ACHIEVING BUSINESS EXCELLENCE ONLINE INCLUDING
bfl canada: American General Supplies, Inc.: AMERICAS EDITION Issue No.54
damus:
DNI Metals:
The Buckton polymetallic black shale deposit represents an incredible untapped mining resource
+ special feature: barrick gold pueblo viejo
business excellence
Business John O’Hanlon Editor johanlon@bus-ex.com Will Daynes Editor wdaynes@bus-ex.com Matt Johnson Art Director mjohnson@bus-ex.com Louise Culling Production Designer lculling@bus-ex.com Richard Turner Director of Sales rturner@bus-ex.com Vince Kielty Director of Editorial Research vkielty@bus-ex.com
Business Excellence brings you content from leading business influencers and strategic thinkers providing inspiration and guidance to help you and your business grow. We showcase some of the best examples of successful organisations from around the world giving you a unique insight into how they operate.
Sharon Rooke Administration & Operations srooke@bus-ex.com Matt Day Head of Technology mday@bus-ex.com Andy Turner Chief Executive aturner@bus-ex.com
Contributors Marielena Sabatier Inspiring Potential George F. Brown, Jr. Consultant & Author
HINT: For the best experience, click the fullscreen icon
Michelle Drolet Towerwall Jeff Powell Diligent Board Member Services Inc Jeff Hilk Diligent Board Member Services Inc
Subscriptions & Enquires info@bus-ex.com
Jacquard House, Queen Street, Norwich, NR2 4SX. England
Infinity Business Media Ltd
The content of this magazine is copyright of Infinity Business Media Ltd. Redistribution or reproduction of any content is prohibited. Š Copyright 2014 Infinity Business Media Ltd.
BE Americas
|3
issue no.54
8
8 supplychain
fifteen minutes of fame
How to create a future-focused relationship between supplier and customer, and build strong relationships across key job functions in each of them.
14 strategy
14
Delivering customer service is non-negotiable
Improve governance by facilitating communications and enabling a timely view of current and historic company information.
18 people
boost your confidence and career in 2014
Why a lack of self-confidence could limit career progression and some hints on how to stop that happening.
22
top ten
Things To Know About Mobile Security
A few common-sense ways to foil persistent cyber criminals and protect data in transit.
4 | BE Americas
contents
COver Story:
26 DNI Metals
BLACK shale METALs PARADISE DNI Metals’ Buckton polymetallic black shale deposit represents an incredible untapped mining resource.
44
mining & Minerals: 34 bfl canada
ore - and more ore
You don’t go into mining if you want to live a risk free life but effective risk identification and management are essential to survival. BFL CANADA’s new ORE service offers a way to turn uncertainty into an asset.
44 Rio Tinto Kennecott
Creating a community from copper How Rio Tinto Kennecott has utilised the vast wealth of the Bingham Canyon Mine to create a thriving, sustainable community.
58 Essar Steel Minnesota LLC Pellet perfection
58
Essar Steel Minnesota LLC (ESML) is edging closer to the completion of a state-of-the-art open pit mining, concentrating and pelletizing plant within the best known region for iron ore in the United States.
BE Americas
|5
issue no.54
84
special feature:
72
Barrick Gold: Pueblo Viejo Mine
Revitalising a region
The biggest single investment in the history of the Dominican Republic.
118 Anglo American: Los Bronces Champions of Chile’s copper
Continuing along a path to becoming the fifth largest copper mine in the world and one with several decades of productivity still ahead of it.
128 Collahuasi mine High altitude mining with broad vision
118 138
Extracting minerals in the rarefied atmosphere of the high Andes is just one challenge for the world’s fourth largest copper mine.
infrastructure: 138 Ciudad Empresarial
Creating quality of life
Home to hundreds of companies and thousands of residents, Ciudad Empresarial is the largest business park in Chile and one committed to providing an excellent quality of life for everyone.
6 | BE Americas
contents
oil & Gas: 148 Ecopetrol
More clean barrels
The face of the O&G industry is changing fast, and nowhere more so than in Colombia which is blessed with large resources both conventional and unconventional.
148
158 Damus
Underpinning Trinidad & Tobago’s prosperity
Fulfilling an essential role in advancing the upstream and downstream oil and gas industries that promise to define the Caribbean over the coming decade.
172 Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica ( PCJ) Securing Jamaica’s future
158
The Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ) is helping to secure the long-term sustainable development of the Caribbean island.
transport & Logistics: 182 American General Supplies ( AGS)
Keeping you flying
By always striving to meet its customers’ needs American General Supplies (AGS) has become one of the most respected spare parts suppliers to the commercial aviation industry.
190 Port Everglades
182
All part of the plan
World-class facilities have made Port Everglades a powerhouse of international trade, travel and investment.
BE Americas
|7
Fifteen Minutes of Fame How to create a future-focused relationship between supplier and customer, and build strong relationships across key job functions in each of them Words by
8 |
BE Americas
George F. Brown, Jr.
Supply chain
BE Americas
| 9
O
ne of my clients was recently honored as the “Supplier of the Year” by one of their major customers, a relationship that was barely four years old. In discussing this achievement, a senior executive from the supplier organization cited famed artist Andy Warhol’s observation that “In the future, everyone will be world famous for fifteen minutes”. This executive’s comments were insightful along several dimensions: “Of course, we were delighted. We had a celebration, and made sure that the account team working with [customer] knew how pleased we were to receive this award, and we extended that praise to others throughout our company that were key to making it happen. “But I also told them that our ‘fifteen minutes of fame’ was over, and that we had to start anew to make sure we were doing all the right things in the year that was now underway. It’s just like the day after the Super Bowl or the World Series. Along with the recaps, there are articles forecasting who are the teams most likely to win the following year. “That got me thinking. One of the things that struck me was the citation
“I told them that our ‘fifteen minutes of fame’ was over, and that we had to start anew to make sure we were doing all the right things in the year that was now underway” 10 |
BE Americas
that went along with our award. It mentioned, for example, our ‘consistently high quality’ and our ‘track record of meeting delivery commitments’. These are things that around here, we describe as ‘basic blocking and tackling’ and as the ‘table stakes’ for a successful strategic relationship. While I never thought of it, had I done so, I think I would have expected that a Supplier of the Year Award would have been based upon some version of a ‘grand slam home run in the ninth inning’ rather than on having successfully met the ‘table stakes’ criteria. “And the second thing that I was thinking about was that we have never had a strategy in place as to how we were going to win a Supplier of the Year Award. I keep finding examples of how we are reactive in our key customer relationships, rather than being proactive. This is another one of those examples in my mind.” His observations prompted me to do some follow-up. While what follows is far from a statistically-valid survey, I talked with ten executives responsible for supply chain relationships, all in Fortune 1000 manufacturing companies. I would put each of these companies in the top quartiles in terms of their supplier programs, ones designed to attract the best suppliers and motivate their best performance. My guess is that what I would hear from a truly random sample of companies would involve far fewer supplier success stories than what I heard from these ten manufacturers. My first question to the supply chain executives was “Can you give me an example of a situation in which a
Supply chain
supplier became ‘famous’ throughout your company, and the circumstances in which their identity and action because so widely known and discussed?” Out of the ten responses, five involved a “supplier horror story”, three involved some version of a “grand slam home run in the ninth inning”, and two executives said they really didn’t have a good example that responded to my question. I reflect that the larger number of horror stories than success stories parallels everyday news reports on various fifteen minutes of fame situations. For every Captain Sullenberger than successfully lands a stricken airliner in the Hudson River, it seems there are many more reports that fall into the horror story category. My second question asked for information on that company’s most recent “Supplier of the Year Award” and on the accomplishments that yielded that award. Most of the executives provided me a copy or link to the actual award citation. What I found was that seven of the awards were quite similar to the one given the client whose case study I provided above, in that solid performance on quality, delivery, and relationship were the factors emphasized in the wording of the award. The other three awards did in fact cite a specific contribution that was in the “grand slam home run in the ninth inning” category, including all three of the suppliers who were described in the responses to the first question. I draw a couple of conclusions from this informal research, ones that seem to me to be relevant to decisions as to the management of key customer relationships by suppliers. The concept
“The concept ‘First, do no harm’ must be the first priority of a supplier” “First, do no harm” must be the first priority of a supplier. The fact that the instances in which suppliers became “customer company famous” most frequently involved failures in terms of quality, delivery, service, or other elements of the relationship is quite striking, as is the fact that so many “Supplier of the Year Awards” were based upon achieving perfect results in terms of “basic blocking and tackling” and “table stakes performance”. Giving this anything but the highest priority is a prescription for failure. The firms with which I’ve worked that perform well along this dimension have carefully-constructed dashboards, ones that have been vetted with their customers and that are reviewed on a high-frequency basis, both internally by senior management and in collaboration with their customers. In these topperforming firms, the organization as a whole, not just the account team, knows that achieving targeted performance levels on the metrics included in these dashboards matters, and that it is an imperative to get ahead of problems before they impact on customer relationships and perceptions. A third characteristic of these topperforming teams is that there are no “gatekeeper” positions that thwart supplier-customer interactions. While the account teams have significant
BE Americas
| 11
responsibilities, others in various job functions know and frequently interact with their counterparts in the customer organization. My second insight relates to the opportunity to hit “grand slam home runs in the ninth inning” and the desire of the executive quoted earlier to transform the relationship to a more proactive state. Along with reflecting on the examples provided in my informal survey, I looked at the supplier success stories that I’ve heard over the years in various interviews with customers about their suppliers. Admittedly, it has been hard to find patterns. My examples are more like a mixture of “grand slam home runs in the ninth inning”, “100 yard kickoff returns as time runs out”, and “buzzer beater shot from half court in the NCAA finals” – all heroic, but not exactly peas in a pod. Nevertheless, there were three findings that occurred often enough to warrant mentioning. The first was that many of these heroic contributions involved something that was “new” for the customer or for the relationship – new product, new technology, new market, new competition, new regulation, etc. In the case studies that involved such “new” challenges, it was clear that future-focused discussions between the supplier and the customer were key to success. Asking questions like “What’s keeping you awake at night?” and “What are the new challenges in your strategic plan?” and “What changes in our contributions are going to make a difference to you over the next year?” must be part of the dialogue if the supplier is to have a good chance at
12 |
BE Americas
“Many heroic contributions involved something that was ‘new’ for the customer or for the relationship” successfully contributing to meeting the “new” challenges facing their customers. The second observation is that many of these heroic contributions originated in discussions between functional experts in the two companies, not as a result of ongoing supplier account team interactions with the customer’s supply chain team. This is again a reinforcement of the importance of building strong relationships across the key job functions in the two organizations. In the examples I’ve reviewed, the underlying elements of the opportunity for the contribution were complex and technical, not the types of topics that are usually on the agenda of account team meetings with the supply chain team. A few examples involved problems being faced by the customer that were barely connected to the supplier’s products, but happened to be ones on which the supplier’s technical experts had insights from working with customers in other industries. Not only must these interactions take place, but the supplier team members involved in them must learn to ask the same questions that were described above as elements of a strong future-focused relationship. The third observation is that the suppliers that were involved in these heroic contributions were proactive in sharing their own experiences with their
Supply chain
customers. As even the executive who was quoted above observed about his company, it is quite easy to be reactive, to respond to information and requests provided by the customer. It is much harder to be proactive, and to share ideas with the customer that might spark an idea and provide the foundation for collaboration. Some suppliers even avoid doing so out of fear of leaks to competitors or that the customer will turn around and include the concept in some future request for proposals. The need to manage such possibilities is real, but the opportunity to elevate the relationship with a customer through such sharing of information and insights is also quite real, often enough the foundation for a real supplier success story that a firm wishing to be proactive needs to figure out how to battle through the problems and make it happen. Achieving a positive “fifteen minutes of fame” with key customers is a most worthy goal, one that should be part of the plan for 2014 and beyond. The lessons that have emerged from the discussions cited above emphasize two actions that must be part of the program. First is taking all the steps necessary to ensure that “basic blocking and tackling” is a reality
“Achieving a positive ‘fifteen minutes of fame’ with key customers is a most worthy goal” throughout the corporation, that senior management and customers alike know of the targets and of the commitment to achieve them, and that the resources and problem-solving skills are in place to ensure perfect performance. It seems that this alone can go quite a way in terms of allowing a supplier to achieve a positive “fifteen minutes of fame” with their customers. The second element of the program involves taking proactive steps through which opportunities can be identified for game-changing contributions to key customers. Doing so is clearly as much an art as it is a science. Creating a future-focused relationship that spotlights “new” challenges, ensuring broadly-based interactions across key job functions in the two firms, and bringing insights from within the supplier’s firm to its customers are among the steps that can help in this regard.
About the author George F. Brown, Jr. consults with industrial firms on growth strategy through his firm B-to-B Advisors, Inc. He is the coauthor of CoDestiny: Overcome Your Growth Challenges by Helping Your Customers Overcome Theirs and the cofounder of and a Senior Advisor to Blue Canyon Partners, Inc., which he served as CEO for fifteen years. George has published frequently on topics relating to strategy in business markets, including articles in Industry Week, Industrial Distribution, Chief Executive, Business Excellence, Employment Relations Today, iP Frontline, Industrial Engineer, Industry Today, and many others. gfb@BtoBAdvisors.com
BE Americas
| 13
14 |
BE Americas
Strategy
Delivering customer service is
non-negotiable Improve governance by facilitating communications, enabling a timely view of current and historic company information, and producing board materials efficiently Words by
Jeff Powell & Jeff Hilk
G
reat customer service is something that everyone expects but not everyone receives. A 2013 Forrester report, Navigate the Future of Customer Service, states that customer service is “moving from being a cost center to a being a differentiator.” And a report on call center efficiency from the International Computer Management Institute found that superior customer service creates real value for clients in efficiency and customer satisfaction, as well as business unit and strategic value. Good customer service can’t be bolted on. It must be ingrained in a company’s culture. When a focus on the customer is a company’s paramount business priority, everyone, no matter what their role, is ready and willing to assist. Whether or not a company is in a service business, it can view each instance a client contacts it as an opportunity to provide exemplary customer service. Providing a superior customer experience is one of the primary drivers of an enviable customer BE Americas
| 15
retention rate. This is especially true when a customer service department provisions clients who are accustomed to exceptionally high levels of attention and service to start with. For Fortune 1000 boards of directors, CEOs, boards of trustees at world-renowned universities and high-ranking government officials, you have to get it right the first time or risk losing the business for good. A phone call is usually the quickest way to reach the support team. Accustomed to a five-star hotel standard of service, senior leaders expect the same level of attention from every service provider, especially when carrying out their professional responsibilities. Based on the value of their time, board members can’t wait to be connected to the right person or interact with a complicated interactive voice response (IVR) system. If a client calls customer service, they need help immediately. Not on hold. Not later today, and certainly not tomorrow. Have a team available to pick up the phone, every time This really is the most basic principle of premium service. If someone is calling, they want to talk, so you must answer right away. Inadequate staffing is one of the biggest obstacles to delivering
“If a client calls customer service, they need help immediately. Not on hold. Not later today, and certainly not tomorrow” 16 |
BE Americas
great service. In today’s 24/7 world, if a company doesn’t have enough people to answer the phones around the clock, its customers will start to lose patience and take their business elsewhere. Oftentimes, support calls are from places like the airport terminal or the board room before a meeting. Whether a customer is calling with a technical question about the service they’re using, or even about the device they’re using, they need to know the answer right away. Use experts to talk to customers If a client has a technical question, he or she needs to talk to someone who knows the product inside and out, is experienced talking directly to senior executives, and who will go the extra mile to resolve the issue. Good service is based on a relationship of trust, and customers need to be able to trust that the service team will be there to resolve their issues. For example, if for any reason the person answering the phone is unable to answer the query, a qualified person with the right knowledge should call the customer back within five minutes. Invest in proper training Companies need to dedicate resources to training not just employees in their customer service department, but clients as well. A unique one-to-one training for users of the product ensures their proficiency in using the product. This will cut down on valuable time a client would otherwise have spent trying to figure out a feature if they weren’t properly on-boarded or updated on the product. In addition, instead of one account manager
Strategy
for each customer, clients should be assigned a complete service team for the duration of the relationship so there’s always a pool of people well-versed with the requirements and customizations specific to each client. Offer customer service at the times customers need it It’s commonplace to find executives traveling for work on weekends, getting to work early in the morning and finishing late in the evening, and frequently crossing time zones. A 9-to-5, Monday-to-Friday local-hours customer service team is, therefore, no good to a director who is preparing for a board meeting at 9 pm on a Sunday night. If customers work 24/7, service teams need to be available 24/7 too. To address this, consider implementing a ‘follow the sun’ principle, placing service staff in several regions. When every call is picked up within two rings on average, significantly higher client satisfaction results. Have a crisis plan A company can never expect things to operate smoothly 100 percent of the time. Having a clear and strong crisis plan is crucial to maintaining stability and continuity in business operations. During a crisis, a company may find the majority of its support staff without electricity or transportation. But utilizing a global team can ensure that clients are well taken care of and attended to. The service team should believe strongly enough in delivering good service as to be willing to work around the clock to cover for colleagues affected by the crisis.
“Having a clear and strong crisis plan is crucial to maintaining stability and continuity in business operations” In the end, quality customer service comes down to understanding clients’ expectations. An educated, well-informed staff knowledgeable about their clients’ businesses is crucial to providing efficient and seamless support. Ensuring that the client feels comfortable and reassured that the support team will be able to help them builds a strong rapport and trust. If a company exceeds expectations to deliver great client service and goes further than its competition is prepared to go, it will lead to higher levels of customer satisfaction and retent ion, event ua lly ensuring the continued health and growth of the business.
About the author Jeff Powell is Executive Vice President of the Americas Region, and Jeff Hilk Executive Vice President and Director of Client Services at Diligent Board Member Services Inc, creator of the world’s most widely used board portal. www.boardbooks.com
BE Americas
| 17
People
Boost your confidence and career Why a lack of self-confidence could limit career progression and some hints on how to stop that happening Words by
Marielena Sabatier
BE Americas
| 19
I
n 2014 more than half of UK firms expect to create new jobs according to a survey released this month from CBI/Accenture called, ‘On the up’. The report stated that 51% of firms expect their workforce to be larger this time next year, the highest figure since the start of the recession in 2008. With more jobs being created and the UK finally experiencing economic growth, 2014 could prove a fresh start for many people who have been considering a new job or a change of career but have held off looking during the recession. However, the stumbling block for many people is their lack of selfconfidence. Not having confidence can limit a person’s potential, career choices and progression. If people aren’t confident they believe they can’t achieve their dream job or haven’t the skills to move up the corporate ladder. Lack of confidence is often based on very selfcritical thinking, fear of failure or from not having developed the right skills but expecting to have them. Self-confidence is something we are born with and we can rebuild by evaluating our experiences in a more positive light, looking at past experiences as an opportunity to learn or at skills as something we just haven’t accomplished yet. One way of building confidence is by changing our mind set from thinking, “we can’t do something” to “we can’t do something yet.” What we think about ourselves often appears to be fact, something we can’t actually do anything about, but these
20 |
BE Americas
are just opinions. They are based on experiences we’ve had and how we interpreted these experiences have shaped our beliefs about ourselves. If these experiences have been negative, the chances are that our beliefs about ourselves will be negative too, which affects our self-confidence. Sometimes negative beliefs are reinforced by negative thinking and experiences later in life, such as workplace bullying or intimidation, abusive relationships, persistent stress or hardship, or traumatic events. Our opinion of ourselves is developed as a result of all these interactions and experiences throughout our lives. Negative beliefs affect how people see their current reality, especially in the workplace, and how they ultimately progress in their career - it can limit possibilities and stop them achieving their potential. For example if someone gets praised at work for doing a good job, people who are confident will accept the complements, but those who lack confidence may start wondering if their boss really meant it, and start to worry that they could do better.
About the author Executive Coach, Marielena Sabatier, CEO, Inspiring Potential works with businesses and helps executives develop and boost their confidence to improve their performance at work. www.inspiring-potential.com
People
11 tips on improving your self-confidence 1. Change your thinking Focus on the positive and things you have done well not the negative. Write down one positive achievement every day, no matter how small and you will be surprised what you have achieved in a week. 2. Learn from mistakes If things haven’t gone to plan take it as an opportunity to learn from the mistakes. No one ever gets anywhere without making a few mistakes along the way. 3. Don’t be afraid to fail Many entrepreneurs have failed during their working lives and gone on to achieve great things. Think about Richard Branson. He has launched close to a 100 companies, many of which have failed. No one remembers these, only the successes. 4. Discover your strengths Ask people you respect what they think are your greatest strengths and then find ways to use those strengths more often. Be clear about your strengths and incorporate these into your work every day. 5. Think “you can” Instead of thinking “I can’t” – think “I can’t yet”. Make this your mantra and say it to yourself every day. 6. Create a challenge Challenge yourself to try something new. Find projects and assignments that give you an opportunity to use your strengths.
7. Face your fears Fear of failure often stops us doing things, turn this on its head and make a commitment to do at least one thing you fear every month. This could be making a team presentation, attending a networking function alone or learning a new business skill. 8. Don’t compare yourself to others People are often tempted to compare themselves to colleagues or friends and think ‘I wish I was thinner, more successful etc., but what they fail to realise is the person who is thinner, might attend a gym three times a week and eat very sensibly. Often confidence we see in others is a result of a lot of hard work. 9. A lack of confidence isn’t pervasive People need to think about other areas of their lives where they do feel confident – they may be good a cook for example or good at sport. If this confidence was channelled into the workplace then it could have a very positive impact. 10. Have a plan Think about where you want to go in 2014 and create an achievable plan with set goals. Make sure you regularly review these goals to keep on track for success. You can use an executive coach to help you formulate these goals. 11. Be positive Have a positive attitude and remain upbeat, when challenges emerge. People are drawn to positive people and this helps to build confidence in the workplace.
BE Americas
| 21
top ten
Things To Know About Mobile Security A few common-sense ways to foil persistent cyber criminals and protect data in transit Words by: Michelle Drolet
Top Ten
DEVICES 8 CHOOSE CAREFULLY
Not all devices and platforms are created equal – some are more secure than others.
APPS 7 CHOOSE CAREFULLY
Don’t blindly trust that third-party apps meet your security standards and requirements. You are responsible for ensuring compliance, so do your homework.
6 USE ENCRYPTION
Encryption should be mandatory for your data in transit. Consider encrypting in the cloud as well if you want to ensure there’s no exposure risk.
IS 10 MALWARE ON THE RISE
The threat of malware on mobile platforms is growing steadily as more and more cyber criminals target mobile devices in increasingly sophisticated ways.
IS 9 BYOD A CHALLENGE
There are obvious benefits to the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) trend, but it also creates IT challenges and exposes your company to new threats.
24 | BE Americas
1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0
0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1
1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0
0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1
1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1
0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0
0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1
1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0
1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0
Mobile security
5 REQUIRE AUTHENTICATION
Without authentication in place a lost mobile device serves as the keys to your kingdom and anyone who finds it can gain entry to everything.
YOUR 2 TEST DEFENCES
You can spend millions on a mobile security system, but how do you know that it works if you never put it to the test? Get third-party experts without prior knowledge to try and break it.
4 CONTROL CONNECTIVITY
Your file servers may be safe and secure behind a firewall, but it’s all for nothing if mobile devices share files on unsecure public Wi-Fi networks or via Bluetooth.
AN 3 MAINTAIN AUDIT TRAIL
Ensure that every point of entry is identified and every action creates a trail which can be clearly followed. You must see the flow of data in order to protect it.
1 ENFORCE MDM POLICY
You can have the best Mobile Device Management policy in the world, but if you don’t monitor, test and enforce it then it’s useless.
About the Author Michelle Drolet is founder of Towerwall, a data security services provider in Framingham, MA with clients such as PerkinElmer, Smith & Wesson, Middlesex Savings Bank, Brown University and SMBs. michelled@towerwall.com
BE Americas
| 25
DNI Metals’ Buckton shale deposit repres untapped min
written by: W research by: Pe
26 | BE Americas
DNI Metals
n polymetallic black sents an incredible ning resource
Will Daynes eter Rowlston
BE Americas | 27
Typical ridgeline outcrop of the black shale
DNI Metals
W
hen we last spoke to President and CEO of DNI Metals Shahe Sabag towards the end of 2011 his company had just achieved a significant milestone in its history, identifying the first mineral resource from one of its six mineral systems located within the 2,720 square kilometre property the company holds in the Birch Mountains, north of Fort McMurray adjacent to the oilsands deposits of northern Alberta, Canada. “In the months and years following the discovery of the Buckton Zone, we set out to expand the mineral resource several times over with the intention of building enough critical mass to carry out a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA),” Sabag explains. “The result of these activities is that the Buckton resource has grown to around a five billion tonne critical mass, with part of it upgraded from the Inferred to the Indicted resource category.” It was during these expansion activities that the company went on to discover and carve out a second mineral resource, Buckton South, a zone located seven kilometres south of Buckton. DNI expects one day to link up the two zones. The Buckton South ‘maiden’ resource is a half-a-billion tonne starter and the perfect example to industry watchers that there are other zones on the property that can be successfully drilled and measured to carve out additional mineral resources. The PEA study for the Buckton Deposit was launched in mid-2013, the results of which were released in December, with the technical report following on 17 January, 2014. The PEA
BE Americas | 29
$1.6 Billion Estimated pre-tax value of the Buckton operation
Geo mapping sampling another vertical cliff face outcrop of the black shale
30 | BE Americas
itself demonstrates that the Buckton Deposit has the potential to be a significant long term supplier of uranium and rare earth elements, in addition to nickel, cobalt, copper and zinc. It also indicates that the envisioned Buckton operation possesses a net present pre-tax value of $1.6 billion at a six percent discount rate, with an 8.7 percent internal rate of return. The mining operation has the ability to generate an average of $349 million in pretax net cash flow annually over its 64 year mine life, representing aggregate life of mine revenues of $75 billion. The PEA identified several key opportunities to significantly enhance economics and DNI is confident that several can be implemented with minimal additional work or expenditures. “With completion of the Buckton Deposit PEA we have concluded what we set out to achieve in 2008, and that was to take at least one of the six zones we hold and demonstrate that it does contain a mineable mineral resource,” Sabag continues. “This places us at a crossroad as it were, at which we must now decide in what direction we move forward from here.” Situated within an active mining area, where other players are mining oilsands as opposed to metals, and with access to considerable existing infrastructure, the
DNI Metals
2012 summer drilling program
location of the Buckton Deposit could hardly be more ideal. Whereas from a logistical, technical and scientific point of view the Buckton project has been relatively smooth sailing, the principle challenge that DNI Metals has found itself facing involves bridging the knowledge gap regarding just what type of mineral deposit it has on its hands. “The first challenge we faced is that what we have here is a metals property in Alberta, a part of the world known for oil and gas. That means that the first hurdle to clear involves informing people that yes there are indeed metals present in Alberta,” Sabag says.
“The next hurdle revolves around introducing people to the novel leaching techniques that we are using; things like bio-leaching and bio-heap leaching. Once that is cleared, it is then a case of explaining the unique qualities possessed by polymetallic deposits, and the fact that there have been countless example over the last 200 years of mining history in North America of deposits delivering multiple metals whose value is locked up in the aggregate value of the multiple metals contained. So, bridging the knowledge gap through constant communication has certainly been our biggest challenge to date.”
“The PEA demonstrates that the Buckton Deposit has the potential to be a significant long term supplier of uranium and rare earth elements” BE Americas | 31
“Our strategy from day one has been to develop one of our six zones to the PEA study stage before ultimately either vending it out or advancing it further in collaboration with a third party�
Shahe Sabag inspecting shale
32 | BE Americas
DNI Metals The 2,720 square kilometres of area held by DNI not only contains the aforementioned Buckton and Buckton South zones, but also four other assets dubbed Asphalt, McIvor West, North Lily and Eaglenest. Each of these contains a zone with the potential to deliver the kind of black shale polymetallic deposit found at Buckton if explored and developed accordingly. “Buckton and South Buckton are undoubtedly our highest priority assets at present, as can be seen in the way we have taken the former and moved it ahead as fast as possible toward a PEA,” Sabag states. “While it is fair to say that with similar levels of attention the other properties have the potential to become Buckton sized assets in their own right, we have no immediate intentions to rush into development of these, rather our approach right now is for the Buckton Deposit to be a template for what can be achieved elsewhere on the property.” Since the PEA study of Buckton was released in December, DNI Metals has received considerable positive feedback from both its shareholders and from various financial analysts. Now, with another milestone achieved, thoughts turn to the short and long terms futures of the company and its assets. “DNI Metals is an exploration and development company, not a mining
Aerial view of ridgline shale outcrop
company,” Sabag highlights. “As such we have no aspirations to becoming a producer, and our strategy from day one has been to develop one of our six zones to the PEA study stage before ultimately either vending it out or advancing it further in collaboration with a third party. So our immediate game plan involves following up on various discussions we have had in the past with potential interested third parties with the aim of enlisting their collaboration. Once this is in motion we can turn our attentions toward what we hope will be the next successful project at the property.” For more information about DNI Metals visit: www.dnimetals.com
BE Americas | 33
and mo
You don’t go into mining if life but effective risk identi are essential to survival. service offers a way to turn
written by: Jo research by:
34 | BE Americas
BFL CANADA
ore ore
you want to live a risk free ification and management BFL CANADA’s new ORE n uncertainty into an asset
ohn O’Hanlon James Boyle
BE Americas | 35
Red Chris mine construction site. Photo provided by Imperial Metals Corporation
BFL CANADA
B
FL CANADA is a no-nonsense insurance brokerage and risk management firm, founded by Barry F Lorenzetti in 1987 and now the largest employee-owned and operated commercial insurance broker and consulting services firm in the country, with offices in nine major cities from Vancouver in the west to Halifax in the east. Though BFL is active in upward of 20 vertical business sectors, one of the most important of these is mining, mineral processing and exploration. BFL has always provided its mining industry clients with an outsourced risk management service covering every aspect of operations from initial exploration through construction and operation of a mining facility. Its core business, after all, lies in the insurance field, but this is a company that likes to add value. When we covered the company’s activities a year ago we saw the strong growth of the company under its leadership team including Vice President and National Practice Leader – Mining for BFL CANADA’s operations Janet McLean. Today we want to look at how Janet, a specialist in risk transfer – the insurance side of the business and alternative risk financing – has been joined by Michael Yip to develop an enhanced service that they describe as representing something of a paradigm shift for the company and its client base. Michael Yip joined BFL in 2012 as National Practice Leader – Enterprise Risk Management (ERM), BFL’s strategic consulting arm. His area of expertise is enterprise risk management and strategy advice. With 20 years of consulting experience in strategy, integration of strategy and risk management for Fortune
BE Americas | 37
500 companies, including major projects for mining clients. He takes the strategic view, from operational risk management at the mine site level up to how that contributes and helps drive profitability and success for the corporation as a whole. “My focus is working with colleagues like Janet McLean, who represents the risk transfer side of the equation. We complement each other because I have the strategic perspective of the industry, seeing market trends in terms of business drivers. Janet brings a very tactical approach to addressing those risk management factors in the mining industry.” So they make a great team! And that team has been very busy over the last 18 months or so. Let’s look at the problem, he suggests. “Insurance is a necessity – you clearly need to insure for the many hazards facing any mine operation. That is a significant expense for most mining companies. But the business implications of these and more intangible risks are ignored by many professional service advisers. We can insure 20 percent of our risks but the question I ask is how can we address the other 80 percent?” That is the role of enterprise risk management (ERM), he asserts. Traditionally insurance is seen as a necessary evil, in case disaster strikes. Seen as an integral part of the
ERM process it undergoes a transformation. “I am working with clients to not view risk as inevitably associated with loss,” emphasises Yip. “Risk involves uncertainty, sure enough, but let’s lose the preconception that it has to threaten profitability: see it as an opportunity to capitalise on an event!” Over the last six months Janet McLean and he have been busy developing a new service that reflects this thinking. ORE (Optimizing Risk Excellence) can be applied in any
“We can insure 20 percent of our risks but the question I ask is how can we address the other 80 percent?” 38 | BE Americas
BFL CANADA
Wolverine mine site. Photo courtesy of Yukon Government
business vertical, but it’s not this is very important as part just the acronym that makes of our service communications it particularly applicable to with our clients. Commodity price graphs are a big deal. mining and minerals. After a year getting to understand But setting up hedging The year BFL was BFL’s capacity in different programs or alternative founded verticals, Michael Yip adapted financing arrangements and a platform he had spent years working with lenders to be developing to BFL’s unique more creative with respect to business ethos and made it mining-specific. your risk profiles will assure the investment Six months later it is available to clients, and community and lenders that you are ahead of it has already started to benefit the companies that risk and are addressing it.” Retrenchment in Canada that he and McLean work with. is not the only game in town – demonstrating So how can risk be seen as opportunity? a proactive management style gains any How can elements that are uncontrollable, company credit in difficult times – after all immitigable even – commodity pricing for investors are used to taking the long view. example – be turned to advantage? “It may His experience in multitudes of industry seem an esoteric concept to take a positive verticals, large small, national, multinational, view of fluctuations in world gold prices, but Yip brings valuable best practice experience
1987
BE Americas | 39
BFL case study It’s hard to find a manufacturer that has not gone through a lean process these days, and many have gone the whole nine yards with Six Sigma and TQM thinking. Mining operations could stand to benefit from this too, he believes. “I was engaged to conduct an operational risk assessment for a Middle East mining operation with three or four mine sites. We had our engineers go in and do all the practical reviews, but the board of the corporation was concerned that they did not have a handle on the bigger picture. Were they efficient? Were they maximising economies of scale that could directly impact their bottom line – revenue as well as profitability? So we recommended that we step back and take a more strategic assessment of the organisation, and look at other industries facing a similar risk profile. As well as Lean Six Sigma, which they were already considering, we encouraged them to look at supply chain issues. For example, where is the product going – do you have that addressed? Do you have the Michael Yip, National Practice Leader – Enterprise Risk Management (ERM)
40 | BE Americas
Janet McLean, Vice President and National Practice Leader – Mining
contractual risk issues under control – in other words are you looking at who you are doing business with?” McLean comments “Mining operations like most industries today, operate 24/7 with little time to send contracts through for input from the CFO or risk manager, as a result many opportunities to mitigate or transfer risk are missed by not amending contract language before it is signed. ORE addresses this and many more issues that our clients value.” Taking a broad, business-centric assessment to this organisation resulted in a much heightened view of its risk profile, he says. “What started out as a very granular, day to day, specific type of risk assessment turned into a much more strategic view of the operations, which led to significant branding efforts, greater competitive market penetration and in the end positioned them to be a much stronger player.” This company set out on an M&A trajectory, buying up smaller mines in the area: the process positioned it for a much stronger operational and strategic base.
BFL CANADA
Wolverine mine site. Photo provided by Yukon Zinc Corporation
to the industry. “Mining operations indeed meld together. That is essentially at the are somewhat unique but at the end of the core of one of the main services Janet and day they face fundamental business risks, I are building within BFL. It works with the similar risks to a manufacturing operation, mining organisations at the management and as an example. I encourage clients to take strategy level and at the operations level and a much more grounded perspective of risk it works to create a very tailored risk profile management, having experienced quite a lot depending on the need of the audience.” This service works with mining operations of success in the past.” Mining companies are always interested to learn how their ‘peers’ to create a risk profile that is marketable. deal with prevalent risk issues Underwriters, accountants, – and where appropriate, banks, potential lenders benchmark those practices. and investors whether This type of strategic institutional or private all thinking underpins BFL’s ORE need to understand the service. “Being an ex-banker strength of a company’s myself and coming from the operational best practices. Industry verticals consulting side I understand So it works at both ends, served by BFL how the two worlds can the tactical side focused on
24
BE Americas | 41
“Risk involves uncertainty, but let’s lose the preconception that it has to threaten profitability: see it as an opportunity to capitalise on an event!” operations and risk transfer, and the strategic side which takes into consideration the investment community, lenders and potential joint venture partners or M&A targets. Mining operations can be rather inwardlooking, Michael Yip thinks, often failing to consider how the financial markets view them. McLean comments, “The recent commodity pricing rally still has a long way to go to reach ideal levels, affecting stock prices, creating
42 | BE Americas
a very attractive M&A environment among mining and exploration companies. ORE is an excellent and affordably appropriate tool that, among other things, assists in both the evaluation of a targeted company for capital market’s assessments and the insurance market’s underwriting process post-merger that works to position the risk and its management in the best possible light.” A panoramic risk profile is very desirable
BFL CANADA
Red Chris mine construction site. Photo provided by Imperial Metals Corporation
to outside providers like bankers and the financial and insurance markets. The majors tend to grasp this fact more readily than the juniors and to engage with BFL’s offering, so McLean and Yip are tailoring ORE to them. “The positive aspect of having this type of assessment at the front end is that investors and bankers see it this way. You may have a great resource, your core samples may be fantastic, but if it is going to cost you a billion dollars to build an operating mine to access it, is it really worth developing? The younger juniors don’t necessarily have the head office depth to do all these analytics.” The team is currently providing a scaled and modified version of the ORE service to a mining operation in northern Canada, as part of the commercial insurance services
that BFL offers. On top of that package the client benefits from Michael Yip’s engagement to explore how they can better position themselves to the capital markets and make introductions to lenders. “That is just an example of the expanded collaboration that Janet and I have,” he says. “Through the introduction of my services ORE is trying to capitalise on relationships that are still highly operational and tactical, but we are now able to provide a more strategic element as we work with clients right through their mine development life cycle.” For more information about BFL CANADA visit: www.bflcanada.ca
BE Americas | 43
Rio Tinto Kennecott
Creating a community from copper How Rio Tinto Kennecott has utilised the vast wealth of the Bingham Canyon Mine to create a thriving, sustainable community
written by: Will Daynes research by: Jeff Abbott & Robert Hodgson
BE Americas | 45
Rio Tinto Kennecott
M
easuring two and threequarter miles across and with a depth of approximately threequarters of mile, the Bingham Canyon Mine was for many years the largest man-made excavation on Earth. It is from here, southwest of Salt Lake City, Utah, in the Oquirrh Mountains that Rio Tinto Kennecott sources almost a quarter of the total copper needs of the United States. It was in 1903 that the then Utah Copper Company was incorporated, tasked with overseeing the development of the mine itself, and it is fair to say that its success in mining the huge, low-grade porphyry copper type ore body revolutionised the copper industry, and set the pattern for the large open-pit porphyry copper mines that today dominate the copper industry worldwide. Expansion of the mine took off rapidly with the region quickly becoming a hub for mining activity. The Bingham Canyon Mine has been a fixture of Salt Lake Valley for more than 111 years and during that time has produced some 19 million tonnes of copper, more than any other mine. Still among the very largest open-pit operations on the planet, Kennecott continues to look at extending the life of the mine and their capabilities. “It stands to reason that we are incredibly proud of our history and of being a feature of Salt Lake Valley for well over a century,” states Rohan McGowan-Jackson, Vice President, Resource Development and Communities. “In that time we have firmly established ourselves as the largest private economic driver in Utah, generating more production, exports, income and employment than any
BE Americas | 47
Instilling True Co Deliverin
Ames self-performs most major wor projects to provide better control of of the work, and greater flexibility to changing requirements from the cus Our self-performance capabilities inc
onfidence. ng Success.
rk elements on the progress o accommodate stomer. clude:
• Mining • Mining Infrastructure • Aggregate Processing • Bridge Construction • Blasting (Rock) • Earthwork • Equipment Installation • Excavation (Rock) • Pile Installation • Roadway and Highway Construction • Soil-Cement Construction • Piping (In Ground & mechanical) • Walls (MSE & Noise Abatement) • Structural Concrete Tel: 801-977-8012 | www.amesconstruction.com
AMES CONSTRUCTION Founded in 1962, Ames Construction is a full-service heavy civil and industrial General Contractor. Self-performing a majority of all the work contracted, Ames serves public and private clients throughout North America in core markets including: Energy, Mining, Transportation, Railroads, Water and Wastewater, Residential and Commercial. Mining is a particularly vital market for Ames Construction. Ames has experience in mine Development, Infrastructure, Leach Pads, Tailings Dams, Contract Mining and Reclamation. Ames has also had an over 30-year relationship with Rio Tinto at the Kennecott Bingham Mine. Ames continues to construct the North Tailings Dam, having done so for the past 14 years.
50 | BE Americas
Ames understands that it supports Kennecott by providing safe, on-time and on-budget project completion. That’s why Ames has proactive safety programs and team of over 20 safety and health professionals to provide worksites with safety statistics better than the national average. It is also why Ames is focused on listening and working with clients to respond their needs and deliver high-quality projects that stay on schedule. With proven self-performance in a wide array of projects, and detailed attention to our clients needs, Ames Construction has what it takes to ensure project success. www.amesconstruction.com
Rio Tinto Kennecott
other company. Today we have approximately so through the implementation of self2,500 employees, while the number of imposed environmental targets that assist indirect jobs created by the mine’s operations it in achieving good management of natural has been estimated at some 14,000.” resources and sustainable development. Given its significance in the region it The concept of sustainable development is appropriate that Rio Tinto Kennecott also extends to the company’s work with holds a steadfast belief in being not only local communities. “Since Rio Tinto acquired Kennecott in 1989,” the steward of the land on McGowan-Jackson continues, which it operates, but also “it has invested several billion being a strong community partner. Where possible the dollars into modernising the company has endeavoured core business and allowing to prevent or minimise any it to achieve the growth it Estimated number of potentially harmful effects has in recent years. While indirect jobs created by the mine that its activities may have this relates specifically to on the environment. It does the internal growth of the
14,000
BE Americas | 51
“We have firmly established ourselves as the largest private economic driver in Utah�
52 | BE Americas
Rio Tinto Kennecott
business it has allowed us “Daybreak is nothing short to extend the licence of the of an outstanding positive operation and that in turn story of post-mining land use,” McGowan-Jackson enthuses. results in creating even “What was previously a 4,000 more well paid jobs and acre area of land used to maintaining the flow-on from the taxes we pay.” support mining activity has According to figures since received the necessary Rio Tinto Kennecott’s investment to clean it up and available to the end of total contribution to 2011, Rio Tinto Kennecott’s transform it into a modern surrounding communities total contribution to the master-planned community, as of 2011 communities that exist built upon the principles around the Bingham Canyon conceived by Envision Utah, Mine totalled $1.2 billion. This massive figure a public-private partnership that promotes has helped in all manner of ways, one of the quality, sustainable growth.” best examples of which can be seen in the Virtually the entire Daybreak Community existence of the Daybreak Community. is built around the concept of sustainability,
$1.2
billion
BE Americas | 53
PRECIOUS RESOURCE DISCOVERED Click here to visit our dedicated homepage for the mining community
www.bus-ex.com/mining
54 | BE Americas
with all houses carrying a level three energy efficiency certificate and contributing towards a 20-30 percent reduction in emissions, and water being recycled at every possible turn. “What we have also learnt from the development of the Daybreak Community is the way you can have a material impact on the lives of people just through the way you design infrastructure,” McGowan-Jackson says. “The way you connect people’s homes to where they work has a big impact on the way they commute and this in turn has an impact on the levels of emissions being produced within a community.” A study conducted by the University of Utah on the Daybreak Elementary School
Rio Tinto Kennecott
reaffirmed McGowan-Jackson’s comments when it highlighted that among the fifth graders attending the school, 88 percent walked or rode bikes to class each day. Meanwhile studies of similar schools outside of the community brought back figures that showed this figure falling to as low as 17 percent, with the vast majority being
transported by bus or being dropped off by car. When you take these results and multiply them across the entire Daybreak Community you start to get a better picture of the positive social and environmental impact being made. This commitment to planning and long-term investment has Kennecott well-positioned for the future. “Without doubt we have a fantastic
“The way you connect people’s homes to where they work has a big impact on the way they commute” BE Americas | 55
Rio Tinto Kennecott
“we have a fantastic foundation to grow and extend the business” foundation to continue to grow and extend the business,” McGowan-Jackson says. “We have fantastic, well maintained and invested physical assets on site, and the mineral asset which we are blessed to be working with here could potentially still possess as much metal as we have taken out in the last 110 years, so there is a great deal to be positive about.” Even when taking these positives into consideration, McGowan-Jackson is clear about what the company’s strategy must be going forward. “Our task now is to achieve significant productivity improvements throughout our business,” he concludes. “We are already working hard to achieve this by focusing on lean practices, by working on achieving greater integration within our value chain and by motivating our frontline employees to find creative solutions to be more efficient, something that they continue to showcase by coming together and facing down significant challenges before bringing them to resolution.” For more information about Rio Tinto Kennecott visit: www.kennecott.com
BE Americas | 57
Essar Steel Minnesota LLC (ESML)
Pellet perfection Essar Steel Minnesota LLC (ESML) is edging closer to the completion of a state-of-the-art open pit mining, concentrating and pelletizing plant within the best known region for iron ore in the United States
written by: Will Daynes research by: Peter Rowlston
BE Americas | 59
Essar Steel Minnesota LLC (ESML)
D
iscovered in 1866, the Mesabi Iron Range is the chief deposit of iron ore in the United States. Located in northeast Minnesota, within a jurisdiction which has long boasted a track record of successful mineral developments and operations, it is a vast deposit of the mineral that was extensively mined throughout the early part of the 20th Century through to the late 1960s, when natural ore reserves were depleted. It was at this time that Butler Taconite, a company jointed owned by the Inland Steel Company, Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corporation and Hanna Mining Company, developed a taconite mining operation at the site, which allowed it to commence operations in 1967, producing high-quality pellets until May 1985. The closure of Butler Taconite resulted in the property being reclaimed and the plant dismantled. In September 1996, Minnesota Iron & Steel (MIS) was registered as a corporation with the goal of reopening the mine site and constructing a whole new facility, not only as an iron pellet producer but also as a direct reduced iron and electric arc furnace steelmaking facility. It was in 2004, that the project was reactivated by Minnesota Steel Industries (MSI), a company formed by one of the major stakeholders of MIS. A feasibility study was prepared in 2007, and environmental permits were granted for a 4.1 million tonnes per annum pellet plant (MTPA), a 2.8 MTPA direct reduced iron facility and a 2.5 MTPA electric arc furnace. Subsequently, in October 2007,
BE Americas | 61
MILL INCHING DRIVES ROLLER SCREEN PELLE
Designed & Manufactured
Ingenuity in Hydraulics
Telephone: 1/-51
Abacus Hydraulics Ltd., pioneer of hydrostatic mill inching drives has since its foundation in 1969 designed, and manufactured over 1000 systems now operating in plants around the world. Abacus drives are custom built and can suit any specifications. The available torque range is unlimited and virtually fits any high torque low speed requirements for mining equipment. The drives are equipped with the exclusive TORFLEX速 gear type coupling which has been specifically designed and developed by Abacus Hydraulics Ltd.
TORFLEX速 is a registered trade mark of Abacus Hydraulics Ltd.
- HIGH TORQUE DRIVES ET CLASSIFYING SYSTEMS
d by Abacus Hydraulics Ltd.
• DESIGN • MANUFACTURE • SERVICE
14-620-3113 | Email: info@abacus-hydraulics.com | www.abacus-hydraulics.com
Abacus Hydraulics Ltd., is since 1989 also a leader in the design and manufacture of roller screen pellet classifying systems. Abacus roller screens are equipped with several unique features, are custom built to suit any specifications and are available in a variety of configurations which can meet any project requirements. The roller screens are made of high quality components for reliable and long life operation with special emphasis on easy serviceability and safety.
ABACUS HYDRAULICS LTD The mining industry with its wide range of drive requirements and changing process methods is always seeking more reliable, efficient and versatile drive systems. A Canadian company, Abacus Hydraulics Ltd. is since 1969 meeting this challenge every day. Abacus is custom designing and manufacturing high torque drives and special mining machinery for mines around the world. The Abacus high torque drives have proven their reliability in grinding mill inching drives, apron feeders, thickeners, conveyors and hoists to mention only a few. The drives are custom built and can suit any specifications. The available torque range is unlimited and virtually fits any high torque low speed requirements for mining equipment. The innovative approach of Abacus Hydraulics Ltd. allows the company to supply equipment with unique features which improve safety, reliability, operation and serviceability of the systems. All drives are available with the exclusive TORFLEXÂŽ gear type coupling designed and developed over 30 years ago by Abacus. The ease of engagement, high degree of misalignment tolerance and low cost make this
64 | BE Americas
coupling ideal for many mining applications. Since 1989, Abacus Hydraulics Ltd. is also a leader in the design and manufacture of roller screen pellet classifying systems used for sizing and conveying of iron ore pellets in pelletizing plants worldwide. Abacus Hydraulics Ltd. has always been receptive to evaluate and develop new systems to fill the customer’s requirements. Abacus has also successfully designed and manufactured other type of systems such as lubrication systems for large hydrostatic bearings of grinding mills and brake systems for down hill conveyors and other applications. A highly competent and dedicated team of employees permit the successful handling of the projects and product support. The company has constantly and steadily grown over the years. During the summer of 2013, the company consolidated their offices and plants to a new facility in Pointe-Claire, Montreal, QC, Canada. This expansion now allows higher production capacity, reduced manufacturing costs and delivery times. E. info@abacus-hydraulics.com www.abacus-hydraulics.com
Essar Steel Minnesota LLC (ESML)
“The company ensures that it achieves continuous improvement in health, safety and environmental performance by creating a culture of employee ownership� Essar Steel Holdings acquired the fullypermitted project from MSI. Essar Steel Minnesota LLC (ESML), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Essar Resources Inc., can today be found building a state-ofthe-art open pit mining, concentrating and pelletizing plant at the site. This undertaking began life as a greenfield pellet plant project in northern Minnesota, on the western end of the Biwabik Iron Formation, with a 19,000acre project boundary, of which 4,360 acres are mineral lease land. ESML has measured and indicated mineral resources of approximately 1,768 million
metric tonnes of iron ore as well as inferred mineral resources of approximately 201 million metric tonnes of iron ore. Construction and development of the project commenced in October 2010, with ESML expecting operations to commence in the fourth quarter of 2014, ramping up to an annual production capacity of seven MTPA in quarter three of 2015. All of the required Federal and State regulatory permits and approvals for the seven MTPA pelletizing capacity have been received, while permits and approvals for 1.8 MTPA of direct reduced iron (DRI) and 1.5 MTPA of electric arc furnace based steel are
BE Americas | 65
Adyard Abu Dhabi LLC P.O. Box 7604, Mussafah, Abu Dhabi, UAE Email: adyard.abudhabi@topaz-engineering.com Tel: 02-5547722 Fax: 02-5546767
Nico International Hy PO Box 2978, Fujair Email: fab.fuj@topaz-eng Tel: 09-2249400 Fax: 0
Contact: Tony McKay, Managing Director | William Duff, Sales Director | www.topa
ydrospace rah, UAE gineering.com 09-2249504
azworld.com
QUALITY AND DELIVERY The project is for the fabrication, pre – commissioning and load out of Jackets, Piles, Conductors and Deck Structures for the C – 26 cluster & B1731-B Well Platforms of the Oil & Natural Gas Corporation of India, which is total of around 10,000 MTS. Topaz Oil and Gas Limited Topaz Oil & Gas (TOGL) is a reputed U.A.E based experienced service provider to Oil and Gas Industry. Operating out of facilities in Abu Dhabi (Adyard) and Fujairah (Nico International Hydrospace), the business is engaged in offshore and onshore construction across the UAE, and for global clients in the oil and gas, utilities and ports industries. • 140,000 m2 of fabrication area in Abu Dhabi & Fujairah with extensive water frontage • Over 35,000 tons and 360,000 in/ dia capacity per year The ISO 9001:2008, ISO 14001-2004, ISO 18001:2007 and ASME & API certifications ensure our delivery to internationally recognized standards of excellence. Our Services: • EPC Turnkey Projects both Onshore and Offshore. • EPC Turnkey Projects for Tanks and Terminals. • Fabrication and Construction Services for Jackets, Topside, Modules, PARs and PAUs, Exotic Piping, Pressure Vessels, Columns, Heat Exchangers, Separators etc. • Maintenance Services such as Shutdown Support; Valve, Pump, Motor and Generator Refurbishment; Machining and Calibration of Instruments • Rig Repairs both On-float and alongside
Trusted Partner Since 1961
Streamline the Relining Process with PaR Mill Liner Handlers
Reline faster and easier:
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::: :::::::::::::::: : B::: ::: ::::::: :x::::: ::::::: ::: :::::: ::::::: ::: ::::: : V::::::: ::::: :::::::: : ::: :::: ::::: ::::::: ::::: ::::::::
Designed for safety:
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: : :: : : : :::::::::::::::::::::::
Contact Us: Dennis DesMarais
ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss sssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
inspired Your weekly digest of business news and views
www.bus-ex.com
Essar Steel Minnesota LLC (ESML) also in place. Project financing is fully committed for the Since 1961, PaR Systems has been designing and installing commissioning of 4.1 MTPA mill liner handlers world-wide. Whether your grinding mill pelletizing capacity, while is a large ball or rod mill, semi-autogenous or autogenous, obtaining additional project or an existing mill with limited access, PaR has a solution financing for the incremental that can meet your specific requirements. Each is built with 2.9 MTPA is in process. features that enhance the relining process, making it faster, easier, and safer. Your Mill Liner Handler will be delivered ESML possesses the fully operational within 12 months. The knuckled boom and flexibility necessary to its 360-degree rotation means you can reline both sides of produce standard, fluxed the mill without repositioning. and direct reduction grade www.par.com/industrial/mining pellets. The company’s aim is to be one of the lowest cost producers of said pellets in North America by utilising the ore body characteristics of its location area and the significant technological improvements that have occurred since the building of the last pellet plant in the US in the 1970s. Strategically located alongside multiple access points to a first class ground transportation infrastructure the company is perfectly placed to serve the North American market, while multiple vessel options in its vicinity give it access to the international seaborne market. The nature, location and scope of the mine itself allows for less capital equipment to be employed in mining operations, a factor that
PaR Systems
1,768 million tonnes ESML’s measured and indicated mineral resources of iron ore
BE Americas | 69
is expected to result in significantly reduced operating costs over time. The short haulage distance from the mine to the coarse crusher also provides significant operational costsavings. Ultimately the plant will feature a two-stage crushing circuit, which will increase mill throughput, as compared to a single mill operation. Moreover, transporting the slurry via pipeline will provide the ESML with substantial cost savings over rail and road transportation. The project site will also have a slurry storage capacity of 60,000 tonnes, which is intended to reduce process interruptions. ESML carries with it a steadfast belief that through a combination of teamwork, training, communication and shared responsibility, it can maintain a workplace free of injury, illness or environmental incidents. Most importantly, the company ensures that it achieves continuous improvement in health, safety and environmental performance by creating a culture of employee ownership. To that end, it strives to involve employees at all levels of the organisation in the creation of policies and procedures and seek to ensure that any issues are resolved in a timely manner at the appropriate organisational level. Before a company can develop and operate a mine in the state of Minnesota it must first
complete an Environment Impact Statement or Study, before then obtaining the appropriate environmental permits and approvals which grant permission for the construction and operation of production facilities, as well as the final reclamation of the mine site. Accordingly, ESML has obtained all of the necessary permits and approvals to increase pelletizing capacity to 7.0 MTPA. A supplemental Environmental Impact
“ESML realises it also has a responsibility to give back to the community that supports it in many ways� 70 | BE Americas
Essar Steel Minnesota LLC (ESML)
Statement for a 7.0 MTPA iron ore pellet plant was approved by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources on December 29th, 2011 after undergoing a public review process. In addition the company obtained a Permit to Mine from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources on April 17th, 2012 and an air permit from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency on May 10th, 2012. Furthermore, the company has engaged environmental consultants to evaluate the increased capacity envisioned in Phase II of the project. The environmental review and permitting process for the additional capacity will involve the preparation and submission of a further Environmental Impact Statement, as well as the amendment of all of the current environmental permits.
ESML realises it also has a responsibility to give back to the community that supports it in many ways. The company’s employees can regularly be found volunteering their time, and making financial contributions, towards various initiatives including local programmes United Way and Food Shelf, and towards local schools, universities and hospitals. In addition to these, ESML’s employee driven Community Connections Committee coordinates vital outreach efforts to several of the region’s leading non-profit organisations. For more information about Essar Steel Minnesota LLC (ESML) visit: www.essarsteelmn.com
BE Americas | 71
special feature:
barrick gold: pueblo viejo
Revitalising a region The Barrick Pueblo Viejo gold mining complex remains the biggest single investment in the history of the Dominican Republic and continues to break new ground as it begins to realise its potential
written by: Will Daynes research by: Vince Kielty
BE Americas | 73
barrick gold: pueblo viejo
F
or many years tourism and agriculture have been the traditional drivers of economic growth for the Dominican Republic. However in more recent times a third pillar has been slowly emerging and developing and that is mining. Today the sector is a cornerstone of the country’s economic prosperity, with the mining industry’s contribution to its GDP rising by as much as 74 percent in 2011 alone. Located approximately 100 kilometres northwest of the capital city of Santo Domingo, the Pueblo Viejo mine represents one of its most significant investments to date and the largest foreign investment in Dominican Republic history, with mine construction capital of approximately $3.8 billion. With declared reserves of 23.7 million ounces of gold, Pueblo Viejo holds by far the richest deposits of gold ever identified in the country. The site, which is a sulphidic refractory gold deposit, is currently being developed to a 24,000 tonne-per-day design capacity. The mine comprises two major oxide deposits known as Monte Negro and Moore, and three other small deposits. Moore is the largest deposit and is separated from Monte Negro by 500 metres of barren mud-stones. The mine had been in production since 1975. It was operated by the state-owned mining company Rosario Dominicana. The mine had produced more than five million ounces (moz) of gold and 22moz of silver in its operational life. The mining operations had to be halted, however, in 1991 due to low gold and silver prices and a lack of
BE Americas | 75
We are a company dedicated to the Engineering procurement and construction of projects, with a wide expertise that covers the most important sectors of the construction industries, such as Mining, Energy and Infrastructures. SERVINCA was founded on December 29th, 1979, at its headquarters located at Santo Domingo; Dominican Republic. During 33 years of experience our professionals have specialized in developing projects covering a wide range of disciplines,, such as Electrical Power generation, transmission and distribution networks, Steel Infrastructures, Mechanical & Industrial Installation. Piping and Civil works, including Engineering, Management, Procurement and Construction.
K136 Project, PVDC Pueblo Viejo, Dom. Rep.
“SERVINCA have reached a total of 1,200,000 man hours without lost time incident PVDC BARRICK”
1
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC PVDC GOLD MINE Cotuí Santo Domingo SERVINCA OFFICE
Award nomination for energy industry CADOCON, PVDC BARRICK, Dominican Republic
SERVINCA Headquarter – No. 737, Francisco Prats Ramírez, st, El Millón, Sto. Dgo., Dominican Republic. Phone: (809) 363-0928 / 0925 / 0926 | Fax: (809) 363-0570
Engineering & Construction Services Our vast experience has become to be the best solution for the development of sustainable projects, with a large availability of professionals in all applicable Engineering areas, such as Civil, Electrical, Hydraulics and Mechanical, assuring full compliance to our customer by delivering quality and costs efficient products.
SERVINCA was selected as the best company of the year in row energy industry for three consecutive terms (2002-2012) by the Dominican Chamber of Construction (CADOCON), catapulting Servinca well as the leader in energy and other areas of engineering in the Dominican Republic.
Business Philosophy Our major commitment is to comply with the highest quality standards, ensuring the safety of our workers and the environment with a strict scheduling plan for the on time delivery of our projects. The good results obtained in the Engineering, Procurement, Management and Construction of large projects are resultant products of our own integrated management system, implemented by a specialized organization structure oriented to results that fulfills and supersede the client´s expectations. “Our quality System is implemented and adjusted to each project to meet the best Engineering practices, followed by a strict Occupational safety and environmental plans carried by our Professional staff, whose experience and integrity are the main elements that has contributed to the success of SERVINCA, positioning our company as leader in the construction industry”.
CADOCON 2013 Company of the Year Awards in the Energy Sector SERVINCA S.A.
METRO SANTO DOMINGO line I y II, Emergency Power Generation plant, 40MVA and Substation 138KV/40MW.
E-mail: servinca@servinca.com.do/cjcabrera@servinca.com.do/ccabrera@servinca.com.do www.servinca.com.do | RNC 1-01-08699-8
2
Services we offer
ELECTRICAL AREA
SERVINCA, with over 33 years experience in the engineering and construction sector, has the ability to provide a high quality service in multidisciplinary projects complying with top standards for quality, health and occupational safety and environmental protection, while maintaining a key position in the construction industry current market. The main key activities covered by our business experience are:
• Erection and EPC Power transmission lines in high, medium and low voltage. • Erection and EPC in Energy generation and distribution: Diesel, Gas, combined cycle power plants , Hydroelectric, and renovables projects. • Erection and EPC Electrical Substations. • Electrical equipment installations. • Fiber optic communication networks.
EGE HAINA 40 MW COAL POWER PLANT Installation of new precipitators, Barahona, Dominican Republic.
BARRICK PVDC GOLD MINE F336 Underground piping, 25 Kms of pipelines installed.
MECHANICAL AREA • Industrial Mechanical installation and Fabrication. • Hydro mechanical projects. • Potable water, sewer systems, fire protection and freshwater pipeline systems. • Fabrication, supply and installation of steel structures, fittings, supports, etc.
3
• Thermal insulation of piping and Industrial Painting. • Pump stations. • Water treatment plants. • Sheet pilling. • Drilling and construction of water wells. • Fire Alarm and Protection Systems. • Installation and maintenance of HVAC systems.
METRO SANTO DOMINGO Power Generation plant, 40 MVA.
METRO SANTO DOMINGO - Construction of tunnel and electrical installations for Metro Substations – 350 Lineal meters.
PINALITO HYDROELECTRIC DAM 69KV Transmission lines and 50 MVA Substation, Dominican Republic.
CIVIL AREA
ELECTRICAL AREA
• Excavation. • Earthworks • Filling and compaction. • Sandblasting. • Encofrados. • Piles. • Shotcrete.
• Industrial electrical installations in general: Beer plants, airports, water treatment plants, cement plants, gold mine process plant, metro stations and others. • Instrumentation, panels, installation devices, control and instrumentation cable, panels, installation devices, control cable pulling, testing and inspection.
SERVINCA Headquarter – No. 737, Francisco Prats Ramírez, st, El Millón, Sto. Dgo., Dominican Republic. Phone: (809) 363-0928 / 0925 / 0926 | Fax: (809) 363-0570
MANUFACTURING SERVICE
Our fabrication Workshop, located in Santo Domingo, Hato Nuevo, is specialized in the Design, Manufacture, Repairing and Technical Assistance for metal mechanical projects, covering a wide rage that includes: Hydro mechanical Elements for Dams such as Gates Takes, Radial Gates, Grills, Overhead Cranes, Shields, Cofferdams, Penstocks, Suction tubes, Speed Reducers and Power Transmission mechanical equipment.
FABRICATION WORKSHOP Capacity of over 2000 Tons / months, Hato Nuevo, Santo Domingo.
MONCION HIDROELECTRIC DAM 50 MVA, Dominican Republic.
PELIGREE HYDROELECTRIC DAM Haiti, ALSTOM, 3 x18 MVA.
Our fabrication capacity is also oriented to Manufacture Mechanical parts, Design and Manufacture of Metal structures. Pipes, Dismantling Joints, Expansion Joints, Bifurcations, metal Coatings and accessories.
JIGUEY – AGUACATE HYDROELECTRIC DAM 50 MVA, Dominican Republic.
LAS BARIAS HYDROELECTRIC DAM 2.5 MVA, Santo Domingo.
MONTE GRANDE AND SABANA YEGUA - Hydroelectric and irrigation Dams, 8 MVA and 15 MVA, Dominican Republic.
VALDESIA HYDROELECTRIC DAM 15 MVA, Santo Domingo.
ENGINEERING DESIGN SERVICES:
INDRHI AND INTERNATIONAL WORLD BANK IRRIGATION PROJECTS Lote 10, Jima Camu siphon and irrigation pumping system, La Vega, Dominican Republic.
• Design of mechanical installations. • Distribution System Design and delivery of water, wastewater and storm drainage. • Design of steel structures, doors, fittings, supports, etc.. • Engineering and construction of concrete piles, drilling wells, infiltration wells, etc.. • Electrical systems in general. • Supply and transportation of local and imported • Materials related to electromechanical installations.
E-mail: servinca@servinca.com.do/cjcabrera@servinca.com.do/ccabrera@servinca.com.do www.servinca.com.do | RNC 1-01-08699-8
4
Profile
SERVICIOS DE INGENIERIA, SERVINCA, was contracted by BARRICK Pueblo Viejo Dominicana Corporation for the construction of 30 Kms – 4¨ to 36¨ HDPE and carbon steel underground piping utilities for the potable, freshwater, firewater and storm sewer systems of the Gold mine Process plant site. =SERVINCA is proud to be part of the construction of the 34.5kv Overhead Transmission Lines for BARRICK PVDC process plant site and surrounding areas, with the responsibility of the Engineering, Procurement, Management and Construction of over 35 Kms - 34.5KV and 4.16KV Over Head line systems.
HDPE Termofusion Work – F336 Project , PVDC
SERVINCA received in the month of October 2013 the award for best company of the year three times in a row in the Energy Sector awarded by the Dominican Construction Chamber (CADOCON).
1
As a general contractor specialized in the Engineering, Procurement, Management and Construction of Electrical, Civil and Mechanical Works, SERVINCA executed several projects at PVDC in the disciplines of Piping, Metal-Mechanical, Steel Structure Fields and others such as Sheet Piling, Geomembrane, Geotextile, Gabions and Concrete Structures.
K136 ProjectBARRICK PVDC
F336 ProjectBARRICK PVDC
We have successfully executed Electrical, Instrumentation, Fiber Optic Networks, Substations, Pole mounted Transformers, Civil Works, medium and low voltage installations along the process plant site. BARRICK PVDC electrical systems are built with the highest quality standards, providing an efficient service that meets the top international mining levels.
SERVINCA Headquarter – No. 737, Francisco Prats Ramírez, st, El Millón, Sto. Dgo., Dominican Republic. Phone: (809) 363-0928 / 0925 / 0926 | Fax: (809) 363-0570
With over three years working in the construction of one of the most important projects in the Dominican Republic, BARRICK Pueblo Viejo Dominicana Corporation Gold Mine, SERVINCA have consolidated the position as a leader company in the Industrial-Mining market, providing cost efficient EPC solutions adhered to the highest quality and safety standards of the mining industry.
SERVINCA have achieved a total of 1,200,000 Manhours milestone achievement without lost time incidents for all projects executed at BARRICK Pueblo Viejo Dominicana Corporation by December 2012, result obtained by the proper risk evaluation and implementation of our own Health, Safety and Environmental plans.
Lifting Pole Maneuver - 34.5KV and 4.16KV OH Line Systems K136 Project, PVDC
“Our extensive experience is supported
by a group of highly qualified professionals, with the use of specialized certified tools and plants, that ensures the constant improvement of our company vision and provides cost efficient Engineering solutions to our clients in the Construction Industry�
The construction process of BARRICK PVDC process plant site is completed and commissioned, starting full production process since 2012. SERVINCA is pleased to be selected by BARRICK as one of the main general contractors to support the operation process by providing Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Maintenance services for the operation and extension of the process plant site facilities.
E-mail: servinca@servinca.com.do/cjcabrera@servinca.com.do/ccabrera@servinca.com.do www.servinca.com.do | RNC 1-01-08699-8
2
Your Partner for Power With over 50 years of experience and operating from over 190 locations around the world, Aggreko is the world leader in providing interim power plants. No matter what industry you work in, we offer complete turn-key project management including equipment, installation, maintenance and operation by highly experienced engineers to ensure reliable and flexible power. Whether you need a few megawatts of power for a remote site or a few hundred megawatts of base load power to support the national grid, Aggreko delivers a power solution that is tailored to your needs, wherever and whenever you need it. Aggreko, Power Specialists in the Utilities, Mining and Oil & Gas Industries Head Offices Americas (USA) T: +1 281 985 8200
Europe, Middle East & Africa (UK) T: +44 1543 476100
Aggreko operates from over 190 locations throughout the world. For the location nearest you, please go to: www.aggreko.com/contact
Asia Pacific (Singapore) T: +65 6862 1501
barrick gold: pueblo viejo appropriate technology to Aggreko process the ore. Aggreko, the world leader in the provision of temporary The Dominican power and temperature control solutions, provided a Government first invited reliable source of commissioning, construction and backup tenders for the project in power from 2011 to 2012 for a period of 18 months to the 2001. One key aspect of the Pueblo Viejo Gold Mine in the Dominican Republic. work required remediation Aggreko supplied a Full Turnkey 30MW Power Plant at the mine in Cotui, Sanchez Ramirez province, which was used of the site which had as a source of electricity for the commissioning of facilities been badly damaged by and large- horsepower motors and to provide critical earlier abandoned mining backup power for construction. operations. The other centred “Aggreko was selected because of their technical expertise on the development of new and global experience. Our goal was uninterrupted / operations to extract and guaranteed power and Aggreko delivered that in a safe, process the gold containing reliable and professional manner,” said Richard Williams, Senior Project Director at Barrick. sulphurs of the mine. www.aggreko.com The tender was initially won by Placer Dome Inc., which was subsequently acquired by Barrick. By 2009 the complex negotiations to develop Pueblo Viejo were complete and a 60/40 consortium with Goldcorp – the Pueblo Viejo Dominicana Corporation (PVDC) – in which Barrick holds the controlling interest, was busy constructing this multi-billion dollar facility. Barrick Gold carried out the feasibility study and appointed Ruscan Environmental Sciences of Canada to perform the environmental and social impact
23.7 million Declared reserves (in ounces) of gold at Pueblo Viejo
Construction in progress on the primary ore crusher, ore stacker foundation, and ore reclaim feeder chamber
BE Americas | 83
GyM develops and among others. In 2 companies like: Ba Joint Associations o Our core values Co
Av. Paseo de la Rep
d executes a broad range of Projects in Latin America in various contractual forms: turnkey, BOOT, BOO, EPC, 2012, we have executed over 65 million man hours. Since 2005 we have built concentrators for the largest mining arrick Gold, BHP, Freeport McMoran, Goldfields, Teck, Xstrata Copper, Newmont, etc. These have been built, either in or as subcontractors, with the most important EPCM contractors such as Bechtel, Fluor, Jacobs, SNC Lavalin, etc. ommitment, Quality, Efficiency and Reliability are part of our integrated service for our customers.
pĂşblica 4675 | Lima 34, PerĂş | www.gym.com.pe
BARRICK GOLD PUEBLO VIEJO
GYM S.A.* GyM completed over 5.5 million man hours on the job without any Loss Time Incident (LTI) “GyM has worked with large EPCM contractors in other countries,” said Mr. Victor Cuadros, COO of GyM’s Electromechanical Division and sponsor of the project. “However this was our first experience in a mining GyM S.A., established in 1933, is the largest project outside South America. The heavy contractor in Peru, and has executed works rainfall, extreme weather conditions and the in several Latin American countries like Chile, difficulties encountered in finding local skilled Dominican Republic, Bolivia, Panama, etc. personnel were some of the challenges we GyM provides construction services such faced. “While other contractors were leaving as earthworks, concrete works, structural the job, we supported the client by providing erection, mechanical installation, electrical manpower and skilled workers to finish what and instrumentation works to the mining was impossible for others. We not only brought industry as well as the oil & gas, energy and in skilled workers, but also we established infrastructure sectors. GyM is well known for a training program for Dominican personnel its “ahead of schedule policy” that goes beyond from areas around the project who actively contractual obligations. participated in the execution of the work. GyM’s scope of work in Pueblo Viejo included Our experience working with local communities two main activities: in the past 30 years was fundamental to • Concrete and civil works: Earthworks, accomplish what was done in Pueblo Viejo. installation of concrete, foundations for the At the end of the project, we executed more crushers, conveyors, recuperation tunnels, than twice the initial scope of work due to thickeners, etc. The scope also included the the client’s satisfaction for our outstanding construction of five anti acid brick tanks for performance.” acid storage, each of 19 meter diameter, using Stebbins technology. GyM completed over www.gym.com.pe 57,000 m3 of concrete works • Mechanical works: GyM performed the structural erection and equipment installation for the wet area which included , four ball mills, and a smaller SAG Mill in the regrinding area. GyM installed 8,000 tons of steel structures and 2,600 tons of equipment. *GyM, a Graña y Montero company.
86 | BE Americas
BE WEEKLY | 1
barrick gold: pueblo viejo
Mine equipment being assembled at Pueblo Viejo
assessment, and associated infrastructure had to be cleared and restored. A massive studies. Understandably for a project of clean-up effort was required as a result of this size a number of challenges had to be the improper closure of a former mine on overcome in bringing the the property in 1999. mine to where it is today, not Initial findings showed heavy metal concentrations, least of all the challenge that 3 centred on leading one of acidity and sediment in the mining industry’s most local water ways. The ambitious environmental primary sources of soil and Amount of soil removed water contamination were rehabilitation projects. to rid the ground of contaminants the historic open mine Before the building phase pits, waste rock piles, the could commence, the land
130,000m
BE Americas | 87
BARRICKgold: GOLD PUEBLO barrick pueblo VIEJO viejo HATCH
Hatch has worked with Barrick around the world to deliver engineering, procurement and construction management services to marquee projects such as the Pueblo Viejo gold project in the Dominican Republic and the Goldstrike Roaster Facility in the United States. The Pueblo Viejo project is a refractory gold deposit in the Dominican Republic with sizeable levels of silver and copper to be recovered using pressure oxidation technology. The mine is approximately 100 kilometres northwest of the country’s capital city, Santo Domingo. The mine’s life is expected to be more than 25 years with annual production of about one million ounces per year during the first five years. Hatch provided EPCM services for the pressure oxidation facility and air separation unit (ASU), including four autoclave trains and a 4,000-tonne-per-day ASU plant. At 780 tonnes each, the brick-lined autoclaves are some of the largest ever built. The logistics included delivering the autoclaves by sea from the manufacturing facility in Malaysia. All told, the project teams have achieved about 4,000,000
hours of work without a lost-time injury. Pueblo Viejo poured its first gold in the third quarter of 2012—on schedule and within capital guidance. The mine is ramping up to commercial production, expected in December 2012. At Barrick’s Goldstrike Roaster Facility in Nevada, Hatch was retained to provide full EPCM services. Engineering was split into basic engineering, including vendor and detailed engineering. Process design included process definition development and construction of a METSIM process simulation. The Goldstrike Facility is a greenfield ore gold processing plant located on the Carlin Trend, the most prolific gold mining area in the western hemisphere, northwest of Elko, Nevada. The facility consisted of primary and secondary crushing, ore storage, reclaim to dry grinding, whole ore roasting, gas cleaning, carbon-inleach with carbon stripping and gold refining, also included are tailings treatment and disposal. www.hatch.ca
BE WEEKLY| |892 BE Americas
barrick gold: pueblo viejo abandoned plant facilities and tailings storage areas. The Margajita River that passes through the hills near the site had been dubbed the “Coca-Cola river” by locals because of its dark colour—the result of having absorbed so much acid rock drainage from the former mine. The final team consisted of Barrick Gold employees, hazardous materials experts and new employees hired locally and specially trained for the operation. One of the first tasks was to take over a thousand samples to define soil in the area into different categories and determine future treatment and landfill options. Buildings on the property also contained different types of
Interior of the autoclave building
maerz Maerz Ofenbau AG was founded in 1950 in Zurich, Switzerland, by Austrian magnesite producers to design and sell open hearth furnace technology to the world-wide steel industry. In 1965 Maerz began the design and construction of a patented “MAERZ® Parallel Flow Regenerative (PFR) Lime Kiln” with high thermal efficiency and superior lime quality. It finally became the generally known “MAERZ® Kiln”, continuously improved with - again patented – new features. Since March 2006 Maerz is a member of the German based ThyssenKrupp Resource Technologies GmbH, a world-wide renowned supplier for kilns and grinding technology to the cement and minerals industries. Today Maerz offers designs for PFRKilns with nominal capacities between 100 and 800 tpd and with firing systems for all types of
liquid, gaseous and pulverised solid fuels. Maerz has so far designed and constructed over 600 MAERZ® Kilns in more than 65 countries around the world. In 2009 Barrick - Pueblo Viejo Dominicana Corporation - awarded Maerz the contract for the installation of three heavy fuel oil fired PFR lime kilns with a capacity of 500 tpd each of burnt lime. Burnt lime is required for the neutralization of the gold processing plant’s tailings. Maerz supplied all material and equipment for the kilns whereas PVDC took care of the erection of the lime plant. After completing erection work, start up and commissioning of the Maerz lime kilns started in July 2012. By the end of 2012 all three kilns had reached the industrial production stage thereby successfully completing commissioning. www.maerz.com
BE Americas | 91
barrick gold: pueblo viejo hazardous waste that had to be categorized and disposed The Chemithon Corporation has over 58 years of of in a safe manner. experience in providing sulfur related chemical process Approximately 130,000 technology, R&D, engineering, design, process equipment cubic metres of soil manufacturing and a full range of services to its customers. were removed to rid the Chemithon is committed to developing new and innovative ground of contaminants. technologies and equipment for use in producing SO2 to meet the chemical demands required by modern mining Bioremediation, a process operations. Chemithon is honored to have been selected by that relies on microorganisms the Barrick Gold teams to supply the sulfur burning SO2 gas to return altered land to plants for use in gold mining at both the Pueblo Viejo and the natural environment, the Pascua Lama Mine sites. was successfully www.chemithon.com used to treat almost 100,000 cubic metres of hydrocarbon contaminated soil. In addition to the clean-up of hazardous substances within the mining areas, it was proposed that the clean-up of the surrounding areas would cost the Dominican Government an additional $75 million and the company would contribute $37.5 million with the other half coming from state funds. In the end, Barrick offered to take on the full estimated cost of remediation of the surrounding areas to help improve local living conditions. To complement the clean-up, Barrick has also sponsored a significant reforestation project in the area.
The Chemithon Corporation
12,000 A large majority of people working at Pueblo Viejo are from the Dominican Republic
Direct and indirect jobs the mine will support in its lifetime
BE Americas | 93
EXCLUSIVE RENTAL Motor Plan S. A. is the exclusive representative of the multinational franchises National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car in the Dominican Republic. It is one of the leading and fastest growing car rental companies in the country and has almost forty years in the car rental market since its opening on December 17, 1973. Motor Plan S.A. acquired the National Car Rental franchise in 1974, this brand mainly focuses on serving the corporate market. In its beginnings, it started operating in Las Americas International Airport, main airport terminal in the country, as a solid option for the retail customers arriving to the Dominican Republic. As the business grew, offices where opened in Santo Domingo, Santiago,
1 | |BEBEWEEKLY 96 Americas
La Romana, Punta Cana and San Francisco de MacorĂs, forming a network of eighteen points of sale which support the transportation needs of customers from different businesses located throughout the country. In 2001, Motor Plan acquired the Alamo Rent Car brand, consolidating its position in the car rental retail tourism sector. Grupo Ambar, a multinational vehicle group with more than 90 years’ experience in the market, is the parent company of Motor Plan and is one of the leading vehicles distributors in the Dominican Republic with brands such as Nissan, Infinity, Chevrolet and Suzuki. Grupo Ambar includes Santo Domingo Motors, Ambar Motors, and Auto Ambar, vehicle companies
BARRICKgold: GOLD pueblo PUEBLO viejo VIEJO barrick
in the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands and Venezuela respectively; Equipos Diesel, representative of recognized brands of generators, construction equipment, agricultural vehicles and equipment and trucks; Todopieza, distributor of brands of auto parts and after-sales articles for vehicles; and Motor Crédito, a bank that is among the national leaders in the vehicle financing market. Motor Plan, with its brand National Car Rental, began its business relationship with Placer Dome in the year 2003. Placer Dome was initiating its work in the Pueblo Viejo mine, later to be acquired by Barrick Gold. In order to satisfy Barrick Gold’s needs of renting a fleet in optimum conditions, functional at all times and given the location of the mine far from the service centers, Motor Plan created its modality of onsite service. With this, offering preventive maintenance in the client’s facilities thus minimizing time of service, prolonged interruptions and transportation of the fleet to another city. After forty years, Motor Plan continues innovating, creating new products and services which help customers improve their operations providing new business opportunities and solutions. j.muniz@grupoambar.com www.nationalcar.com.do
BE WEEKLY| |972 BE Americas
SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENT Banlaw’s highly skilled and experienced technicians are up to date with the latest mine safety and environmental standards and operations. Banlaw staff have never had an LTI at a client site in over 30 years.
FUEL MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS Banlaw is a global leader in fuel management solutions. They are specialists and have the people, products and system capabilities to help your operations control its fuel usage from ‘buy to burn’, globally and locally, saving time and money.
A Global Leader in Fuel Management Solutions Easy Safe Accurate Innovative BANLAW’S IN-HOUSE FUEL MANAGEMENT SPECIALISTS If you want to stay on top of your fuel management without employing your own fuel administrator, Banlaw’s expert staff can be a more efficient and a cost effective alternative. They can be based on site or come in to conduct periodic inspections, maintenance and calibrations. There is often a benefit in having an independent third party manage your facilities, separate from your fuel supplier and your staff. Banlaw’s facilities management and maintenance services are supported by a global help desk servicing from Africa to the Americas and staffed by specialists who can solve issues on the spot. The Help Desk also proactively monitors the health of your system, alerting you to issues before you even notice them on the ground.
ONGOING SERVICE AND SUPPORT Your refuelling systems need to be properly maintained to ensure you gain the maximum benefit from them. Regular inspection is also a legislative requirement in some countries for some systems. After installing new systems, Banlaw can execute a service agreement to make ongoing support cost effective and efficient so you get the most from your new system or we are on call to visit just when you need us.
BANLAW MANUFACTURES A VARIETY OF INDUSTRY LEADING REFUELING HARDWARE WITH FLOW RATES AS HIGH AS 1000 LITRES PER MINUTE
INNOVATIVE PRODUCTS AND SOLUTIONS Banlaw FuelTrack™ provides precise monitoring, reconciliation and centralised reporting of any machine or vehicle’s fuel or lubricant use. Banlaw FillSafe™ allows for the transfer of fuel at rates of up to 1000 litres (265 gallons) per minute with zero overfill, zero tank pressure and zero spillage during refuelling. Banlaw LubeCentral™ is a scalable system that makes the transfer of oil and other fluids a clean, efficient and safe operation. Easy to use push to connect, flush face, oil and coolant fittings will reduce contamination and increase flow rates whilst eliminating spills.
Contact us: salesna@banlaw.com | www.banlaw.com
barrick gold: pueblo viejo
Plant site at Pueblo Viejo
Banlaw
Imagine a fuel management solution that is built on 30 years of experience and innovation in the mining industry. Imagine a system that ensures safe and secure fuelling, easy operation, accurate data collection and full reconciliation. Imagine a solution that transmits your fuelling information automatically, accounting for every litre of fuel from “buy to burn”... That system is Banlaw FuelTrackTM. Banlaw’s highly skilled and experienced technicians are up to date with the latest mine safety and environmental standards and operations. Banlaw is a global leader in fuel management solutions. We are specialists in the mining sector and have the people, products and system capabilities to help your operations control its fuel usage from ‘buy to burn’, globally and locally, saving time and money. salesna@banlaw.com
Barrick also has a proud record of helping to improve the health status of the area through its use of a communitybased approach to partnership with local agencies. Cholera and dengue fever are endemic in the locality and since 2009 Barrick has funded a health prevention educational programme that reached tens of thousands of people. Two hundred Dominicans, mainly young people, were trained to work with the local municipalities of Cotuí, Fantino and Maimón. The teams visited households with the goal of educating residents on hygiene, family, and environmental health. The importance of this programme has been recognised as a significant factor in reducing the presence of dengue fever in the province, according to the local Health
BE Americas | 99
CENTRAL DRILL PARTS & MACHINERY, INC. www.centraldrill.com
Incorporated in 1987, Central Drill Parts started as a source of parts and service for the drilling industry. Over the years we have diversified into other industries. We provide parts and service for the following industries: • Blasthole drilling • Water well drilling • Aggregate & quarry drilling • Underground mining equipment • Construction • Road Construction • Mining
barrick gold: pueblo viejo Department. Since the Central Drill Parts & Machinery completion of the second Central Drill Parts & Machinery has been in business for phase of the programme, 25 years serving the drilling industry, including blast hole, which was sponsored by the down the hole and water well drilling. We supply air-ends, Ministries of Labour and drill string, pump drives, new and rebuilt pumps, and many Public Health, Barrick and other components for drills from different manufacturers. the local municipalities of We provide new and reconditioned drill parts and supplies, a full line hydraulic repair shop with testing capabilities, Cotuí, Fantino and Maimón, hydraulic cylinders, pumps, motors, valves, cylinder packing there have been no reports kits, and custom built Gates hydraulic hoses. of cholera or dengue fever www.centraldrill.com cases in the region. In August 2012, Barrick Gold Corporation announced that the Pueblo Viejo mine had achieved first gold production, with ore being processed through the first two of four autoclaves. “Bringing this mine successfully into production on schedule, within capital guidance and with an excellent safety record is the result of tremendous efforts from across the company,” said Jamie Sokalsky, President and Chief Executive Officer of Barrick at the time. “Pueblo Viejo is a world-class asset, one of only a handful of mines that will produce more than one million ounces of gold per year. We expect it to be a major contributor of low cost production to Barrick for decades to come.” Five months later, in January 2013, Efforts are now concentrated the company announced it had achieved on building a working mine
“SERVINCA is a company dedicated to providing the highest quality engineering and construction services to each of its clients” BE Americas | 101
barrick gold: pueblo viejo
The process plant site at Pueblo Viejo where gold, silver and copper will be processed
commercial production at the mine. Pueblo With commercial production achieved, Viejo was completed at a capital cost of Barrick is now in the midst of plans to $3.7 billion and created more than 11,000 ramp up to full capacity in the first half direct jobs during the of 2014. Barrick’s share of full-year 2013 production construction phase of the from Pueblo Viejo is project. The operation is expected to support about anticipated to be about 2,000 direct jobs plus nearly 500,000 ounces of gold at 10,000 indirect jobs over its all-in sustaining costs of 25-plus year mine life, with $700-$750 per ounce. Number of years the Dominicans accounting for Barrick’s share of average production phase nearly 90 percent of the annual gold production in the should last for full-time workforce. first full five years of operation
25
BE Americas | 105
Kentz, delivering innovative construction solutions to the mining industry Providing mechanical, electrical and instrumentation services to clients in the Americas and Worldwide for over 30 years.
Global solutions to local challenges... www.kentz.com
barrick gold: pueblo viejo
Part of the site revegetation and reforestation efforts
kentz
Kentz Group has been delivering top-quality services to leading international clients in all sectors of industry and commerce since 1919. With an extensive track record in executing projects of the highest quality, to agreed schedules and within budget; we are totally dedicated to innovation and excellence in the provision of all our services. We are committed to providing a quality and innovative service to all our clients. We are continuously improving the quality of our work through client interaction, leadership, teamwork and work process improvement. We have a significant world-wide presence, which enables us to provide the responses and performance that our clients demand, exceptional service, that is second nature to us, but second to none in our industry. www.kentz.com
is anticipated to be 625,000-675,000 ounces at all-in sustaining cash costs of $500-$600 per ounce and total cash costs of $300-$350 per ounce. Including depreciation of mine construction capital, costs are expected to be $650-$750 per ounce. In other news, a 215 MW dual fuel power plant at an estimated cost of approximately $180 million was successfully commissioned towards the end of 2013 by its Finnish manufacturer W채rtsil채. The plant has the ability to transition from heavy fuel oil (HFO) to lower cost liquid natural gas (LNG). It goes without saying that a number of contractors and businesses have helped contribute to the success of the Pueblo Viejo mine since Barrick became involved with the project. One such business that has been playing a crucial role is SERVINCA, which was contracted to construct 30 kilometres
BE Americas | 107
LA ANTILLANA COMERCIAL, S.A.
Engaged with National Progress
With over 70 years in the market of the Dominican Republic The Antillana Comercial represents the most prestigious brands and equipment for transport, mining, construction, generation, agricultural and industrial. Telephone: 809-565-3151 | E-mail: info@laantillana.com | www.laantillana.com
barrick gold: pueblo viejo
Steam and oxygen are injected into the autoclaves to oxidize the ore
of four-to-thirty six foot long HDPE and carbon steel underground piping utilities for the potable, freshwater, firewater and storm sewer systems of the mine’s process plant site, as well as the power distribution and communications networks from the Main Substation to all of the process plant site facilities and surrounding areas. Boasting over 33 years of experience in the execution of multidisciplinary projects covering the electrical, mechanical and civil areas for the private and public sectors, the main focus of SERVINCA in the Engineering and Construction of Electromechanical and
LA ANTILLANA COMERCIAL, S.A.
LA ANTILLANA COMERCIAL La Antillana Comercial was founded in 1942, since its beginning it has been one of the leading companies in selling equipment for construction, mining, industry, agriculture, energy and transport solutions. In over 70 years it has offered well-known brands of equipment with high quality service in the Dominican market. Over the years La Antillana has continued to develop its human and technological resources in order to achieve maximum customer satisfaction. This has been our strategy over the years and has maintained our strength in the local market. In mining equipment La Antillana represents HITACHI Mining equipment, one of the most competitive brands in the world, because of its availability, productivity, efficiency, low downtime and low cost. These qualities and attributes have been tested in Barrick Pueblo Viejo (PDVC) with excellent performance and service on two Hitachi Mining shovel.
In the past 40 years HITACHI has been focusing on haulers and front shovels, they put more design, engineering, and expertise into building them better. Every single component – from the smallest to the largest – is specifically designed for more efficient hauling and digging. They have also invested a large amount of resource on their mining truck as well. Their investment has brought more productivity, faster work, daily reliability, cost-saving efficiency and a better bottom line. “Ever wonder why nearly half of all hydraulic mining shovels working around the world are Hitachi? The answer is simple. For more than 40 years now, we’ve led the way in improving performance, reliability, efficiency and productivity” “Always out front, NEVER BEHIND” E. info@laantillana.com www.laantillana.com
BE AmEricAs | 109
Level Measurement Difficulties? We Can Help. Mining
I
Water
I
Wastewater
I
Chemical
I
Oil & Gas
I
Plastic
I
Power
Soaring Towards Excellence in Level Measurement
Hawk Measurement Systems
Progressive Technical Support
HAWK understands the difficulties customers face when seeking accurate level measurement. Every application is different, involving a multitude of environmental factors. This is where HAWK excels. Our aim is for all sales & support staff to be product experts, and more importantly application experts making our customers applications as efficient and consistent as possible.
Remote Innovation
The HawkLink 3G communication device allows any computer with internet access and our free GosHawk diagnostic & calibration software. This innovative system allows our Global Support Team to assist with commissioning and after sales service of HAWK equipment worldwide.
Knowledge Sharing
Empowering our customers and our worldwide distribution network, whilst being available at all times to lend a helping hand, is the perfect recipe for long term solutions and relationships.
Our sales & support team are here to provide solutions, please contact us for any assistance.
Hawk Measurement Systems Australia Phone: +61 3 9873 4750 I Email: info@hawk.com.au www.hawk.com.au
Hawk Measurement US Phone: +1 888 429 5538 I Email: info@hawkmeasure.com www.hawkmeasure.com
barrick gold: pueblo viejo provide multiple engineering Hawk Measurement Systems (HAWK) solutions to its clients Hawk Measurement Systems (HAWK) was established for energy generation, in 1988 and has grown to become recognized as a transmission, distribution world leader in level, positioning and flow measurement and electrical or mechanical technology. HAWK manufactures level measurement industrial projects such as equipment based on different technologies such as, beer plants, airports, hydro Self Cleaning Acoustic Wave, Advanced Microwave Transmission, Sonar, Guided Wave Radar (TDR), Switches electrical dams, metro, and Magnetic Level Gauge & Magnetostrictive Level substations, structural steel Transmitter. HAWK products are inherently designed to fabrication and similar works solve most difficult level measurement applications and for the mining sector. are proven in a wide range of areas including mining/ As a general contractor, mineral processing, water supply/waste water, bulk material SERVINCA has executed handling, chemical and oil & gas etc. several projects at the www.hawkmeasure.com mine that fall under the disciplines of piping, metalmechanical, steel structures, earthworks, concrete works and others such as sheet piling, geomembrane, geotextile, gabions and concrete structures. SERVINCA is understandably proud to be part of the construction of the 34.5kV overhead transmission lines for the mines process plant site and surrounding areas. To date it has successfully executed electrical, instrumentation, fibre optic networks, substations, pole-mounted transformers, civil works, and medium and low voltage
“the mine´s lifespan is likely to be longer than projections suggest”
A flash vessel for the pressure oxidation process is off loaded
BE Americas | 111
A G I TAT O R S P E C I A L I S T S F O R T H E MINERAL PROCESSING INDUSTRY
Contact: John Pascual, Product Manager, Mixers Telephone: 905-693-8595 | e-mail: mixers@haywardgordon.com www.haywardgordon.com
barrick gold: pueblo viejo installations along the process plant site. As Hayward Gordon has been actively involved in the selection demanded by its client and manufacture of mixers for the mining and mineral the electrical systems that processing industry for over 40 years. In this time, we have have been built have been developed an expertise and installation portfolio second done so to the highest to none. In addition, Hayward Gordon has been at the quality standards, providing forefront of many of the largest and most innovative projects in the world. Using our experience in mineral processing an efficient service that technology, Hayward Gordon partnered closely with Barrick corresponds with the top to provide optimized and highly efficient agitator systems international mining levels. throughout the plant. We are proud to share in the success One par ticularly of the Barrick’s Pueblo Viejo Project. impressive statistic, released www.haywardgordon.com in December 2012, showed that SERVINCA has achieved a total of 1.2 million man hours without experiencing a single lost time incident in the course of carrying out any of its projects at the Pueblo Viejo mine. The construction of the process plant site was completed, commissioned and commenced full production in 2012, and SERVINCA is proud to have been selected by Barrick as one of the main general contractors supporting the operation process by providing engineering , construction and maintenance services for the process plant site facilities.
Hayward Gordon
1.2 million Coconut mats are laid along the slopes of a recently-constructed access road to aid in soil stabilisation
Man hours achieved by SERVINCA without experiencing a single lost time incident in the course of carrying out its projects at the Pueblo Viejo mine
BE Americas | 113
Water and Wastewater Treatment Solutions Worldwide
Phone: +1-905-475-1545 | Email: info@napier-reid.com
www.napier-reid.com
barrick gold: pueblo viejo It should be highlighted Napier-Reid that Barrick does indeed Napier-Reid is a leading Canadian engineering/ recognise that the mine manufacturing company specialized in custom-designed has a finite life, despite water and wastewater treatment packages. Since its the fact the production inception in 1950, Napier-Reid has completed over 3,000 phase should last for at water/wastewater treatment projects in Canada and around least 25 years. There the world. These include package treatment systems for some of the world’s largest mining projects by Barrick Gold, is therefore a strong Kinross, Xstrata, Sherritt, FQM, Cameco, as well as major emphasis on planning for oil/gas companies in Middle East, Venezuela and Nigeria. a sustainable and diverse We are active in both municipal and industrial markets. future. Barrick has just Our specialties cover potable water treatment, highprovided seed capital for a purity process water production, sewage and industrial business incubation bureau wastewater treatment. Napier-Reid proudly provided the in Cotuí to assist the ARD filters and demineralization water treatment package for the Pueblo Viejo project. start-up of new businesses www.napier-reid.com in the area that are nonmining related. When the mine finally closes, significant reserves will have already been placed in trust with the Dominican government to deal with the eventuality. Meanwhile, Barrick does retain the belief that the mine´s lifespan is likely to be significantly longer than current projections suggest. It believes strongly that there is additional gold at Pueblo Viejo, but the declaration process is very complex and it is extremely common in this industry for mines to have undeclared reserves. Also, the steady rise in the price of gold allows it to mine ever Process facilities
“When the mine finally closes, significant reserves will have already been placed in trust with the Dominican government to deal with the eventuality” BE Americas | 115
barrick gold: pueblo viejo
$3.7 Billion Capital cost completion of Pueblo Viejo
smaller concentrations of gold and if this trend continues it is likely to extend the life of the mine still further. One thing that the company is absolutely certain of is that it will be leaving this site in a much better condition than it found it. When the mining operation closes it will be done in a proper manner to international standards. At Pueblo Viejo Barrick intends to bring to bear all the know-how and experience gleaned from mining operations across the globe and leave behind a vibrant and dynamic local community and economy. Whatever the long term future holds, it cannot be disputed that Pueblo Viejo has the potential to revitalise a region where nearly half the population lives below the national poverty line. This potential is already starting to be realised as the mine continues to bring much-needed diversification to the Dominican economy.
For more information about Barrick Gold Pueblo Viejo visit: www.barrick.com
BE Americas | 117
118 | BE Americas
Anglo American: Los Bronces
Champions of Chile’s copper The Los Bronces mine in the Chilean Andes is continuing along a path to becoming the fifth largest copper mine in the world and one with several decades of productivity still ahead of it
written by: Will Daynes research by: Candice Nice & Robert Hodgson
BE Americas | 119
A
pproximately 65 kilometres away from Santiago, in the Metropolitan Region, and 3,500 metres above sea level, one will find the Los Bronces division of Anglo American. Managed by a team of executives, the head of which is General Manager, Christian Thiele, the Los Bronces division boasts a workforce of more than 1,700 people, including company employees and operation and project contractors. Collectively they are responsible for implementing the Los Bronces Development Project, the objective of which is to boost the mine’s production capacity. An open-cut copper and molybdenum mine, Los Bronces produced 221,762 tonnes of fine copper in 2011, including high-purity cathodes and copper concentrate, as well as 948 tonnes of molybdenum concentrate. The ore extracted from the mine is crushed and transported down a 56 kilometre long ore slurry pipeline to the Las Tórtolas flotation plant, where copper and molybdenum concentrates are produced. In November 2007 the board approved an expansion plan aimed at increasing the mine’s annual copper output by some 278,000 tonnes in its first three years and by around 200,000 in the first ten years. Construction of the project started up in 2007 and includes the introduction of new grinding facilities in the Confluencia sector, a flotation plant at Las Tórtolas in Colina, and new piping and pumping stations. Molybdenum output is expected to rise to some 5,400 tonnes annually. With a total start up capex of $2.8 billion, the project produced its first concentrate in November 2011.
120 | BE Americas
Confluencia from above
Anglo American: Los Bronces
Anglo American: Los Bronces An environmental impact Production at Los Bronces study for the project, carried is fairly traditional, being as out in 2006, was also given it is an open-pit mine where formal approval by Chile’s ore is transported by truck National Environmental to a bank of two crushers Agency (CONAMA) in 2007. and later by conveyer to The study itself considered grinding facilities, for a the use of areas intervened total processing capacity of to date and will therefore not 148,000 tonnes per day. The affect other environmental mine’s SAG mill uses modern assets. Most of the additional gearless drive technology, water will come from Inspecting the copper sheets where the axis of the mill greater recirculation from is mounted with induction the Las Tórtolas tailings dam to the mine. windings and becomes the motor drive rotor, The quantity of fresh water used per tonne while the grinders bristle with sensors and of copper produced will therefore drop by circuits to control speed, flow and lubrication. around 40 percent. At its peak of output, Los Bronces will
ENAEX Working as a Team With a history of 92 years operating in the market and more than 25 years supplying and providing services to Anglo American, Enaex is the leader of integral rock fragmentation services and ammonium nitrate production in Chile. The company is also present in more than 40 countries, supplying explosives and ammonium nitrate. Thanks to the teamwork between Anglo American and Enaex, various successful initiatives have been carried out in the Los Bronces division, such as Hidrex®, a variable density product that is specially designed to be used in controlled blasting, and wall control. The Milodón®, explosives mixer truck will also soon start operating in the same company division. This truck is the largest of its
kind in the world, with capacity for 30 tons in situ. Milodón® represents significant benefits in terms of both productivity and safety. On the other hand, the Air Blast Monitoring service implemented in the El Soldado division also stands out, as it allows Anglo American to measure the impact that air blasts caused during mining operations may have in the community, and then search for mitigation strategies. In terms of innovation and new products, Energex® high-power explosive should be highlighted, with its fragmentation power that lowers the ore “work index” aiming to reduce electricity consumption in crushing and grinding, improving the processing capacity of the crusher. www.enaex.com
BE Americas | 123
SPECIALISED SERVICES EFFECTIVE CONTRACTOR Operation and Maintenance in Mining facilities • Operational support in harvesting cathodes • Inspection and maintenance of anodes • Maintenance of stainless steel plates • Painting of structures, facilities and equipment • Handling of cathodes in yards • Grouping of packages and strapping • Preparation and minor repairs of segments for hyperbaric filters • Operation of Laboratory samples
Industrial Cleaning in Plants • Pressure water washing • Industrial Vacuum cleaning • Material Recovery Other Services • Management and Operation of Warehouses • Port logistics • Maintenance of equipment • Administration of boats
T: +(56 32) 255 6300 E: mineria@report.cl | www.report.cl
PRECIOUS RESOURCE DISCOVERED Click here to visit our dedicated homepage for the mining community
www.bus-ex.com/mining
124 | BE Americas
become the fifth largest copper mine in the world. Based on the latest expansions, despite having mined there for the best part of 150 years, Anglo American estimates the mine will be productive for roughly a further 30 years whether or not further deposits are discovered. Los Bronces is just one of five operations Anglo American operates in four regions of the country with shareholding in a sixth, all managed from a head office in Santiago. In fact, Anglo American is one of the most important copper producers in Chile. Being such an important part of the Chilean economy, it should come as little surprise that Anglo American recognises and honours its social responsibilities. In addition to their individual corporate initiatives each division of the group is responsible for implementing their
Anglo American: Los Bronces
Routine cleandown of the exploration access tunnel
own community engagement plans, which are based on Anglo American’s Good Citizenship Principles and the results of its socio-economic assessment toolbox (SEAT) process. In the case of the Los Bronces division its community engagement plans are focused on four work areas, these being education, health, the environment and social development, with the districts directly benefiting from its work being Colina, Lo Barnechea and Til-Til
and the town of Riecillos in the district of Los Andes. In 2009 alone, more than $2.3 million was allocated towards these community engagement projects, 85 percent of which was directed specifically towards education and academic infrastructure programmes. In addition to the contributions made to these programmes, the division donated $32,516 to hold local celebrations and processes and support the work of the fire department.
“Los Bronces produced 221,762 tonnes of fine copper in 2011, including high-purity cathodes and copper concentrate� BE Americas | 125
General view of the open pit at Los Bronces
Anglo American: Los Bronces
1,700+ Size of Anglo American’s Los Bronces workforce In the year ahead Anglo American will also be utilising and leveraging the knowledge and experience gained at Los Bronces to develop a significant high quality copper prospect at Los Sulfatos, six kilometres south of its current activities. Based on 22,000 metres of drilling, the current Inferred Mineral Resources are estimated at 1.2 billion tonnes at 1.46 percent copper and 0.02 percent molybdenum, containing an estimated 17.5 million tonnes of copper. The deposit is open in various directions and in terms of overall potential for the Los Sulfatos exploration target, the tonnage is expected to be between four and five billion tonnes at grades of between 0.8 percent and 1.0 percent copper. Located within and under high mountain ridges at altitudes between 4,000 and 4,500 metres, the Los Sulfatos prospect poses unique environmental challenges, however, considering Anglo American’s track record within Chile and similar sensitive geographic regions the smart money is on Los Sulfatos emerging into a development of equal importance to that of Los Bronces. For more information about Anglo American: Los Bronces visit: www.angloamerican.com
BE Americas | 127
High altitu
Extracting minerals in t of the high Andes is jus world’s fourth lar
written by: J research by: Candice Ni
128 | BE Americas
Collahuasi Mine
ude mining
the rarefied atmosphere st one challenge for the rgest copper mine
John O’Hanlon ice and Robert Hodgson
BE Americas | 129
Collahuasi Mine
D
oña Inés de Collahuasi, a Chilean mining company, operates the world’s fourth largest copper mine. The operation comprises two principal porphyry copper deposits, Ujina and Rosario, as well as a smaller deposit called Huinquintipa that contains only sulphide mineralisation and copper oxides. It is a joint venture owned by two mining majors, Swiss-based Xstrata and London-based Anglo American, with 44 percent of the shares apiece. The remaining equity is in the hands of a group of Japanese interests led by Mitsui & Co Ltd, one of Japan’s largest trading companies that has under its umbrella both Nippon Mining & Metals and Mitsui Mining & Smelting. Not surprisingly, then, Japan is an important taker for the mine’s products, mainly copper concentrate of which 245,288 tonnes were produced in 2012, with a smaller amount of copper in the form of 99.99 percent pure copper cathode, of which 36,808 tonnes were sold. The mine is located in the Andean plateau 4,400 metres above sea level in the Tarapacá Region, a region in the north of Chile that is close to the border with Bolivia. It is a poor but fertile region, with some of the most significant vineyards in Chile and a very long history of mineral extraction, best known in the past for its production of saltpetre. Copper has been exploited since 1880 when the Tarapacá systems of high-grade copper and silver veins began e attracting interest. Fast forward to 1991, when a combination of satellite, aerial photography and onsite studies, along with drilling activities, resulted in the discovery of the Ujina deposit. From the
BE Americas | 131
Collahuasi Mine concentrator plant in Ujina, a 203 kilometre slurry pipeline leads down to the filter plant and loading facilities in Punta Patache, 65 kilometres south of Iquique, Tarapacá’s capital. The molybdenum plant is also located here as well as the port terminal from which processed products are shipped to markets around the world. In all Anglo American produced 282,096 tonnes of copper in 2012, accounting for 5.1 percent of Chile’s total output over that year. These figures were down on the previous year’s production, as reported in the article we published in 2013,
however Anglo American announced last October that in the third-quarter of 2013 copper production went up by nearly a third compared to the same period in 2012, reaching a quarterly record mainly thanks to improved performance at the Collahuasi mine. Production of copper, the second-most important contributor to Anglo’s balance sheet after iron ore, rose 32 percent to 207,300 tonnes in the three months to September, beating analysts’ expectations – and Collahuasi more than doubled output to 63,600 tonnes in those three months. However Anglo American’s plans for the future of the
ICV ICV, Ingeniería Civil Vicente S.A., is present in the most important mining projects in Chile. ICV, a leader in the civil engineering, construction and mining sectors, has based its strength on adding value for its clients, employees and the communities where it has operations. With its headquarters in Santiago and many offices in the rest of the country, it is able to respond successfully to the impressive expansion of large-scale mining in Chile. With a track record that goes back 50 years, ICV has established a consolidated position as an important player in the mining industry, providing integral services for large-scale mining companies and, particularly, Compañía Minera Doña Inés de Collahuasi where it hopes to
contribute - with its modern fleet of machinery to the initiative to reach an output of more than one million tonnes of fine copper by 2017. ICV is present in the most important mining projects in Chile thanks to its policy of constantly renewing equipment and machinery with annual investments of over US$70 million, transforming it into the company with the most modern and competitive mechanized fleet in its field. The key factor in the consolidation of the company’s prestige has, however, undoubtedly been its constant focus on recruiting and retaining the best human team. www.icv.cl
BE Americas | 133
Strategy Consulting and sustainability management of hydric resources, Collahuasi mine
INTEGRATED MULTIDISCIPLINARY SOLUTIONS
FOR ALL STAGES OF THE MINING PROCESS GEOLOGICAL & HYDROGEOLOGICAL STUDIES • MINERAL CONCENTRATION • HYDROMETALLURGY • TAILINGS • WATER MANAGEMENT • INTEGRAL DESIGN OF MINING FACILITIES • ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENTS • RISK MANAGEMENT • MINE CLOSURE • EPCM PROJECTS
Providing Pure Water for Mines RWL Water’s packaged water and wastewater purification systems provide clean water while reducing lifecycle costs. • Worldwide references • Quick response • Efficient designs • Engineered solutions
MINING
Any water, anywhere, any time.
E-mail or visit us online today. info@RWLwater.com | www.RWLwater.com
Collahuasi Mine mine are far more ambitious. An ongoing pre-feasibility ARCADIS Chile’s service strategy based model intends to study for the company’s establish a close relationship with our corporate clients, proposed $6.5 million Phase giving them access to our full complement of engineering III expansion project will pave and consulting solutions at the lowest possible costs. the way towards a total copper A single ARCADIS Chile representative helps our production target of more clients become acquainted with, evaluate, and develop comprehensive solutions placed at their disposal by than a million tonnes per ARCADIS Chile. annum (tpa) by 2017, which Based on this model, our Business Managers — organized would make it the biggest by economic sectors — collect information regarding our mining project in Chile. corporate clients’ specific contexts, needs, expectations, The Chilean, Japanese and and priorities of every project. Then, ARCADIS Chile’s Chinese markets together Project Managers design, propose, and implement account for around 80 percent appropriate integral solutions and guarantee the clients’ satisfaction through the benefits of our committed service. of Collahuasi’s exports of www.arcadis.cl copper concentrate, while over 70 percent of its copper cathodes go to the Chinese market. In the case of the molybdenum, a by-product of which 1,953 tonnes were produced in 2011, 99 percent is sold within Chile and the remaining one percent exported to Thailand. In 2012 China accounted for 31 percent of Collahuasi’s copper concentrate sales, Japanese and Chilean offtakers for 24 percent each, India for 18 percent, while three percent went to South Korea. Sustainable development is a crucial pillar of Collahuasi’s business strategy, guiding its approach to its production process and
ARCADIS Chile
4,400 metres Altitude of the Collahuasi mine
BE Americas | 135
relations with its surroundings. In 2012, the company implemented important measures related to sustainability. A key initiative was the creation of a Vice-Presidency for Sustainability to bring together all the areas of the company’s activities that are related to sustainable development and to represent a common corporate vision of the concept of sustainability, taking into account aspects related to the exploitation of natural resources, the cultural and social diversity of the area where the company has its operations and economic aspects of its operations. 2012 was also a crucial year as regards community relations. In this context, the inclusion of environmental performance under the new Vice-Presidency for Sustainability enabled the company to establish even closer relations with communities, particularly as regards providing information, understanding their concerns and achieving reciprocal benefits. This approach, the company believes, has empowered local communities and boosted their engagement in the activities of the mine and the logistics corridor used by vehicles related to its operations. The communities which it has identified as coming under direct influence are Cáñamo, Chanavayita, Caramucho, Huatacondo, Pica and Matilla. In 2012, the company’s total social investment
reached $15.2 million, up by around ten percent on the previous year. Most of this amount was devoted to education, the environment and community social development. Education is the way out of the cycle of deprivation in these communities. In its relations with the Tarapacá Region, and as part of its promise to contribute to educational
“Education is the way out of the cycle of deprivation in these communities” 136 | BE Americas
Collahuasi Mine
improvement, the company continues to work through the Collahuasi Educational Foundation. In 2012, for the fourth consecutive year, the Foundation implemented its Educational Improvement Programme involving 18 state primary schools in seven municipal districts over a period of four years. In June 2013, in order to ensure the Programme’s ongoing development, the company signed a new agreement with the municipal governments of Iquique, Alto Hospicio, Pica, Huara, Camiña and Pozo Almonte for the period 20132016 under which educational practices of excellence will be implemented and systematic work will take place with the communities of the schools in the Programme.
Healthcare is another area in which Collahuasi is involved, particularly in the case of the more vulnerable members of the community. Currently the company is participating in the improvement of the infrastructure of Tarapacá’s health centres. To this end, it signed an agreement with the Regional Government to provide financial support for the design phase of state-funded projects in the Iquique and Alto Hospicio Hospitals and primary and family health centres around the region. For more information about Collahuasi Mine visit: www.collahuasi.cl
BE Americas | 137
Creating quality of life
138 | BE Americas
Ciudad Empresarial Ciudad Empresarial is the largest business park in Chile and one committed to providing an excellent quality of life for everyone
written by: Will Daynes research by: David Brogan & Milton Santander
BE Americas | 139
Ciudad Empresarial
L
ocated in La Rinconada El Salto, in the province of Huechuraba next to the new Financial District of Santiago, Ciudad Empresarial is the largest business park in Chile. “The concept for the business park came together in 1995,” explains Project Director, Benjamin Labra. “At the heart of this concept was a vision to create a neighbourhood of offices, residential space and retail services, the integration of which would become a milestone moment for Santiago and Chile as a whole.” It is Ciudad Empresarial’s goal to be recognised as representing the best aspects of the Chilean business community and an urban icon capable of integrating infrastructure, innovation, service and natural beauty, all with the aim of being seen as a fantastic place to work and one that appeals to professional leaders and businesses from all walks of life. To this end the business park is already well on its way to achieving its targets with more than 330,000 square metres of area built, in which 680 different companies are already taking residence there, meaning approximately 30,000 people today call the business park their working home. “Ciudad Empresarial has grown in such a successful way that it can now be considered to be the principle location for offices in Santiago,” Labra continues. “Across the complex there are currently 70 office buildings and 30 percent of the companies within them are multi-national, including the likes of Walmart, Kimberly-Clark, Xerox, Oracle and CNN Chile to name a few.” So just what is it that has attracted such elite businesses and organisations to the
BE Americas | 141
business park? In truth it is a combination of factors and these include the fact that it offers the best price rates within the region and the excellent levels of connectivity it shares Santiago’s other important locations. The business park also take pride in its efficient modern building design, which call for a
maximum of six stories per block, its use of innovative technologies and the fact that the complex’s extensive green areas provide an ideal quality of life in a setting boasting a unique landscape. “Historically the area around us was under developed with relatively high levels of
“A part of Ciudad Empresarial’s long-term goal for the business park has also been to ensure it possess the very best levels of connectivity with Santiago” 142 | BE Americas
Ciudad Empresarial
poverty,” states Corporate Communications and Digital Business Manager, Oscar Lazcano. “However, since we established operations here the area has witnessed sustained growth in terms of infrastructure and employment opportunities. We began by purchasing 50 hectares of land and in time we transformed not only this land but the face of the entire neighbourhood, turning it into one of the Chile’s most important business centres.” It is not only businesses that are benefitting from the efforts of Ciudad Empresarial. Today there are more than 1,750 families, roughly 7,000 people, residing in the surrounding area. These families are themselves now
reaping the rewards of the positive changes occurring around them, with almost a quarter of men and women in the community currently working on this project. Other benefits on offer include improvements to the local area such as the creation and distribution of car parking areas, from which Ciudad Empresarial now provides more than 2,000 parking spaces for both residents and visitors to the complex. A part of Ciudad Empresarial’s long-term goal for the business park has also been to ensure it possess the very best levels of connectivity with Santiago. This approach has seen it become a key participant in two major
BE Americas | 143
transportation and infrastructure projects. “The first of these projects is the Vespucio Oriente highway concession,” Lazcano says, “the construction of which completes one of the important ring roads around Santiago. The second project is the Bicentennial Cable Car system, an undertaking deemed a project of public interest by Chile’s transportation ministry. The system, expected to be completed in 2016,
will connect the business park to Santiago’s central business district in the municipality of Providencia in just eleven minutes, transporting up to 7,000 people per hour.” Ciudad Empresarial’s mission from day one has been to establish itself as property managers of a business park offering the market the best choice in terms of price and quality, and one capable of meeting
“Ciudad Empresarial is a principle player within Chile and much like the real estate sector in the country we continue to experience exponential growth”
144 | BE Americas
Ciudad Empresarial
the differing needs of its customers. While customer satisfaction surveys highlight that as much as 85 percent of workers at the park are grateful to be employed there, the company continues to strive forward in making it an even better place for employees and residents. “In 2013 we augmented three intelligent environment prototypes, the first in partnership with Endesa Group and Chilectra,” Labra highlights. “These prototypes are helping to provide technical solutions to issues such as the saving of electricity, the use of efficient illumination
and the control of camera systems, as well as delivering free Wi-Fi to the people working at the business park. Meanwhile, on the outside, we also spent last year working on a detailed reforestation project in partnership with the Environment Ministry planting some 3,500 different native and exotic species of tree in the surrounding area.” With so much progress already made by Ciudad Empresarial it can be easy to forget that it has a lot of work left to complete on the business park and its surrounding areas. Indeed, with close to 50 percent of
BE Americas | 145
This is a caption this is a caption
Ciudad Empresarial
30,000 People employed by business based at Ciudad Empresarial
the project now complete it expects to be at work for at least another 20 years before its job here is done. “The estimated investment for 2014 currently stands at $100 million and includes the building of four new office buildings across around 30,000 square metres of construction area,” Labra says. “Following that we will continue to look at opportunities to add both offices and further retail and commerce space for the delivery of vital services, from supermarkets to health clinics.” “Ciudad Empresarial is a principle player within Chile and much like the real estate sector in the country we continue to experience exponential growth of our own,” Labra concludes. “This growth is also a result of the fact that more and more leaders of multi-national companies, the likes of DHL and Energizer for example, are starting to recognise and appreciate our concept and business model, and in turn they are quickly finding out that this business park represents the best place to base their operations.” For more information about Ciudad Empresarial visit: www.ciudadempresarial.cl
BE Americas | 147
More clean barrels The face of the O&G industry is changing fast, and nowhere more so than in Colombia which is blessed with large resources both conventional and unconventional
written by: John O’Hanlon research by: David Brogan 148 | BE Americas
Ecopetrol
BE Americas | 149
Ecopetrol
T
he growth of Colombia’s oil in which Ecopetrol wants to lead the world. and gas industries is attention- But it doesn’t lose touch with reality: to be grabbing by any standards. As ‘clean’, the oil has to be viable. “Our aim recently as 2007 the country was is to have a 17 percent return on capital producing around 500 million employed,” says Guzmán. barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) the And Ecopetrol is investing heavily, with first half of last year that figure topped a $75 billion to be committed in the period billion. Though there is an increasing number 2013 to 2020. 90 percent of this money of outside players involved, the lion’s share will be spent in Colombia itself, with the of this production boom has been achieved remainder being spent on exploration and by the largely government-owned petroleum production in three external territories, the business Ecopetrol, today one of the 25 largest USA’s Gulf of Mexico waters, Brazil and petroleum companies in the world. Peru – reflecting a new policy of expansion Ecopetrol’s figures closely mirror national overseas where appropriate. production, rising from Increased production nearly 400 mboed to around will come from three main 800 in the period from sources. The first of these January to September 2013. will be the existing fields, where there is a lot of scope “We have invested heavily in to increase recovery. “In one our legacy fields,” Ecopetrol’s way it is a blessing that we E&P Development VP Rafael Guzmán told us, “and we have seen a relatively low Boepd production have also developed new rate of recovery in many target for 2020 fields. Our plan for the future of these fields to date, is to continue that production because it presents us with growth. We have set two targets, one is to a big growth factor!” This is low hanging reach one billion barrels of oil equivalent per fruit for Ecopetrol since the reserves in the Llanos fields of the Meta department, as day in 2015 and 1.3 billion in 2020.” We’ll look in a moment at how this will well as the Mid-Magdalena Valley further be achieved, but first of all he stresses that north and Catatumbo near the Venezuelan this is no mad race to find and exploit the border are all amenable to well understood country’s reserves. These are to be ‘clean modern techniques of recovery optimisation barrels’. It’s a key objective of Ecopetrol to and enhancement including infill drilling, develop this concept – barrels that have been water and steam injection and other thermal produced without accident, injury, harm to recovery technologies. the environment or the community and with By revisiting its existing resources the goodwill of all stakeholders. It’s a new Ecopetrol has been able to revise its oil and concept in the industry; an ambitious one gas in place estimates upward by more than
1.3
Billion
BE Americas | 151
SPIECAPAG - ISMOCOL
20 YEARS TOGETHER BUILDING INFRASTRUCTURE FOR OIL IN COLOMBIA
ODL OIL PIPELINE
MARIQUITA - CALĂ? GAS PIPELINE
www.spiecapag.com | www.ismocol.com
BUILDING CONFIDENCE AND SECURITY IN ALL OUR AIR OPERATIONS
Seen
Helistar S.A.S. assigns aircraft according to the characteristics and requirements that the customer needs. Our principal operations are: H Seismography H Off-Shore Operations H Support in the construction of pipelines H Bambi Bucket operations for fire extinguishing H Support in the installation of communication equipment H Transportation of VIPs H Medical evacuation flights H Logistic support to pipeline security H IFR flights between authorized airports H Cargo transportation with long or short sling Contact us: http://helistaraviacion.com
Contact us today and put your company in the spotlight!
vincent@bus-ex.com
Ecopetrol
15 billion barrels of oil equivalent and at the similar type of oil.” Towards the end of same time increase the expected life of these 2013 Ecopetrol confirmed that two of these reserves by as much as 40 percent. And much discoveries, at Cano Sur Este and Acacias of this growth comes in the form of heavy oil, in Meta province were commercially viable. for which demand is growing in the region. The find is significant for the company; The same parts of Colombia are proving the first time for a decade it has declared ideal for further exploration. commercially viable an oil Because the geology is well which it plans to operate. understood, the likelihood of Ecopetrol expects Cano making further discoveries Sur Este to produce 25,000 bpd by 2016, and that it will is high, and some success invest $656 million in the has already been achieved according to Rafael Guzmán. block and drill 135 wells “We made an announcement there. Both discoveries are last year of four discoveries close to roads, pipelines Investment at and in the same heavy oil and surface facilities like Cano Sur Este producing region, with a treatment plants, he adds.
$656 million
BE Americas | 153
“In one way the relatively low rate of recovery in many of our fields to date presents us with a big growth factor!�
154 | BE Americas
Ecopetrol “For example the Acacias discover y is already producing, because it is close to the Chichimene field that we operate, and the Cano Sur field is close to a field in which we have an interest although we are not the operator. It is straightforward to start production from those fields.” The same thing applies in the Middle Magdalena Valley, he says. At the same time as maximising the areas it knows, Ecopetrol is looking at parts of Colombia that have high potential but have been neglected so far. One of these is Caguan-Putumayo close to the border with Ecuador. “Most of Ecuador’s oil comes from fields close to the Colombian border,” Guzmán explains. “Caguan-Putumayo lies between there and the heavy oil producing fields that we have in Colombia and we need to explore what is between. We have high expectations and so far we have gathered some geophysical data and drilled some wells though there is still a lot to learn about it.” This activity comes under what he calls ‘frontier’ exploration. Higher risk but promising ever higher rewards. Under this heading are included the offshore projects the company is contemplating along its Caribbean coast. “We have had a field producing gas there for more than 30 years in partnership with Chevron, but we believe
that the potential is a lot higher.” Ecopetrol has blocks that it owns and others where it partners with successful offshore exploration companies like Petrobras, Repsol and Anadarko. “We will start drilling exploration wells offshore this year” Gas could be a very important part of Ecopetrol’s portfolio going forward. However with a growing domestic market for gas the company will have to address the challenge to monetise future production, he admits. It is all part of Ecopetrol’s ‘blue sky’ exploration which now extends well beyond Colombia to Peru, the USA and northern Brazil, where it has acquired blocks both offshore and onshore in the Campos and Santos basins. The final, and in some ways the most exciting, building block of Ecopetrol’s growth
BE Americas | 155
“We have had a field producing gas for more than 30 years in partnership with Chevron, but we believe that the potential is a lot higher” strategy is unconventional hydrocarbons. Once again the company is focusing on the areas it knows best and where infrastructure is already in place. Colombia’s potential for shale oil and gas is attracting players from all over the world. It’s no secret that shale gas has transformed the USA’s energy landscape: there are similarities and differences. “Basically, the area we have
156 | BE Americas
to work with is a lot smaller than in the States, but the reservoirs we are working with are much thicker. What we lack in area we make up in thickness!” Ecopetrol will go into partnership with experienced players from abroad, but it will also develop its own resources and has already drilled four exploration wells in the Middle Magdalena Valley and is actively working in greenfield
Ecopetrol
sites in Cordillera, Catatumbo and the Upper Magdalena Valley. More wells will be sunk this year, he promises. Ecopetrol developed its clean barrels policy in response to the national environmental monitoring agency Autoridad Nacional de Licencias Ambientales (ANLA) which imposes very strict standards on the industry. Bring it on says Rafael Guzmán! “Last year Ecopetrol was ratified for the third successive year by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. We are every bit as proud of that as we are of our production growth, and we don’t want to grow production at the cost of society or the environment!” The same standards apply to Ecopetrol’s subsidiary Cenit, spun out just last year with the task of providing a national
hydrocarbon distribution infrastructure for Colombia, available to all players. We have spoken mainly about upstream activities, but Ecopetrol is very much involved in developing the downstream market. It is investing in its Cartagena refinery and elsewhere to make them more adaptable in present day conditions. “These refineries were made for light oil which is what we used to produce most, but now we have are producing much more heavy oil the refineries need to adapt.” For more information about Ecopetrol visit: www.ecopetrol.com.co
BE Americas | 157
Underpinning Trinid & Tobago’s prosper
Damus is a privately owned company fulfilling an essentia advancing the upstream and downstream oil and gas indu that promise to define the Caribbean over the coming dec
written by: john o’hanlon | research by: robert hodgs 158 | BE Americas
Damus
dad rity
al role in ustries cade
gson BE Americas | 159
Damus welder at work at the La Romaine facility
Damus
A
s we have recently seen in our extensive coverage of Trinidad & Tobago’s state oil company Petrotrin and its engagement in the exploration, development and production of hydrocarbons as well as the manufacturing and marketing of petroleum products, this island nation’s near term future is largely defined by its onshore and offshore resources. Major and junior exploration companies are scrapping over new licences and preparing to pour billions of dollars into development projects. To succeed, though, they need to partner with competent local companies that can provide the support services they need, and this is where Damus, a key supplier to Petrotrin as well as the private sector, comes in. Established in 1973 the company has established some nine subsidiaries and affiliates since the time of its acquisition by the Mahabir family in 1981. Since then it has grown to become not only the largest mechanical fabrication and construction contractor in Trinidad & Tobago but the largest in the whole eastern Caribbean region. With a permanent staff of 200 augmented by a temporary workforce that can vary from 500 to over 2,000 depending on current projects, its services focus on the design, manufacture, procurement, installation and maintenance of almost every class of equipment required by the industry. Damus’ headquarters is at La Romaine to the south west of Trinidad. There it operates a twelve-acre yard which used to house its main fabrication operation until it built a much larger shop at Point Fortin, 30 kilometres to the south. This houses a
BE Americas | 161
GEORGE UNION’S
PIPE AND TANK COMPANY
The Best in our Industry George Union’s Pipe and Tank was first founded to meet the demands of the petroleum industry in Guyana, specifically as it relates to the manufacturing and fabrication of Industry-standard Tanks and pipelines. What we offer PIPING • Fabrication and Installation of pipelines for Petroleum products, including LPG. • Repairs and maintenance • Pressure Testing • Installation of Service Stations, hoists, air meters, etc., TANKS • Fabrication, erection and repair of vertical and horizontal tanks. • Installation of underground tanks at Service Stations. • Installation of LPG Tanks. TESTING OF PIPES AND TANKS • Thickness Testing (Ultra sonic) • Pressure Testing (Hydrostatic) • Tank Calibration CLEANING • Sandblasting, painting of Pipes, Tanks, etc; • Cleaning of Petroleum Storage Tanks
www.georgeunionpipeandtank.com
Damus 50,000 square foot workshop, George Union’s Pipe and Tank over 160,000 square feet of George Union’s Pipe and Tank are committed to a very high warehouses and an office standard of work, innovation and on-time delivery, this building on a 30-acre site, has allowed us to expand our operations in new frontiers, with the capacity to turn out always endeavouring to meet our clients varied needs and 300 tonnes of steel fabrication objectives. We have the privilege of serving very large multia month based on working national companies with operations in the Caribbean, North America, Europe and other parts of the world. one shift per day. TwentyHaving well over 35 years in business, with a highly skilled four hour operation will and trained workforce, customer satisfaction is guaranteed. add an incremental eighty www.georgeunionpipeandtank.com percent of production. The 24,000 square foot workshop at La Romaine is now mainly used for light fabrication work and the submarine pipe fabrication that the company performs for Petrotrin’s offshore Trinmar operations. It is worth dwelling for a moment on this work, as it illustrates Damus’ innovative approach to solving customers’ problems. “Petrotrin is investing significantly in its Trinmar fields” confirms Director of Overseas Operations Stuart Mahabir. There are two ways of installing the undersea pipelines that link the rigs and transfer crude onshore – you can either use a specialised pipelaying ship to position continuous coil or join sections in situ from specially adapted barges. However high mobilisation costs and availability issues make the former a very expensive operation. Trinmar continues to use Damus’ Atlantic LNG Plant built by Damus
“The work done for Bechtel on the 15 million tpa LNG plant at Point Fortin was a major milestone for the company” BE Americas | 163
Protective and Marine Coatings
Providing a wide range of high performance marine and pc coatings. Addressing the needs of a worldwide Clientele in an ever changing operating environment. International Paints Available at:
Tel: 1 868 665 6260 / 1676 | Fax: 1 868 671 6518 For Technical Information contact:
Joshua Madoo: 1-868-788-5984, Email: joshua@integra-pc.com Anil Maraj: 1-868-741-3517, Email: anil@integra-pc.biz Denesh Ragbir: 1-868- 775-9067, Email: denesh@integra-pc.com
ANALYSER SERVICES TRINIDAD LTD. is a company registered in Trinidad & Tobago and in existence for the past 15 years. We are part of a group of companies headed by Norsk Analyse AS of Scandinavia. Our support center is staffed with highly trained and experienced technicians to service and support Analyzer, Sampling Handling Panels, and Gas Detection Equipment. Services we offer are; • Sales & After Sales Support • Preventative Maintenance • Service • Training • Spares Parts Tel: 868 679 3839 / 636 6576 | Fax: 868 679 3840 | Email: anaserv@tstt.net.tt
Damus pipelaying barges, on which pre-fabricated sections of Integra Protective Coatings Ltd has happily partnered with pipe – ‘pipe strings’ – are Damus Ltd in their successful provision of quality work over welded together in situ. This the years. From providing appropriate coating products, is the most effective solution technical advice, inspection services to introducing the for the client, and was made latest in coatings technology. Integra’s direct relationship more effective when Damus with International Paints also ensures all projects and backup services are monitored by our global team. re-engineered its barges to joshua@integra-pc.com enable them to operate in sea conditions that would have delayed the work in the past. “This is industry best practice. The work is now done higher above water level – it saves both money and time,” says Mahabir. Pipelaying is a good example of the bread and butter work that Damus does, however in recent years it has distinguished itself by taking on and successfully completing some very high profile and complex projects. The first such project to be landed in 1998 lasted nearly a decade and involved the construction of a four-train gas liquefaction facility at Point Fortin with a total capacity of 15 million metric tonnes per annum (tpa) for Atlantic, one of the world’s largest producers of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). The EPC contractor for the $5 billion project was Bechtel Corporation of the USA, and Damus was Bechtel’s main mechanical
Integra Protective Coatings Ltd
300 tonnes Monthly capacity of Damus’ Point Fortin fabrication site
BE Americas | 165
Our Edge is Efficiency Advantage Lab Services Ltd. provides comprehensive laboratory testing services, which help physicians and other healthcare providers in the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of disease and illness in patients. We also provide access to specialized clinical tests, used to detect cancer, monitor heart disease, identify neurological disorders and pinpoint individual allergies, among other things. You can rely on our adherence to the highest levels of quality assurance and our employment of state-of-the-art technology. For every test performed, we monitor the quality of the entire process from initial request, through test performance, to the prompt reporting of the result. Phone: 868.653.6993, 868.290.3211, 868.648.0549 | Fax: 868.652.8017 E-mail: rmaraj@advantagelabservices.com www.advantagelabservices.com
Stationery & Office Consumables Specialised Library Supplies Office Furniture & Machines Audio Visual Equipment Computer Supplies Self-Inking Stamps Printing Services
Quality Brands • Attractive Prices • Free Delivery • Knowledgeable & Responsive Staff
Damus subcontractor, completing Advantage Lab Services Ltd train one in 1999, trains two Advantage Lab Services Limited, located in San Fernando, and three in 2002 and 2003, Trinidad, is a company specializing in high technology with train four finally being Laboratory testing services. The business was established commissioned in 2007. “That to offer a high quality diagnostic service to Clinicians, was a major milestone for Hospitals, Nursing homes, Corporate Companies and the the company,” recalls Stuart community at large. Our Ultra modern facility and state of the art Laboratory Mahabir with pride. “At the complimented with our 25 years experience in Laboratory time the Point Fortin facility medicine provides a full range of Lab services including was the fourth largest in the Drug & Alcohol testing, Lipid Profiles, HIV, DNA Paternity, world.” Damus’ contribution Executive & UKOOA Medicals, Occupational Health Testing, included installation of all Ultra Sounds and ECG’s. above ground piping, static Advantage Lab Services Limited: Guided by the people we and rotating equipment, spool serve, provided by people who care. www.advantagelabservices.com and utility tank fabrication. More recently the company completed its largest job ever, showing its diversity in the very different field of power generation. Between 2009 and its commissioning in 2012 Damus was the main mechanical contractor for a new 720 MW combined cycle power plant (CCPP) built by Germany’s Ferrostaal GmbH for Trinidad Generation Unlimited (TGU) at La Brea. At the $740 million plant’s official opening in October 2013 Trinidad’s Energy Minister Kevin Ramnarine hailed it as the nation’s most efficient, producing electricity at half the unit cost of other sources. Damus’ client list includes such major companies as BP, BG, BHP Billiton, Repsol and, of course, Petrotrin. To work with these companies presupposes best practice enshrined in certification, such as ISO 9001:2008, which assures the company’s quality management system (QMS) and the Safe-to-Work (STOW) accreditation. STOW assures not only safety but also environmental performance, stresses
BE Americas | 167
RM ENGINEERING
R.M. Engineering Limited is a Multi-Disciplinary Consulting Firm which provides services to Government, Institutional and Industrial Clients in the Architectural, Civil, Structural, Mechanical, Electrical Fields as well as Project Management.
Email: rm_eng_01@yahoo.com Telephone: 1 (868) 665 5575 / 671 9467 Telefax: 1 (868) 665 5575 Address: R.M. Engineering Limited 505 Centre Pointe Mall, Ramsaran Street. Chaguanas.Trinidad and Tobago
Stretching the Miles MILEAGE MACK offers the widest range of passenger, commercial and industrial tyres in Trinidad & Tobago. Our certified technicians provide sophisticated, professional, and highly technical services using state-of-theart computer diagnostic equipment. Mileage Mack is a certified member of the Tire Industry Association of North America (TIA) and Specialty Equipment Market Association.
inspired Your weekly digest of business news and views
Telephone: 1-(868)-657-1704 Email: sales@mileagemack.com www.mileagemack.com
www.bus-ex.com
Damus Mahabir. “Achieving that accreditation in 2012 was R.M. Engineering Limited was established on the 7th significant in that it confirmed January, 2005 and has been providing Consultancy Services that our workers were trained, since then. The company’s key personnel have considerable approved and recognised experience in the successful management and execution of a by the industry accepted wide variety of projects in Trinidad and Tobago. regulatory body in the local We actively aim to always satisfy our Clients by continuously improving on our operations and are proud to be associated energy sector. It affirmed with Damus Limited for whom we have been providing once and for all the company’s engineering consultancy services for over eight years. record of compliance.” rm_eng_01@yahoo.com Being a large employer, Damus recognises the importance of a well-trained and accredited workforce, he continues. “We operate a mixture of internal and external training, with an in-house syllabus for our junior engineers covering structural design, mechanical design and other topics. We also offer financial incentives to encourage them to acquire qualifications that may be required for our contracts.” Though the global economic situation is reflected in a current slowdown regionally, Damus is planning ahead for the O&G boom that is in the making. The port of Galeota on Trinidad’s south-eastern tip is central to Trinidad and Tobago’s deepwater acreage and its shallow water acreage on the east coast. It is also close to Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. If Portof-Spain is becoming the Houston of the Caribbean, as Minister Ramnarine states, he also proposes that Galeota should become a significant energy services hub for this part of the Caribbean. “We are planning to build a new fabrication facility on the east coast of the island,” says Mahabir. “It makes sense BP Bombax Subsea Manifold, built by Damus for us to improve our facility at Galeota to
R.M. Engineering Limited
BE Americas | 169
Damus take advantage of investment that is going to increase over the next five years.” While activity levels are reasonably high offshore, Damus continues to seek out downstream project opportunities. One significant opportunity coming over the horizon is a proposed $850 million petrochemical plant at the Union Industrial Estate in La Brea, to be built by a consortium led by Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI). The plant will produce a million tonnes a year of methanol and 100,000 tonnes of dimethyl ether (DME). If the project goes ahead, it would be the first new downstream energy plant in Trinidad and Tobago since 2010. Damus, as the only regional company with the experience, capacity and track record in delivering projects like this is well placed to capture particular construction elements of such a project. Meanwhile Stuart Mahabir is looking further afield in a region that is increasingly grappling with the conflict between traditional industries like tourism and fishing and the oil trade. Curacao, with its huge independent refinery is a case in point. But Damus will always maintain its standards, he assures: “We are proud of our reputation and our brand. We will always conduct business in a transparent way and never tarnish the good name we have established for ourselves. We hope our customers continue to recognise our efforts in providing excellent contracting services to the local and regional oil and gas industry.” For more information about Damus visit: www.damusgroup.com
BE Americas | 171
Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ)
Securing Jamaica’s future Through its efforts to diversify Jamaica’s energy portfolio, the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ) is helping to secure the long-term sustainable development of the Caribbean island
written by: Will Daynes research by: David Brogan
BE Americas | 173
PCJ
I
t was in 1975, two years after the members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) proclaimed an oil embargo sparking a five month oil crisis, that the concept of a State Energy Corporation was first mooted within Jamaica. Four years later in June 1979 the government of the country established the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ), while the Petroleum Act of 1979 established it as a statutory corporation with the exclusive right to explore for oil, develop Jamaica’s petroleum resources, negotiate import contracts and enter all stages of the petroleum industry. Exploration activities in Jamaica date back to the mid-1955s. It was between 1955 and 1973 that the first of two exploration phases were conducted across the country by private companies, while the second between 1978 and 1982 was conducted by the PCJ. During the first phase a total of seven exploratory wells were drilled, one offshore and six onshore, how it was with the formation of the PCJ that momentum picked up dramatically with an additional three onshore wells and one offshore well being drilled during 1980 and 1981. Subsequent advances in geological and geophysical sciences and technologies in more recent time have allowed the PCJ to view Jamaica’s potential through a fresh pair of eyes. Indeed, recent studies and tests have shown that structures within the offshore Walton Basin is likely to contain significant economic quantities of hydrocarbons, while other blocks located on the western, eastern and south eastern sides of the nation may also possess similar resources.
BE Americas | 175
J. P. MUKHERJI & ASSOCIATES PVT. LTD.
From Concept to Commissioning CONSULTANCY SERVICES FOR
Tendaho Sugar Factory - Ethiopia 26000 TCD Capacity
Sugar Sugar Refinery Cogeneration Ethanol
Finchaa Ethiopia - Hilo Unloader
% Feasibility Study, Agriculture and Integrated Factory Complex % Detailed Project Report % Design Engineering Services
Metahara Ethiopia 50 klpd Ethanol Plant
% Project Management and Implementation % Factory Operation and Performance % Training for Factory Personnel % Financial Analysis Report % Design of Specialized equipments (JPMA Mill Coupling, Mechanical Circulator, Fibrizor, etc.) Evaporator Station - Baramati Agro - India
Kakira Sugar - Uganda 51.5 MW Cogen
JPMA Mill Coupling
J. P. MUKHERJI & ASSOCIATES PVT. LTD. 'JYOTI HOUSE', 172 DAHANUKAR COLONY, KOTHRUD, PUNE 411 029. INDIA. TEL: +91-20-25397303 FAX: +91-20-25399287 E mail: info@jpma.org.in Web: www.jpma.org.in
PCJ Petroleum Of Jamaica feature Today theCorporation PCJ Group text to go here....Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, includes the subsidiaries consectetur adipisicingwhich elit, sed do eiusmod Petrojam Limited, tempor incididunt ut labore operates the group’s oilet dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud refinery, Petrojam Ethanol exercitation laboris Limited, theullamco marking andnisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor retailing company Petcom in reprehenderit in voluptate Limited, Jamaica Aircraftvelit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur Refuelling Services and Wigton Windfarm Limited. sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in As culpa officia thequi name of deserunt the last mollit anim id est laborum. Loremthe ipsum subsidiary suggests, PCJ’s dolor sit amet, consectetur elit,insed dotoeiusmod mandate wasadipisicing expanded back 1995 develop indigenous renewable energyetresources with tempor incididunt ut labore dolore magna aliqua. ad minim veniam, quis nostrud the aimUtofenim preventing adverse effects on the
exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ex environment andut toaliquip assist the ea commodo consequat. Duisinaute irure dolor government achieving the in reprehenderitaims in voluptate esse cillum set out velit in the Jamaica dolore eu fugiat nullaSector pariatur. Excepteur Energy Policy. In its non roleproident, the PCJsunt is sint occaecat cupidatat in culpa qui officia deserunttomollit anim in id committed assisting est laborum. Lorem ipsum sit heavy amet, reducing the dolor nation’s consectetur adipisicing elit, sed eiusmod dependence ondoimported petroleum inet order to meet its tempor incididunt ut labore dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis energy requirements. In order nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris ut to achieve this the groupnisi seeks aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute to diversify Jamaica’s energy portfolio has undertaken numerous irure dolorand in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillumsince dolore fugiat nulla initiatives itseuformation. In pariatur. addition Excepteur sintexploration occaecat these cupidatat non to oil and gas initiatives
J. P. MUKHERJI & ASSOCIATES PVT. LTD J. P. Mukherji & Associates Pvt. Ltd, Pune, India (JPMA) was established in the year 1972. Today JPMA is a globally known company specialising in providing engineering and consultancy services to the cane sugar industry. JPMA’s main consultancy activities include providing feasibility study services, bankable detailed project reports, management services, assisting with the optimization of factory operations and performance improvement, training and orientation of local personnel, project management and implementation, and problem analysis and amelioration. JPMA also provides services that deliver energy efficiency improvement, optimization and balancing of existing plants for specific capacities. JPMA was assigned by PCJ the task of studying the five state owned sugar estates in order to achieve the production of at least
73,000KL of fuel grade ethanol for replacing MTBE additive from gasoline. The study covered all five sugar estates owned by the Government of Jamaica and was designed to identify measures to turn around the heavy loss making units and transform them into commercially viable business enterprises on a long term sustainable basis. The solutions and recommendations put forward in study report subsequently defined the ways to enable the estates to operate at full capacity. To date JPMA has successful completed projects, and has projects under execution, in a number of different countries including India, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, Morocco, Nigeria, Tanzania, Fiji, Mauritius, Mozambique, Bangladesh, Philippines, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. E. info@jpma.org.in | www.jpma.org.in
BE Americas | 177
Alternative Power Sources (APS) Limited Alternative Power Sources (APS) Limited is a fully owned Jamaican company dedicated to delivering quality services with the supply and installation of renewable energy equipment to develop the value of alternative energy sources in Jamaica and the Caribbean. APS is the leading company in Jamaica with over 350 installed systems for residential, commercial and
industrial clientele. Our expertise in energy management encompasses residential, commercial and industrial sectors. As leaders in the field of energy management, we have pioneered the use of LED Lighting, Solar DC Pool and Water Pressure Pumps, Solar Pool Heating, Solar Water Heating and Solar Power Systems. E. customercare@apsja.com www.apsja.com
PCJ
include extensive studies into the economic threat to its long term economic stability. It viability of peat for fuel, the construction of comes as no surprise therefore that it was hydropower plants, solar energy, biomass deemed necessary to pursue greater energy and wind energy projects, and examining efficiency and conservation opportunities in the potential of Ocean Thermal Energy the residential, commercial, industrial and Conversion (OTEC). public sectors of the economy. Jamaica possesses one of the highest Over the last five years the PCJ has been energy intensity rates in Latin America tasked with addressing these pressing issues. and the Caribbean, with the country being Its strategy has been to implement energy audit almost totally dependent upon imported oil, recommendations in entities such as hospitals which accounts for over 90 and schools for which energy audits have been done, to percent of its total energy carry out energy audits in use. Between the years of other entities such as the 1998 and 2006 the cost of imported oil to Jamaica rose National Water Commission, astronomically from $334 to continue and enhance the The year the PCJ was million to approximately public education programme established by the on energy efficiency and $1.84 billion, a scenario Jamaican government that unquestionably poses a conservation, and to carry
1979
BE Americas | 179
out energy audits in a sample of hotels and encourage hotel owners to implement energy efficiency measures. For its part the PCJ also remains fully committed to its responsibilities towards sustainable development, a commitment it demonstrates via several means. The first of these is through communication and engagement, whereby the PCJ aims at all times to provide its internal and external clients with timely, accurate, clear objectives and complete information about its policies, programmes, project and objectives. Public education, particularly when it comes to matters of energy, is always a priority for the group and it achieves this through various media formats, exhibition, workshops, seminars and other direct faceto-face meetings. Fundamental in its themes of communication are the promoting of the culture of energy efficiency and conservation, and educating people in the use and benefits of renewable and alternative energies. Social responsible, safety and occupational health and environmental awareness are also core pillars of the PCJ. Fully aware of its responsibilities, it plays a significant role in community development through the awarding of scholarships, the promotion of science and technology, its contributions to
charities and its support of children’s homes and health institutions. The group’s Safety, Health and Environmental Management System is based on the requirements of the Occupational Health and Safety Administration’s Process Safety Management System and of the Jamaica’s National Environment and Planning Agency. The system has policies and procedures, which include the control of emergency planning
“PCJ also remains fully committed to its responsibilities towards sustainable development” 180 | BE Americas
PCJ
and response, safe working practices and Industrial Hygiene Management and natural resources protection. The latter policy also ties in with the PCJ’s principles of environmental sustainability. Programs undertaken by the group in the past include the upgrading the Petrojam Refinery to 50,000 barrels per day to include environmental improvements such as lowering the sulphur petroleum fuels and the carbon dioxide emissions from the operations and phasing out Methyl tertiarybutyl ether (MTBE) in gasoline to the more environmental friendly ethanol enhancer. The PCJ continues to be instrumental in not only sponsoring but also hosting various conferences and seminars that have helped to encourage dialogue among tertiary
institutions, public and private bodies and the general public. These meetings are designed to increase the awareness of the importance of developing sustainable solutions to address Jamaica’s energy situation. The PCJ has also been represented on several committees formed to provide support to national and regional growth and development. Lastly, the PCJ has made invaluable contributions to the development of Jamaica’s Energy Green Paper, 2006-2020, a paper that sets out the plan for a brighter, clean future for the Caribbean island. For more information about Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ) visit: www.pcj.com
BE Americas | 181
Keeping you f
By always striving to meet its customers’ needs American Supplies (AGS) has become one of the most respected spar suppliers to the commercial aviation industry
written by: Kenneth Connor & Will Daynes research by: James Boyle
182 | BE Americas
American General Supplies ( AGS)
flying
General re parts
BE Americas | 183
American General Supplies ( AGS)
K
assa Maru has a bit of experience behind him when it comes to working within the aviation sector. The fact is that the founder, Chairman and President of American General Supplies (AGS) is a man with an employment history that few could hope to match, and that many would be envious of. When looking back on the evolution of AGS it is clear that the creation of the company, in Chicago in 1982, was very much linked to the career path taken by its founder. Over the course of the five years which preceded the birth of AGS Maru would be responsible for material management on behalf of both Ethiopian Airways and Yemen Airways, before becoming Vice President of International Marketing at Aviation Systems International (ASI). It was during his time at ASI that Kassa Maru was joined by his brother, Melesse. Together the pair forged a hugely successful business partnership, one which paved the way for the pair to establish AGS. While AGS originally called Rockville, Maryland its home, the business quickly outgrew it and would go on moving from one larger location to another until it eventually bought its own facility in Gaithersburg, Maryland. It is from this 15,000 square foot facility that the company would go about furthering its aim of becoming an allencompassing spare parts supplier to the commercial aviation industry, providing more than 40,000 line items it has on-hand at its warehouse, consisting primarily of spares for Boeing and Airbus aircraft. Today, AGS employs a total of 65 highly
BE Americas | 185
trained individuals across its operations in Maryland, New York, and California. It is these men and women who have been hugely influential in helping AGS secure upwards of $45 million in gross sales and become representatives for eight of the world’s leading commercial aviation manufacturers. One of these manufacturers is Honeywell, a global leader in the aviation sector. The AGS/Honeywell partnership project began
in August 2011 and has seen AGS appointed as Honeywell’s channel partner distributor in Africa, where AGS is well established and continues to grow its presence on the back of being named Small Business Exporter of the Year to Sub-Saharan Africa in 2007 by the Export-Import Bank of the United States. The partnership allows AGS to offer all of Honeywell’s product lines at substantial
“Today, AGS employs a total of 65 highly trained individuals across its operations in Maryland, New York, California, Ethiopia and Mozambique” 186 | BE Americas
American General Supplies ( AGS)
discounts to its customers. than three decades on a series of core traits and qualities However, it knows that it that have helped it to stand is just as important that out ahead of the competition. these customers receive These characteristics include said products in a timely manner to ensure that their its ability to offer broad operations continue to run experience of the industry, AGS gross sales smoothly. Fortunately AGS’ possessing the financial proximity to no fewer than strength and capabilities three major international to benefit its customers, its airports means that it can deliver shipments admired reputation throughout Africa and quickly to, and throughout, Africa. the Middle East, and its unique degree of Whether it is as part of a partnership with understanding when it comes to the needs of the likes of Honeywell, Tug Technologies, the aviation sector in these parts of the world. Trepel Airport Equipment Company GmBH, AGS takes great pride in the fact that it Malabar International, Clyde Machines, the works tirelessly to get to know the ins and Stinar Corporation or the SWITLIK Parachute outs of its customers’ business so as to get a Company, AGS has built its success over more clear understanding of their individual needs.
$45
Million
BE Americas | 187
“AGS’ ability to predict the changing nature of the sector means that it has in facT been preparing for this growth in Africa for a number of years now”
188 | BE Americas
American General Supplies ( AGS) Doing business in a face-toface manner is something that it also believes strongly in and as such it makes every effort to go to its clients in order to show them who AGS is, what it specialises in and how it values its customers above everything else. AGS is further buoyed by the fact that within its ranks it has a number of employees who themselves are experts in their fields, including several former airline employees. What each of these people have in common however is a passion for AGS’ business and an unwavering commitment towards taking care of its customers throughout the duration of their relationship with the company. The aviation sector is renowned for its dynamic nature and as such a company like AGS must always be able to stay abreast of changes and fluctuations within the industry. Such attention to the market has served the business extremely well over the years, particularly during difficult economic times. This approach has meant that the company now finds itself in a healthy enough position to recruit new employees, extend its partnerships with manufacturers and take on additional large projects from fast growing airlines in rapidly developing markets such as Africa. AGS’ ability to predict the changing nature of the aviation sector means that it has in fact been preparing for this growth in Africa for a
number of years now. In that time it has hired additional professionals, upgraded its facilities and set about making plans for the construction of an adjacent hangar at its headquarters. AGS also now finds itself in talks to build a hangar in Rwanda, a fact in itself that highlights the growing importance of emerging markets to the company and the opportunities that they will continue to offer going forward. With sales figures close to $50 million in 2013 alone, it really puts into perspective just why both the short and long-term future looks so bright for AGS. For more information about American General Supplies (AGS) visit: www.agsusa.com
BE Americas | 189
All part of
A combination of world-class facilities Port Everglades a powerhouse of inter
written by: Will Daynes r
190 | BE Americas
Port Everglades
f the plan
s and innovative leadership has made rnational trade, travel and investment
research by: David Brogan
BE Americas | 191
Port Everglades
T
hough the name suggests Port Everglades has rapidly established otherwise, Port Everglades does itself as Florida leading seaport for not actually form part of the containerized cargo. Situated within the Florida Everglades, rather is it epicentre of a region that thrives on trade located on the south-eastern and tourism, it is the perfect hub and point of coast of the Florida peninsula within the entry for companies that conduct business in cities of Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood and Central and South America, the Caribbean, Dania Beach. Situated in close proximity Europe, and the Far East. Every year more than 5.2 million tonnes to the Atlantic Ocean shipping lanes, the Florida East Coast railway, the state’s of containerized cargo moves through Port highway system and the Fort Lauderdale- Everglades and it is the port’s position that Hollywood International Airport, it serves nobody moves said cargo in and out faster. all of South Florida from Miami to Palm The reason for this is that the port is part of a Beach and Orlando. thriving global transportation Dubbed South Florida’s network, while an aggressive expansion of its facilities “powerhouse port”, Port through a multi-million Everglades is one of the most diverse seaports in the dollar capital improvements United States, among the programme has also been most active containerized key to recent growth. This cargo ports in the United programme has to date Total value of Port States and South Florida’s resulted in the port adding Everglades’ economic main seaport for petroleum new and expanded marine activity products such as gasoline cargo terminals, become the and jet fuel, and among the first in the nation to have top three cruise ports in the world. an ELMO system installed and achieving Port Everglades leverages its world- 99 percent uptime on its gantry cranes. Ships and cargo are not Port Everglades recognized South Florida facilities and innovative leadership to drive the region’s only source of business however. Covering a economic vitality and provide the highest jurisdictional area of some 2,190 acres the port levels of service, safety, environmental also boasts office space, real estate, warehousing, stewardship and community accountability. a foreign-trade zone and more than 25,000 lineal The total value of economic activity at the feet of docks. Also, and in addition to major port is approximately $26 billion, while cruise lines, cargo and petroleum companies, more than 201,000 jobs in Florida are other ancillary industries including security impacted by it, including 11,700 individuals companies, import and export companies, who work for the companies that provide it food suppliers and steamship agents continue with direct services. to benefit from the port’s success.
$26
Billion
BE Americas | 193
Port Everglades Port Everglades Behind the growth feature of Port textEverglades to go here... is what it ipsum Lorem refers to dolor as itssit20-year amet, Master consectetur Plan, one that it updates adipisicing elit, sed every dotwo eiusmod years. The tempor plan incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. calls for on-going capital improvements that ultimately Ut enim adbenefit minimthe veniam, port’s customers quis nostrud in the cruise, cargo exercitation ullamco andlaboris petroleum nisi utindustries, aliquip ex while ea commodo 2014’sconsequat. update Duis re-emphasises aute irure dolor its determination in reprehenderit toin plot voluptate a course velit for esse expanding cillum and enhancing dolore eu fugiat existing nulla facilities pariatur.inExcepteur a manner that occaecat is economical and efficient, as well as sint cupidatat non proident, sunt environmentally in culpa qui officia responsible. deserunt mollit anim id estThe laborum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, most recent update to the Master Plan consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod identifies a number of key parameters of port development. These have the magna ability tempor incididunt ut include labore et dolore
aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit
SWC SWC has served as the environmental consultant team member for master planning at Port Everglades since 2006. Work has included: • site recognizance of upland and marine Port facilities; • collecting current data on all existing submerged and emergent wetland habitats in and near the Port and entrance channel, including mangroves, seagrasses and corals; • collecting current data regarding all listed species in and near the Port, including Acropora corals, manatees, smalltooth sawfish, and wood storks; • collecting current data regarding existing and potential contamination sources on the Port property; • analyzing existing conditions and proposed Port and entrance channel expansion plans in relation to environmental impacts and permitting requirements; • assessing alternative plans for moving the conservation easement associated with expansion of the Turning Notch that includes 8.7 acres of
mangrove impacts, as well as mitigation plans; • assessing the impacts of sea level rise to future Port plans, • preparing text and illustrative figures for relevant sections of master plan documents; • extensive agency coordination and participating in agency and public involvement meetings; • addressing questions and comments from agencies and the public regarding environmental elements of plans and updates; and • preparing text to incorporate environmental sections of the finally-adopted Plan Update into the Broward County Comprehensive Plan. Currently, SWC is assessing new proposed projects at the Port in regard to impacts on natural systems and contamination sources, and is preparing estimated pricing associated with mitigation and remediation required to accomplish these projects. www.swcinc.net
BE Americas | 195
“Behind the growth of Port Everglades is what it refers to as its 20-year Master Plan, one that it updates every two years� to berth fully laden Post-Panamax vessels carrying up to 7,000 twenty-foot equivalent container units, being able to support more and longer cargo berths with appropriate cranes, cruise berths able to handle 1,100-foot
196 | BE Americas
ships and larger cruise terminals as well as the reconfiguration of slips to enhance efficiency and safety, upland improvements to terminals and intermodal access, and the adding of a new berth for a crushed rock/aggregate ships.
Port Everglades
Port Everglades recognizes the impact the port has, not only on its tenants and users, but also on the surrounding communities. Addressing and resolving issues and concerns throughout the planning process have fostered an effective working relationship and consensus between the various stakeholders’ interests. It also recognises that the Master Plan is a living document and will continue to be updated accordingly in the future. In the meantime Port Everglades is embarking on three critical expansion
projects that are projected to create as many as 7,000 new jobs regionally and support some 135,000 jobs state-wide over the next 15 years. These key expansion projects are expected to be completed over the next six years and will add up to five berths, widen and deepen the channel to 50 feet and bring freight rail into the Port. For more information about Port Everglades visit: www.porteverglades.net
BE Americas | 197
Mobile Read our latest magazines on your mobile devices iPhone
iPad
Most popular devices supported (no app download necessary)
iPhone
iPad