Modern Mining November 2016

CONSULTANTS/ PROJECT HOUSES

integration of practice with policy. The growing complexity of the mining envi- ronment was also addressed by SRK principal consultant Andrew van Zyl, who urged the sec- tor to take time to understand new operating environments – especially when considering large and multi-faceted projects. “In many parts of the world – Africa included – mining-related agreements take longer to negotiate due to lack of established regulations or codes,” said Van Zyl. “Issues of infrastructure, power, water and land need detailed discussion among stakeholders. Now is a good time to do this; while finance is dif- ficult to secure, companies have time to talk.” On the question of financing, SRK corpo- rate consultant Mark Noppe urged that mineral resource projects be presented in the correct context – for the benefit of all stakeholders. “The market needs transparent, consistent and balanced views of a project’s technical con- fidence and development status,” said Noppe, who offered a concise framework for bench- marking the progress of projects.

houses were aware of the challenges and were implementing AMD treatment to potable water quality, already in place in the eMalahleni area. They were also developing greater under- standing of their water cycles and water use optimisation, with a key focus on optimis- ing water use in the concentrator and tailings circuits and recovery of treated sewage and process waters into operations to reduce fresh water demand. Extending the environmental concerns into the broader realm of sustainability and social governance, SRK principal environmental scientist Darryll Kilian said many mining com- panies were still stuck in ‘compliance mode’ – placing at risk their long-term social licence to operate. “Too often, company environmental and social management systems do not appear to be adequately funded and staffed, and are not integrated into the overall management sys- tem,” said Kilian.” Increasingly, important aspects of operation such as stakeholder engagement were handled on an ad hoc rather than as a strategic function, he said. “Many mines are consistently defensive about stakeholder relationships, insisting that relationships are good because there are no complaints,” he continued, highlighting the fact that strong links between the corpo- rate level and operational level enhanced the

“Inconsistent use of reporting definitions, supporting information, project assump- tions and outcomes may be confusing and even misleading,” he said. “Confirming the correct project development context is essential for assessing the risk, opportunity, relative confidence and value associated with a resource project.”  Hatch develops its BIM capability for total asset management

feature

Hatch is continually developing its Building Information Modelling (BIM) capability as the most cost-effective means of delivering and ultimately man- aging projects successfully for its diverse clients. The capability to deploy BIM effec- tively is a key differentiator of the Project Delivery Group (PDG) at Hatch, headed by Mulalo Silidi, Regional Director – Engineering. Silidi explains that PDG is an internal‘powerhouse’providing engineer- ing services to the various Business Units at Hatch, which include mining and met- als and infrastructure and energy. This is where BIM comes into its own, he says. “BIM 3D refers to a modelling environ- ment in which data is inputted in the form of tagged objects. This allows multi-disci- plinary engineering teams, for example, to conduct proper clash detection checks and to extract detailed bills of quantities. It also provides for a complete visual rep- resentation of the proposed asset.”

Grant Dabelstein, a mechanical engi- neer at Hatch and BIM expert, explains that BIM is a crucial bridge between deliv- erables in terms of project drawings and specifications, and the 3D project model itself. “If you do not have a very good 3D model, it will affect the deliverables, and vice versa. “The fundamentals of BIM reside in that 3D environment, which is where all elements are identified, tagged and quantified. It is very important to do all of this correctly from the outset, or the 3D model will fall flat.” 3D project models have to be ‘smart’ in order to function as a means of close collaboration across all the disciplines involved in a specific project. “There has to be a seamless flow of information in order for the work flow to be as effec- tive as possible, and also to minimise the design time which, in turn, will make that potential project even more attractive to the client,” Silidi points out.

This leads to the next stage, which is BIM 4D. “Here we take the information inherent in the 3D model and assign construction work packages to it. This is linked to the project schedule, which allows us to carry out proper materi- als planning. An added benefit is that it allows you to conduct constructability reviews.” BIM 5D adds a ‘cost’ element to the equation, relating to the project capex. “The plant owner needs to know what that total cost is likely to be. It is impor- tant to simulate different scenarios to determine if we are still within the base- line estimate,” says Silidi. Environmental sustainability is the main consideration of BIM 6D, which addresses a lot of ‘soft’ issues in terms of the full project lifecycle, including stake- holder engagement and local community involvement. Beyond this level even, BIM 7D is seen as revolutionising project management. 

November 2016  MODERN MINING  43