Engineering, environmental and mining consultancy Wardell Armstrong International has established a commercial agreement with Neville Bergin & Associates in Perth, Western Australia. That company will become the consultancy’s exclusive representative in Australia providing competitive technical and project management services to Australian mining companies – especially those looking to grow their business in other regions of the world.

“We’ve been considering how we might enter the Australian market for some time” said Mike Hassall, Managing Director of Wardell Armstrong. “Building on a personal association with Neville that dates back to when he was at the Camborne School of Mines with one of our directors, we’re very confident that his skills and reputation in Australia will be a perfect fit with our international capabilities.

“As Australian mining companies look beyond their own shores to opportunities elsewhere, we believe we can offer highly cost-effective support that combines close client liaison, technical advice and project management in Australia through Neville Bergin with a full international mining consultancy service that spans every stage of the mining life cycle from exploration planning, early stage scoping and feasibility studies to ESIA, mineral processing and eventual mine closure and restoration.

“With offices in Moscow and Almaty, Kazakhstan and first-hand knowledge of many mining regions and individual projects in Africa, South America, CIS and Eastern Europe, we’re well placed to support Australian mining clients as they extend their operations globally.”

Neville Bergin, a seasoned mining professional with special expertise in operational and project management and due diligence, has held many senior positions in a 35 year career in the industry, including General Manager Operations & Projects with Jubilee Mines, General Manager – Project Development with Minemakers and Vice President, Head of Operations Australia for Gold Fields. He has recently founded his own consultancy.

“I’m really excited to be representing such an experienced and well regarded consultancy as Wardell Armstrong,” said Neville Bergin. “Together, we’re looking forward to providing a highly competitive, high quality service to Australian companies with projects around the world.”

The image here, © Philip King, Wardell Armstrong International (WAI) shows a WAI team undertaking a due diligence study on a gold mine in Zimbabwe, last operated by Rio Tinto in the 1970s. The team, consisting of a mining engineer, geologist and process engineer, visited the site in order to review key aspects of the project, including:

• The deposit geology
• Former workings
• The historical infrastructure
• Recent exploration
• The proposed mine plan and logistics.

The project operator recently announced the commissioning of the ball mill and the carbon in leach plant, with initial production targeted from the oxide gold cap.

This image shows Liv Carroll, one of WAI’s mineral project appraisal specialists, discussing the geology with the operators, the representative from the bank and Mark Mounde, WAI’s head mining engineer.