Modern Mining November 2022

CONSULTING ENGINEERING

CESA calls for greater mining sector Against the backdrop of robust commodity prices, South Africa’s mining sector continues to deliver a sterling performance and recently exceeded expectations, doubling distributions to shareholders to R190 billion, with taxes paid increasing by 14% and capital expenditure growing by 36%. But has this bounty trickled down to an integral component of the mining sector – consulting engineers – and what has been the overall impact on this segment of business? Modern Mining spoke to Consulting Engineers South Africa (CESA) CEO, Chris Campbell, to find out just how consulting engineers have been faring. By Nelendhre Moodley .

A ccording to Campbell, the current mining boom sees mining houses focused on optimisation and expan sion initiatives with greater attention being given to investment in power projects aimed at stabilising power supply to ensure miners have sufficient energy to power their operations. “Currently there are not many new projects – particu larly projects of significance – being developed locally and this is due largely to the environment of political and policy uncertainty that has discouraged foreign investors from injecting the capital necessary to prog ress mining projects. Even greenfield and exploration projects are being hampered by the prescripts of the Mining Charter as miners work towards min ing licence eligibility. It is not often possible to get a BEE partner that will invest in risk if there are no confirmed deposits to mine as is the case in explora tion projects; it is, however, much easier find a BEE partner for a greenfields investment as the risk is much less given that deposits and life of mine, have

CESA chief executive officer, Chris Campbell.

already been established.” On a more positive note, though, optimisation projects and those related to tailings storage facili ties (TSF) have increased, largely driven by the publication, in 2020, of the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM), which makes it clear that extreme consequences to people and the

There is need for mining companies to broaden their vendor base to incorporate new entrants.

30  MODERN MINING  November 2022