EXPERIENCED geo-technical consultants are in demand as a trend towards mass mining methods picks up worldwide.
Peter Williams, managing director of the Perth office of science and engineering consultant group SRK Consulting, described market competition to acquire the right consultants as “tough”.
Consolidation had contributed to the trend towards mass mining and companies were embarking on much larger operations within projects that were probably always there.
Such companies had larger capital budgets up-front and were chasing mining rates much larger than were previously possible in base throughput, size of material handled and life-of-mine terms. But this meant consultancies, such as SRK, needed larger teams to attack these bigger-scale projects, Dr Williams said.
He said SRK needed the consultants primarily to service an existing client base – mostly operating copper, gold and diamond ventures – with emerging needs in mass mining methods.
“But we’re not the only ones seeing this need and recruiting,” Dr Williams said.
SRK in Perth, which services companies throughout Australia, South-East Asia, and further afield is wanting to increase its geotechnical and mining engineering pool by over 20 per cent and has begun considering options for re-accommodating the expanded group within six months.
The West-Perth based office will not move far, however.
“We still like the West Perth ambience. The rents are reasonable and the accommodation sizes suit us,” Dr Williams said.
