mining experience and has worked with the majority of Canadian mining companies over the last three decades focusing on making mines more energy efficient while maintaining or improving health and safety for mine workers. 

March 2016  MODERN MINING  9