Following the Mining Indaba in Cape Town at the beginning of the month, Roger Dixon, Chairperson of SRK Consulting in South Africa, commented that “While most economic sectors are nervously peering above the parapets in the wake of the global financial crisis, mining is abuzz with opportunity. Once again, we were encouraged by just how resilient the mining and exploration sector is in the face of market uncertainty,” said Dixon, who was part of a large, international SRK delegation at the event. “The industry was there in full force, and the message was clear: We are not looking back, just going forward.”
Attendance figures at the conference and exhibition – which draws delegates from most mining countries and mining officials from all over Africa – were reportedly back to pre-2008 levels, signalling an optimistic return to business as usual. A recent trend has been a steady growth in the number of Chinese delegates and exhibitors – a reflection of the substantial interest now taken in Africa by China. Dixon says that SRK has gained a number of clients in China, and has recently set up new offices there – following other new operations in countries like Russia, India and Brazil.
“We find the Indaba a tremendous opportunity to meet the kind of people we need to know in our business,” said Dixon. “It is also a great time to make ourselves known to potential clients – both in business and in government.”
The company also used the event to gather about 30 of its staff from around the world, to workshop best practice and other issues encountered in current and recent projects. The meeting is one of three global gatherings that SRK will call this year, to ensure that everyone is up to speed with the latest ideas and technologies in their field. This one focused on due diligence – a key area of expertise that is growing in complexity and risk.
“All our staff understand the risks associated with doing due diligence work,” says Dixon. “We have to gather large amounts of data, process it quite quickly, and arrive at recommendations that the client and their financial partners can rely on. They don’t want a 350-page tome, but they do want a clear assessment of their risk. We need to cover every aspect of an operation that could affect its feasibility.”
So SRK prioritises the process of communication and learning, by regularly getting its most experienced practitioners to share their ideas with others around the globe. It is also vital that the disciplines work together as a tight-knit team, in this case including geologists, mining engineers, financial modellers and others involved in mineral asset valuation and due diligence studies.
Other recent SRK workshops have focused on coal (held in Russia), engineering studies (Sweden) and environmental and social matters (Wales).
Dixon says they were also able to use Indaba to tell relevant clients and stakeholders about the April launch of SRK’s new office in Lubumbashi. “This will be an exciting African opportunity for us,” he says, “and we’ve been greatly encouraged by the Congolese government and mining companies alike – they’ve all been very supportive of our efforts there and we look forward to having our own established base in that area.”
