Modern Mining October 2019

COVER STORY

New-look Worley a global leader Worley’s acquisition of Jacobs Engineering Group’s Energy, Chemicals and Resources division (Jacobs ECR) in April this year has not only resulted in Worley (previously Worley­ Parsons) doubling in size but has also hugely strengthened what was an already formi- dable capability and footprint in the mining, minerals and metals space. This was a key point that emerged from recent discussions between Modern Mining and Worley’s senior executives, Nick Bell and Denver Dreyer.

B ell, who is based in Brisbane, Australia and is Senior Vice President Business Development and Global Sector Lead Mining, Minerals & Metals (MM&M), says that the US$3,2 billion Jacobs ECR transaction has resulted in the Worley Group becoming arguably the pre-eminent global provider of professional project solutions and asset management services in the energy, chemi- cals and resources sectors, with a total employee complement of around 58 000 across more than 50 countries. He also notes that Worley’s mining busi- ness is now about five times the size it was before the acquisition. “Prior to the acquisition, WorleyParsons was already a major player in mining and a clear world leader in certain areas such as the design, engineer- ing and execution of deep shafts,” he says. “What is perhaps less well known is that Jacobs ECR, best known for its dominant position in petrochemicals, was also a formidable player in mining, with a strong and long-standing relationship with a number of Tier 1 mining customers. The combination of the two companies has now resulted in a mining busi- ness that is probably without equal in the world in terms of its capacity and capability.” Dreyer, Senior Vice President Mining, Minerals and Metals – Europe, Middle East and Africa, points out that the merger involved two busi- nesses which were largely complementary in

nature, particularly in respect of mining. “There was only a limited overlap between the mining businesses of the two parties when they operated independently. Geographically, WorleyParsons was strong in Australasia and Africa while Jacobs ECR had a well-developed footprint in the Americas and was clearly the dominant player in the Australian mining and minerals industry for major projects,” he explains. “Similarly, WorleyParsons had world-class expertise in areas such as shafts and underground development while Jacobs ECR was known for its experience in base metals concentrators and mass materials handling systems for both surface and underground operations, just to take a couple of examples. The combined group brings together all these skills and geographies under the Worley name.” Dreyer adds that Worley’s Johannesburg office (where he is based) remains one of the group’s Global Centres of Excellence for mining. While Worley services all areas of the MM&M market with its customers ranging from juniors through to the ‘blue chip’ mining giants, Bell sees the latter – the Tier 1 customers – as being critically important to Worley. “These are the customers with whom one can develop long-term relationships, becoming their partner in delivery over multiple projects across a range of commodities and miner- als provinces,” he says. “This has been a core part of

Nick Bell.

Denver Dreyer.

16  MODERN MINING  October 2019