Erin Sweeney Archives - International Mining

Australia-based engineering consultancy MEC Mining will soon launch a geotechnical services arm to cater for industry demand, the company has announced.

The geotechnical engineering division will be led by MEC Mining’s Technical Services and Western Australia Manager, Erin Sweeney (pictured), who is an internationally experienced Geotechnical Engineer.

MEC appointed Sweeney to open its Perth, Western Australia, branch in November last year and in that short time her team has grown from three to 11, with plans to now employ a geotechnical engineering team as well.

After discussions with clients, and through research, she recognised there was a shortage of geotechnical engineers in the market and knew clients would benefit if MEC offered the service as an in-house speciality division, the company said.

“We are really excited to launch the geotechnical engineering arm, which will complement our technical and advisory service arms,” Sweeney said. “I’d like to see us grow to be the most trusted geotechnical services brand in mining globally.

“We will be providing a one-stop-shop, as previously clients may have had to manage multiple consultants and now all trusted advisers will be working together to collaborate more effectively.

“For our clients in the mining sector, it gives them just one consultancy to go to for both their geotechnical services and mining design needs.”

MEC Mining General Manager, Christofer Catania, said MEC’s move to provide a geotechnical services arm was part of the company’s vision to provide clients a full suite of technical services.

“It’s exciting to further grow MEC’s service offerings to meet the needs of our clients,” Catania said. “Since establishing the Western Australian office in November, our team has continued to grow and it’s a trend we see continuing despite these somewhat challenging economic times.

“We see Western Australia as the front and centre of the next mining uplift, with some great projects coming online.”

Mining engineer, Christofer Catania, has been appointed General Manager of Australia-based engineering consultancy firm, MEC Mining, almost 15 years after becoming one of MEC’s first university vacation students.

Back then MEC Mining serviced Queensland’s coal industry and Catania was studying at university in Brisbane when he began work for the company’s three founding directors. MEC Mining now has a global presence, working in Asia, Europe, Africa and Oceania, and has projects across a variety of mineral sectors – no longer just coal.

Catania has been influential in the company’s growth strategy having worked for MEC for about eight years in total, across four stints, since 2005, the company said. In the past three years at MEC Mining, he has moved from Manager of Consulting, to General Manager of Operations before his current appointment to General Manager.

Catania said he was both “excited and humbled” to be appointed as General Manager.

“I’ve spent a lot of my career invested in making MEC Mining better, so to have any opportunity to lead the company means people must have believed in the commitment I’ve applied and my understanding of the business,” Catania said.

“For MEC Mining, our vision is to further diversify our market and service offerings, including potentially in the complementary technical fields. I’m excited to help navigate through those challenges and grow into a much bigger and more diverse company.”

During Catania’s role as General Manager of Operations, MEC Mining opened a Perth office led by Erin Sweeney and, in March this year, the company created a new Underground Metal Principal role based in Western Australia, filled by Alessandro Dotta.

“A lot of our growth is in the Western Australian market and in underground metals, particularly in the gold market,” Catania said.

“In the past year MEC Mining experienced 25% growth from the year before, largely associated with our growing international presence and our establishment of a WA team, and we look forward to meeting or exceeding that growth in the coming year.”

MEC Mining Non-Executive Director, Simon Cohn, said Catania’s high level of technical and operational expertise, project management, and leadership experience would make him an exceptional General Manager.

“Chris has a deep history at MEC Mining with a proven track record for delivering successful projects at an operational and leadership level, both domestically and overseas,” Cohn said.

“I look forward to working with Chris and the entire leadership team as we further grow MEC Mining and our standalone advisory arm. It is also great to have James Cooney leading MEC Advisory which specialises in strategic management and evaluation of resources projects.”

Catania’s position of General Manager is supported by Chief Financial Officer, Julia Cooper, who celebrated eight years with the company in April.

MEC Mining looks to fill geotechnical engineering gap with new services arm

Christofer Catania graduates to GM role at MEC Mining