Tag Archives: WSP

Bentley Systems seeks to simplify carbon reporting with new iTwin capabilities

Automation, IoT, Mining services, Mining software, Sustainable mining, , , , ,

Bentley Systems, Incorporated, the infrastructure engineering software company, has announced the general availability of new Carbon Analysis capabilities in iTwin Experience to assess and reduce carbon impacts for more sustainable infrastructure – a development that could benefit mining companies.

The new Carbon Analysis capabilities enable infrastructure engineers to simplify carbon reporting, easily visualise embodied carbon and rapidly explore alternatives for better designs, the company says.

Embodied carbon is the carbon footprint of an asset before it is built, encompassing the greenhouse gases emitted during the construction process. Bentley’s new Carbon Analysis capabilities deliver a “cradle-to-gate” assessment of a design’s carbon footprint, from raw material extraction until it leaves the factory’s gate, which represent the largest contributors to embodied carbon, the company explained.

“Between now and 2050, embodied carbon linked to new infrastructure, is projected to be responsible for half of the world’s carbon footprint released – even before the infrastructure is used,” Savina Carluccio, Executive Director, International Coalition for Sustainable Infrastructure (ICSI), said. “Given its significant contribution to global emissions, the sector must act with urgency to reduce embodied carbon at scale, as part of wider decarbonisation and climate action efforts – from leveraging a highly connected and collaborative value chain to using new digital technologies that enable the selection and use of alternative, carbon-efficient materials in sustainable infrastructure designs.”

Bentley’s new Carbon Analysis capabilities seamlessly integrate a user’s design data with their chosen carbon assessment tool. This enables infrastructure professionals to link carbon footprints directly to their design choices and see those impacts dynamically change across design iterations.

“Carbon assessments should be standard practice for global infrastructure projects, but creating carbon reports isn’t easy,” Chris Bradshaw, Chief Sustainability Officer, Bentley Systems, says. “Using Bentley’s new Carbon Analysis capabilities helps transform the tedious task of carbon reporting into a smooth, automated process – providing infrastructure professionals with greater visibility into carbon impacts and helping them design sustainable infrastructure faster and more easily.”

Traditionally, producing a carbon analysis report is highly manual, time consuming and costly, with multiple steps: organising siloed data, translating the data into carbon metrics and producing a final report. The process becomes even more difficult for large, complex infrastructure projects, which typically involve diverse stakeholders, datasets, data formats and construction materials.

Bentley’s new Carbon Analysis capabilities help overcome these challenges through:

  • Automated material quantification: Automatically ingest and aggregate project and asset data, files, and models – created from Bentley software and other sources – into a digital twin, for a single, simplified view. By intelligently grouping common design elements and leveraging integrated workflows, automatically calculate the precise material volumes and quantities missing from design files, eliminating estimations and out-of-date spreadsheets;
  • Easy reporting, every time: With a single click generate a highly accurate cradle-to-gate embodied carbon accounting in minutes through integration with a user’s chosen carbon assessment calculator. Since all data is dynamically stored, users can adjust material selections through the lifetime of a design, creating an easy, repeatable process;
  • In-content 3D visualisations: Instantly see cradle-to-gate embodied carbon output as simple cloud-based heat maps in a live 3D digital twin model. This allows users to explore sustainable design and material alternatives in minutes to create higher-quality designs throughout the design and construction phase.

WSP, a leader in environment and sustainability consulting, has been using Bentley’s new Carbon Analysis capabilities through an Early Access Program, launched last year.

Kelvin Saldanha, Associate Director, WSP, said: “In the past, there have been significant challenges when creating a carbon report for a proposed design. For example, the wide range of methodologies used to calculate embodied carbon made the process feel opaque. In addition, the process was time-consuming, as it required translating every detail into a full carbon evaluation. With Bentley’s new Carbon Analysis capabilities, our design team has better transparency to calculate, analyse and report meaningful carbon footprint impacts within any design change – in real-time with the click of a button, which has greatly reduced feedback loops from months or weeks to days.”

WSP grows presence in Western Australia with Calibre acquisition

Mining mergers and acquisitions, Mining services, , , , , ,

WSP says it is strengthening its position as a leading provider of services across the full mining asset life cycle with the addition of Calibre Professional Services and its 800 professionals in Australia.

The company’s mining team now represents over 5,200 professionals globally, including 1,400 experts in Australia, and benefits from an enhanced ability to support blue-chip mining clients in Western Australia, WSP says.

“We are eager to leverage the full potential of our combined teams and work together to support mining clients with strong ESG commitments,” Alexandre L’Heureux, President and CEO of WSP, said. “We have the opportunity to play a pivotal role at a time when mining companies are making bold commitments towards decarbonising their operations and infrastructure, while providing the critical minerals required for the green transition.”

Guy Templeton, WSP’s President and CEO, Asia Pacific, said: “With the acquisition of Calibre, we are significantly growing our presence in Western Australia, and in the mining sector, while further building on our Earth and Environment capabilities. We also look forward to creating significant value for our clients in the Pilbara Region and across the country.”

Adrian Chapman, Executive General Manager at Calibre, said: “Over the past two decades, we have focused on building Calibre as a consultant of choice for major mining projects. Joining WSP enables our talent to leverage the scale, capabilities, and expertise of a global company with 67,000 professionals.”

Stantec helps Generation PGM achieve Ontario regulatory milestone at Marathon

Base metals, Environmental, Mining industry recognition, Mining policy, Mining services, Precious metals, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Stantec, a global leader in sustainable design and engineering and one of the largest environmental services firms in Canada, says it has assisted Generation PGM Inc and its Marathon palladium-copper project in becoming the first mine in Ontario’s history to obtain environmental approval following a Joint Review Panel.

The project, a platinum group metals (PGM) and copper mine development and milling operation near the Town of Marathon in north-western Ontario, recently received approval from the federal and provincial governments’ coordinated Environmental Approval (EA) process under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act and Ontario’s Environmental Assessment Act. The project is the first mining project in Ontario to be assessed through a Joint Review Panel pursuant to the Canada-Ontario Agreement on Environmental Assessment Cooperation (2004).

Generation PGM is a wholly owned subsidiary of Generation Mining.

Stantec led and coordinated preparation of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) Addendum and various technical reports as part of a collaboration with Generation PGM and other consultants. The firm’s experts completed technical assessments for the EIS Addendum, responded to information requests from the panel and shared expertise at the public hearing held by the Joint Review Panel.

Stantec’s discipline leads presented their conclusions and recommendations regarding the project as expert witnesses at the hearing in the areas of hydrology, hydrogeology, air quality, greenhouse gases, acoustics and socio-economics. The firm also coordinated preparation of the EIS Addendum based on updates to existing baseline conditions, changes to regulatory standards and refinements to the project relative to the original EIS – which was submitted in 2012 and supported by True Grit Engineering Ltd (acquired by Stantec in 2018). Generation PGM also retained Stantec to support consultation with agencies and Indigenous communities, consider comments and traditional knowledge, and scope follow-up programs and environmental management plans.

Stantec’s Chris Powell, Senior Environmental Planner, said: “This is a big win for the Marathon project, and Stantec is thrilled to have been a part of this process to leverage our expertise in mining and environmental assessment for Generation PGM in their efforts to proceed to the next phase of the project. This critical minerals project will provide a lot of opportunity for the region and benefits to the local Indigenous community, Biigtigong Nishnaabeg. I’m proud of our team for the hard work and dedication to deliver on such an important project.”

The Joint Review Panel’s public review process included 10 months of written filings and a public hearing consisting of 19 oral hearing days. The panel received input from more than 50 individuals, including representatives from Indigenous groups, government agencies and interest groups. This Joint Review Panel process was among the largest regulatory hearings of 2022. To secure the panel’s approval, Generation PGM and Stantec collaborated with experts from Ecometrix, Knight-Piésold, Northern Bioscience and WSP, with legal support from Cassels.

Drew Anwyll, Chief Operating Officer of Generation Mining, said: “We greatly appreciate the work of the Stantec team, who significantly contributed through the EIS Addendum and the Joint Review Panel hearings. Stantec worked side-by-side with the Generation team and other consultants and advisors with a ‘one-team approach’. Stantec stewarded us through this and made this less of a process. We are extremely proud to be the first mine in Ontario to be approved through the Joint Review Panel.”

Stantec says it continues to highlight its strong environmental assessment expertise and presence in north-western Ontario, following the success of the Greenstone Gold Mine’s Hardrock Project Federal EIS Approval in 2018 and Provincial EA Approval in 2019. For the Marathon project, Stantec continues to assist Generation PGM with components of its ongoing baseline monitoring and regulatory permitting work, led from Stantec’s Thunder Bay office.

Generation PGM will now proceed to obtain the necessary permits for construction and operation of the mine. The Marathon property covers a land package of approximately 220 sq.km. The processing plant will operate at approximately 9.2 Mt/y of ore, produce approximately 87,000 t/y of copper concentrate, and employ up to 1,000 workers during construction and 375 workers during operation.

Tetra Tech to take over environmental consulting company RPS Group

Environmental, Mining mergers and acquisitions, Mining services, Sustainable mining, Water management, , , , , ,

Tetra Tech Inc looks to have won the battle for environmental and social engagement consulting specialist, RPS Group plc, after the boards of both companies reached agreement on the terms of a recommended cash acquisition whereby a Tetra Tech subsidiary will acquire RPS.

The £2.22/share ($2.39/share), all-cash acquisition price trumps the £2.06/share price WSP offered back in August and also represents a 109.5% increase on the volume-weighted average price of £1.06/share for the 90-day period ended August 8, 2022.

The combined Tetra Tech and RPS will represent a premier international consulting, engineering and program management firm, and will leave RPS well-positioned to provide a strong platform to drive long-term growth within the broader enlarged group, Tetra Tech said. The acquisition is also expected to be mid- to high-teen percent accretive to Tetra Tech’s adjusted earnings per share after realising the full benefit from an estimated £21 million in cost synergies and integration into Tetra Tech.

On August 8, 2022, the boards of WSP Global, WSP Holdings and RPS announced that they had reached agreement on the terms of a recommended cash offer pursuant to which WSP Holdings, or another wholly-owned subsidiary of WSP Global, would acquire the entire issued and to be issued share capital of RPS. However, Tetra Tech’s new proposal has now been deemed superior by the RPS Directors and advisors.

As at the date of this announcement, Tetra Tech has received irrevocable undertakings and letters of intent accounting for approximately 27.53% of RPS’ issued share capital.

Tetra Tech is a global consulting and engineering firm, which provides high-end services for projects worldwide in multiple sectors including mining.

RPS, meanwhile, says it solves problems that matter in a complex, urbanising, resource-scarce world and concentrates its expertise on the parts of project lifecycles that have the biggest impact on project outcomes, with a strong sustainability agenda.

John Douglas, Chief Executive of RPS, said: “Joining Tetra Tech represents a highly attractive combination of two leading companies in the industry for our clients and provides an ideal opportunity for our people to realise RPS’ goals to meaningfully contribute to the world’s most challenging problems in energy transformation and water management around the world. I am very excited about the future of our combined company and the benefits for our people and clients.”

Dan Batrack, Tetra Tech Inc Chairman and CEO, added: “The RPS Group advances our long-term strategy to enhance our position as the premier global high-end consultancy in water, environment, sustainable infrastructure and energy transformation. We welcome the RPS Group’s associates to join us and collectively leverage our long-term client relationships and project experience. As a global consultancy with a commitment to high-end solutions, we can offer our expanded team of associates even greater professional opportunities.”