BE.Weekly

ACHIEVING

BUSINESS

EXCELLENCE

ONLINE

BusinessExcellence Weekly

ISSUE No. 68 | www.bus-ex.com

MISTRAS Group:

Enhancing life

expectancy The group’s contributions toward North Sea development over the last 20 years

maersk:

Sociedad Minera El Brocal:

Aqualogy:

Included The BE Mining Directory showcases leading mining organisations from across the world, ranging from big corporations to junior mines and their supply chains.

Be seen throughout our portfolio of magazines: • BE Mining Directory • BE Mining • BE Weekly • BE Monthly •

To find out how to get involved contact: vincent@bus-ex.com

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

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.

Vince Kielty Director of Editorial Research vkielty@bus-ex.com 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

Subscriptions & Enquires info@bus-ex.com

HINT: For the best experience, click the fullscreen icon

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 2013 Infinity Business Media Ltd.

BE Weekly

|3

issue No.68

6 6 mining

Growth in a time of scarcity The mining industry faces its most challenging set of problems for a decade: participating companies need to be a lot smarter and ready to take advice from the specialists, emphasizes a new guide from KPMG.

10

10 interview

The M&A environment in Mining

Rama Ayman, has been enjoying his new role as Partner and Global Head of KPMG’s Metals & Mining Corporate Finance practice.

16 MISTRAS Group

Enhancing life expectancy

16 4 | BE Weekly

MISTRAS Group Executive Vice President, Phillip T. Cole, discusses the group’s priceless contributions toward North Sea development over the last 20 years.

contents

32

24 SPX – Marley Mexicana Mexico’s tower of strength

By combining over a century of experience with cutting-edge, environmentally friendly technology, Marley Mexicana has solidified itself as one of jewels in SPX Group’s crown.

32 Sociedad Minera El Brocal

Powering the growth of Peru

58

Sociedad Minera El Brocal’s activities and achievements are prime examples of what makes Peru such an exciting and important epicentre for mining in South America.

50 Lubritene (PTY ) Ltd Growing on goodwill

Lubritene is a South African registered company, specialising in the manufacture of high performance greases, compounds and oils: a statement that barely describes a company that enjoys remarkable symbiosis with its clients.

58 Maersk

72

Riding the waves of change

As Maersk Line’s Chief Operating Officer, Morten Engelstoft explains, despite being the largest container ship operator in the world, Maersk Group continues to steer itself forward into new areas of growth.

72 Aqualogy

Transcending water into wellbeing Aqualogy’s efforts throughout the world highlight precisely why it is positioned as a global benchmark when it comes to providing water solutions for sustainable development.

BE Weekly

|5

Growth in a tim

The mining industry faces its most cha participating companies need to be a from the specialists, emphasi Words by

6 |

BE Weekly

John O’Hanlon

| R

Mining

me of scarcity

allenging set of problems for a decade: lot smarter and ready to take advice izes a new guide from KPMG

Research by

Richard Halfhide BE Weekly

| 7

I

f the title is a nod to Gabriel García Márquez examination of how love can adapt in a time of ‘cholera’ KPMG International’s July 2013 guide, subtitled Managing transactions in the mining sector if less literary, seeks to focus on some of the strategies companies could adopt in managing their relations with the global trading realities, the investor community and the stock market.

A combination of demand from the east, dwindling mineral resources and rising costs is reshaping the mining sector. As mining companies attempt to manage their asset life cycle in this new landscape, their three main strategic priorities are growth, performance and compliance. “Whether organically or (increasingly) through mergers and acquisitions, growth is a perennial objective in an industry where assets continually erode, however, in the current context of falling commodity prices and rising costs together with scarcity of available cash for acquisitions, mining companies are forced to consider portfolio management and cost optimization as their top priorities over their traditional growth objectives,” says KPMG’s Global Head of Metals and Mining Corporate Finance.

Few would disagree. The guide addresses issues frequently faced by readers of this magazine: geographic expansion, M& A and financing (written by Rama Ayman, KPMG’s

“Growth is a perennial objective in an industry where assets continually erode” 8 |

BE Weekly

Mining

“As mining companies seek targets in unfamiliar parts of the world, they will need strong local knowledge to form relationships and cope with foreign regulations and cultures” Global Head of Mining and Metals Corporate Finance, who expands his analysis in an exclusive interview for this issue) tax structuring, the key role of due diligence, and one frequently neglected area, the need for companies involved in M&A activities to manage integration – and indeed separation – issues in a planned and proactive way instead of tackling them post-event.

Authored by a picked group of KPMG’s country and sector leaders it demonstrates the global reach and depth of experience that the global professional service group can command. Underlying the practical advice it contains is the message that things are definitely not getting simpler in the way the world’s commodities markets work and interact.

It is getting increasingly difficult for the majors, with all their financial and IP clout, to navigate the international cross currents and local shoals they encounter: how much more perplexing is it, then, for junior companies to find their way?

The conclusion? They need someone with local knowledge, global reach, and real depth of understanding to support them in assessing financial risk and help them avoid expensive – and potentially fatal – mistakes. “As mining companies seek targets in unfamiliar parts of the world, they will need strong

local knowledge to form relationships and cope with foreign regulations and cultures,” KPMG warns. “A flexible financing package can help hedge against a volatile commodities market to achieve positive margins and improve shareholder value.”

Shareholders are increasingly asking mining companies to pursue a disciplined portfolio approach in line with their core competencies whether in exploration, mine development, or managing mature cash flow generating assets to enhance value for investors.

KPMG member firms often act as a long-term advisor to mining companies to help them optimize their acquisition and divestiture programs in order to leverage the client’s core competencies.

This guide is the first in a series that discusses how mining companies can best navigate the asset life cycle, and covers the five key elements of the transaction phase: geographic expansion, financing and mergers and acquisitions, tax structuring, due diligence and integration.

Full report To download the full report, Growth in a time of scarcity: Managing transactions in the mining sector.

Click here

BE Weekly

| 9

Interview

The environment in Mining Since his appointment as Partner and Global Head of KPMG’s Metals & Mining Corporate Finance practice Rama Ayman, a vastly experienced investment banker and M&A specialist has been enjoying his new role Words by John O’Hanlon Research by Richard Halfhide

BE Weekly

| 11

O

ver the past four years, KPMG firms have successfully emerged as a leading force in mid cap M&A, having built up a significant network of local M&A teams and investment banking professionals, hired from major investment banks around the world. Says Rama Ayman: “I joined KPMG because it has an extensive presence in metals and mining globally across many functional areas, with a strong commitment to build out its M&A advisory capabilities in this sector.”

Rama Ayman is the author of the section entitled M&A and financing: replenishing a diminishing asset base in KPMG’s recently published guide Growth in a time of scarcity, the first in a series that will discuss how mining companies can best navigate the asset life cycle. Over the last 20 years the common thread uniting his work has been mergers and acquisitions in the mining and metals sector, and he shared with us some of his personal insights into the market.

No reader of this article will be in much doubt as to the current state of affairs.

“Commodity prices have come down over the past few months – I can’t think of an exception. For a while gold bucked the trend but even that followed the others this year. Costs on the other hand have continued to rise. I am not just talking

“The squeeze in margins has made the credit markets nervous about the mining sector in general” 12 |

BE Weekly

about labor, energy and equipment costs: compliance to ever more stringent regulations on environmental and social performance and the rise of resource nationalism have not helped. The sector has faced soaring cash costs leading to significantly reduced cashflows and weakened balance sheets. Over the last year, five trends have emerged – trends I can see continuing in 2014.”

The first of these is that the junior mining companies are no longer finding it so easy to get cash to develop their projects. “The squeeze in margins has made the credit markets nervous about the mining sector in general, so credit is not easily available, and that has resulted in a change in ratios the lenders will accept. They want more equity, more potential cash flow, so the ratio of debt to cash flow has come down and the ratio of equity to debt has gone up.” Companies have to show more cash flow generation than before and put in more equity than before, he says, and at the same time the IPO market for mining companies is pretty much closed as investors have become much more cautious about participating in mining sector offerings.

Interview

With very few exceptions, junior mining companies are finding it a challenge to fund their projects. Their stock price is on the floor, credit is not available and any share issue has to be heavily discounted. So what can they do? “The only realistic solution most of them have is the M&A market. Basically, bringing in a strategic investor to help them develop their project.”

This, he says, touches on the second trend that he has identified: namely that the ‘usual suspects’ are not in the game as much as they were previously.

The large mining groups like Rio Tinto, Barrick, BHP, Vale, Glencore and others are themselves struggling with reduced margins. “They themselves made a lot of acquisitions in the good times, frequently through leverage, and they are having to focus on margins, cost optimization and the like; and on the other hand, to de-leverage they are selling non-core and high cost assets. They have focused on portfolio management and the cost issues and they are not putting management time and resources into making acquisitions.

“The well-tried model whereby a

Five trends in minerals and mining 1. A squeeze on access to development finance 2. The majors are divesting 3. Asset undervaluation attracts new entrants 4. Offtakers are thinking long 5. Megaprojects are becoming collaborative

“I think the private equity investment groups and captive funds are forming an important group of buyers” company would obtain a license, and develop it before selling it on to a larger company and so on until it came to the attention of an owner with the resources to take it into production is now in question, I think. I do not see many big mining companies going out and buying junior miners’ assets at a time when the big guys are thinking hard about what could be put into that non-core asset basket and basically making it as large as possible so they can de-leverage even more.”

The third big trend is where we depart from the depressingly familiar. New players are watching this scenario. “They are thinking this could be a good time to buy assets that are so much cheaper than they were before. So there has been a rise in the number of new entrants.

These are captive investment funds and private equity funds focused on mining - and the number of those is increasing.

On the other hand some of the more traditional large private equity funds are thinking opportunistically this might be a good time to come back to the metals and mining space and start making acquisitions. So I think the private equity investment groups and captive funds are forming an important group of buyers.”

Fourthly, the offtakers are changing their spots, observes Ayman. “The large trading companies from Japan, Korea,

BE Weekly

| 13

China, and Switzerland have developed a strategy over the last few years of going long on assets. Originally they were just traders and gradually they realized that the added value of just trading was diminishing. That trend is still continuing and I see them continuing to buy shareholding in the assets in order to get attractive long term offtake agreements.”

Finally, the very large projects – the kind that are vital to regional GDP – are being approached more cautiously.

“Because of the environment we find ourselves in there are a number of very attractive mega projects with capex well above US$1 billion. Previously a big mining company would do it by itself but now the costs are getting too high, the risks more significant. I think that going forward more of them are going to look for joint venture partners and other strategic partners or financial backers to develop the mine.” He expects to see the model that has worked well in the O&G sector becoming more common in mining.

All of these trends are driven by the tightening margins thanks to reduced commodity price and higher costs.

However Rama Ayman identifies another

14 |

BE Weekly

“The large trading companies have developed a strategy over the last few years of going long on assets” factor which has its own impact on M&A plans. That is the evident rise in many jurisdictions of resource nationalism.

“Many mining companies in several countries are witnessing backlash from governments and communities who want a greater share of perceived profits. Their demands are becoming louder around four things. One is insisting of tighter environmental standards. Two is that they are requiring adequate CSR. In some cases a big mining project will form 20 or 30 percent of the country’s GDP or exports and they are demanding proportionate levels of social engagement.

“Of course these things come at a cost.

Additionally they are demanding a higher level of shareholding in the operation either for the government directly or for local parastatal or private enterprises.

And fourthly they are looking to secure more of the downstream value chain but insisting on local beneficiation.”

These demands come at a difficult time for mining companies who are suffering from much lower margins and cash flows. Rama Ayman sees that during the coming one or two years we will see a marked increase in transparency for companies to show exactly how their money is being spent, and how much of their profits are being shared in various ways with the local governments in the form of taxes, royalties, dividends, CSR

Interview

expenditures and other investments in local infrastructure.

Rama Ayman also believes that there would be a far greater need for multistakeholder approach to developing large mining projects – this will require far greater consultations between companies, governments, communities, employees and shareholders.

The short term may be dire, the medium term uncertain, but in the long term Rama Ayman remains bullish about the industry he has been engaged with for so many years. “I think what is happening now is actually good for the mining industry in the longer run! It is having to get more cost efficient and better set the stage around local partnerships and their various stakeholders. Subsequently, they will be more successful in the upcoming cyclical recovery.

The long term supply-demand balance continues to point towards a bullish scenario for most mining commodities.

The raw materials for steel, iron ore, coking coal, and manganese are closely linked to construction and construction is at last beginning to recover in the USA and other economies. Copper is linked to

“I think what is happening now is actually good for the mining industry in the longer run!” infrastructure. China for example wants to be 70 percent urban by 2040. Achieving that goal will require an increase supply of copper!” China, he points out, has a long way to go to reach parity with the west, and then there is India, which may be on slower burn but is showing an upward trend.

Never in one place for long, Rama Ayman is clearly revelling in the access to clients across the world as they grapple simultaneously with falling commodity prices, higher cash costs, lack of easy access to traditional sources of funding and rising resource nationalism. “Developing successful major mining projects in most countries on a timely basis and on budget while adequately addressing the conflicting requirements of their various stakeholders has become much more complex. I think that is where advisers with a local presence in these mining jurisdictions like KPMG can add a tremendous amount of value.”

Rama Ayman Following 12 years investment banking experience including Bankers Trust [later acquired by Deutsche Bank] in New York, Barents Group in Central Asia and BNP Paribas in London where he was Director of Corporate Finance, Rama Ayman joined Arcelor in 2002, becoming Corporate Vice President of M&A, and playing an active role in many acquisitions, divestitures, and JVs including the merger of Arcelor and Mittal in 2006 to create the world’s largest steel company.

Over the past six years, Rama has been Managing Director of Hatch Corporate Finance and Senior Advisor to The National Investor, where he led numerous metals and mining M&A advisory mandates across most regions of the world before joining KPMG as Partner and Global Head of Metals and Mining in October 2012.

BE Weekly

| 15

MISTRAS Group

Enhancing life expectancy MISTRAS Group Executive Vice President, Phillip T. Cole, discusses the group’s priceless contributions toward North Sea development over the last 20 years

written by: Will Daynes research by: Marcus Lewis

16 | be weekly

A robotic pipe scanner mapping internal corrosion in pipe-work

MISTRAS Group

I

n the last four decades no fewer than 698 offshore fields have been discovered in the UK Continental Shelf, producing in that time some 41 billion barrels of oil and gas.

With another 20 billion barrels estimated to remain untapped it comes as little surprise that the North Sea continues to be a huge boon to the UK and other surrounding nations.

One of the many companies fortunate enough to have been part of this continued prosperity is MISTRAS Group, who have been a consistent presence supplying a range of highly specialised products and services in the North Sea for almost 20 years.

“We began our activities here supplying valve leak detection technology in the form of our VPAC solution, which we developed together with BP,” explains MISTRAS Executive Vice President, Phillip T. Cole.

“An acoustic emission instrument, VPAC can estimate the quantity of material leaking through valves using its accompanying proprietary software and with more than 1,000 systems currently in use it is the instrument of choice for valve leak detection.”

It was then in January 2002 that MISTRAS successfully completed its first installation of a structural monitoring system on an FPSO. “This system is designed to monitor eight critical areas of the FPSO, areas that have been identified by stress analysis as being the most prone to cracks,” Cole continues. “This is technology that we used in the past on bridges and pressure vessels before adapting it to offshore use. Similar technology also extends to our installations that monitor and detect any failures in the structural wire armour or carcass of flexible risers.”

be weekly | 19

In addition to its crack detection sensors, MISTRAS Group also possesses arrays of strain monitoring gauges which collect comprehensive data that can be used by engineering consultants to refine fatigue models and in some cases considerably extend the life of certain structures.

A further service offered is what MISTRAS calls the on-stream inspection of process equipment. This service has been designed to

answer the question of how an operator can carry out inspections of pipework and vessels without the need to shut down production or place somebody in a potentially dangerous environment.

“The non-invasive approach that our technology utilises,” Cole says, “involves using scanning systems around the outside of the pipes or vessels so that we can actually map the wall thickness at extremely high speeds

“MISTRAS can monitor clients’ equipment and infrastructure on a continuous basis to effectively manage its integrity over the course of its remaining life”

Working from ropes is the access method of choice for inspection work

20 | be weekly

MISTRAS Group

A robotic scanner operated via umbilical cable can map at rates of 15 – 150 square metres per day

“The key reason that there to an accuracy of around 0.25 millimetres. This allows is demand for our services,” us to see where coatings have Cole continues, “is simply failed or where corrosion that our approach to doing is taking place.” things, where we work What binds all of MISTRAS’ with end clients and their activities together is the fact engineering consultants to that they are specifically develop faster and more Number of barrels of oil and gas believed to geared towards improving efficient ways of providing remain untapped in the detailed information about an safety and productivity by North Sea helping structures and plants asset, makes sense.” to remain online rather than One of the reasons it does shutting down operations so is because MISTRAS has to carry out invasive inspections. The very spent considerable time and effort designing nature of its work means that MISTRAS can and manufacturing many of its mapping monitor clients’ equipment and infrastructure and monitoring systems in house, a trait on a continuous basis to effectively manage its that differentiates it greatly from much of its integrity over the course of its remaining life. competition in the marketplace. “A lot of the

20

Billion

be weekly | 21

Final adjustments prior to launching a mapping scanner

A weld scanner identifies

“The trust that the industry places in MISTRAS and its technology can be clearly seen in the host of tasks and projects it has been involved in over the years” technology we use is that which has been developed by ourselves with our more unique applications being the result of talking to clients and developing solutions to meet the issues they have discussed with us,” Cole enthuses.

The trust that the industry places in MISTRAS and its technology can be clearly seen in the host of tasks and projects it has been involved in over the years. One of its more recent undertakings saw the

22 | be weekly

company carrying out an inspection on around a kilometre of structural weld using a combination of two ultrasonic techniques, TOFD and Phased Array. Traditionally competing techniques, they were brought together by MISTRAS and used on the same weld inspection. The result was the most detailed and conclusive batch of information possible, something which has and will prove invaluable for the client in question.

MISTRAS Group

s cracking and corrosion in welds

Of course, while the impressive quality of the technology itself is one thing, just as vital are the men and women tasked with using it. “Clearly, given the specialist nature of many of the operations we conduct,” Cole says, “it requires our staff members to carry with them several years of experience. For this reason we make it our priority to invest a lot in each employee, providing them with the training and apprenticeship opportunities that help them become proficient in carrying out their tasks on a daily basis.”

As previously stated, the North Sea remains a vital source of international capital, with activity and investment continuing to increase. With this also comes added pressure to extend the life of existing assets and this is arguably the biggest

Under-deck inspection using rope access

present driver of MISTRAS’ business.

“In the US onshore sector we are the largest service inspection company present and that is obviously what we would like to be here in the North Sea as well. The best way for us to achieve this is by continuing to introduce our technology to new clients and getting it put in place. While in some ways it is fair to say that we a relatively small player in the North Sea at present, we do remain at the top end of a technology spectrum that is in the midst of a continuous process of innovation.” Cole concludes.

For more information about MISTRAS Group visit: www.mistrasgroup.com

be weekly | 23

Mexico’s tower of strength

24 | be weekly

SPX - Marley Mexicana

By combining over a century of experience with cutting-edge, environmentally friendly technology, Marley Mexicana has solidified itself as one of jewels in SPX Group’s crown

written by: Will Daynes research by: Jeff Abbott

be weekly | 25

Marley Sigma Cooling Tower

SPX - Marley Mexicana

W

hile the name, SPX Cooling Technologies, has only been in use since 2005, the company that bears this title actually possesses over a century of experience, during which time it has become amalgamated with some the best known names within the cooling industry including Marley, Ceramic, Recold and Hamon Dry Cooling. This has resulted in the company possessing more than 250 global patents in the power generation, industrial, refrigeration and HVAC markets.

Originally founded in Germany in 1894, Balcke & Co. as it was then known, quickly went about becoming a world leader in cooling towers during the early 1900s.

Marley, meanwhile, was founded in the US in 1922, first as the Power Plant Equipment Company before becoming The Marley Company in 1926. Marley would go on to invent and patent most of the industrial cooling tower innovations and technologies that remain so vital to this day. It is this legacy that means that Marley Mexicana remains the only entity left within the SPX Group to retain its original name, that and the fact that the brand has been known in Mexico now for more than 50 years.

Drawing its strength across its operations from the unmatched quality of its products, SPX Cooling Technologies today boasts more than 150 offices, subsidiaries and partners across the planet, providing it with both a global reach and local presence in core markets that allows in to deliver the solutions its customers require quickly.

be weekly | 27

The company first opened its Mexico office, from which Marley Mexicana continues to operate, in 1960. Ever since it has been the leading regional force when it comes to cooling tower technology and sales, and has been responsible for installing towers into many of the country’s most important power plants on behalf of Comision Federal de Electricidad and Petroleos Mexicanos.

It is in Mexico that the company have noticed that in the last five years in particular there has been a considerable increase in interest from customers requesting access to material and equipment that doesn’t just exceed their expectations in terms of quality, but which also decreases pollution and toxic residues.

28 | be weekly

There is certainly a growing culture within the country of companies looking to be more sustainable and environmentally conscious, one that has increased as the Mexican energy sector has expanded in value. Fortunately for those in possession of such ethics, Marley Mexicana has long been known as a reliable supplier of cooling towers and air cooled condensers specifically designed to lower pollution and increase efficiency.

Promoting sustainable energy production is a trait that the company has long striven to possess and is encapsulated in the fact that SPX Cooling Technologies is proud to be a member of the US Green Building Council and is an advocate of the LEED Program, a voluntary, consensus-based national

SPX - Marley Mexicana

Marley Series 600 Cooling Tower

“SPX Cooling Technologies is proud to be a member of the US Green Building Council and is an advocate of the LEED Program� standard for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings. Evaporative cooling is a central strategy for green building design due to its energy savings and low environmental impact. Also, water treatment strategies to minimise make-up and blowdown can offer the potential to gain water resource credits in LEED. The LEED Program in itself is linked

closely to the ASHRAE 90.1 Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, a US standard that provides minimum requirements for energy efficient designs for buildings. LEED sets the ASHRAE 90.1 efficiency as the threshold for compliance before a building can even be considered for receiving LEED credits. These credits are subsequently granted based on improvements

be weekly | 29

in overall building energy efficiency that are better than ASHRAE 90.1.

Towers that are selected larger in physical size with energy efficiency in gallons per minute per horsepower above ASHRAE 90.1 can help a company to acquire LEED credits. The use of variable frequency drives (VFDs) can also enable significant annual energy savings in most climates, which also can help to enable LEED credits. Marley

Mexicana’s Tower Sizing and Selection tools are able to assist its clients by providing the ASHRAE efficiency calculation on the output of each selection.

As part of the Green Building Council the company can also supply its customers with the Green Building water calculator. This solution easily allows a company to determine water usage values such as evaporation, drift, blow down, and total water usage by

“Rather than being fearful of change, Marley Mexicana are embracing the prospect of serious reforms being made to the energy industry”

Marley Quadraflow Cooling Tower

30 | be weekly

SPX - Marley Mexicana

Marley Series 400 Cooling Tower

simply adjusting operating conditions like total water flow, hot water temperature, cold water temperature, wet-bulb temperature, drift rate, and concentrations to match each individual scenario.

The energy sector in Mexico finds itself at a key point in its evolution. This is perhaps best emphasised in the moves that have been made this year by the country’s President, Enrique Peùa Nieto to reform the energy sector. This culminated in early September when a bill of amendments calling for the overhaul of the sector was submitted to Mexico’s Congress.

The bill itself is seen as the beginning of a series of changes to federal legislation governing the sector and sets out the basis for a new perspective on its operation.

Rather than being fearful of change,

Marley Mexicana are embracing the prospect of serious reforms being made to the energy industry, recognising that they present the possibility of more opportunities for companies like it that are part funded by foreign capital. With a renewed focus on the industry being driven by government it stands to reason that investment will be made in new power plants and infrastructure within the country, and coupled with the increase in demand for environmentally friendly solutions, this will directly benefit the likes of Marley Mexicana.

For more information about SPX - Marley Mexicana visit: www.spx.com

be weekly | 31

Powering the growth of Peru Sociedad Minera El Brocal’s activities and achievements are prime examples of what makes Peru such an exciting and important epicentre for mining in South America

written by: Will Daynes research by: Abi Abagun

32 | be weekly

Sociedad Minera El Brocal

be weekly | 33

Sociedad Minera El Brocal

P

eru’s rich mining history is well documented, with the roots of what has become a hugely attractive region for the industry dating back centuries. Such a legacy can be seen in the development of the Colquijirca mine, the origins of which predate the era of the Incas, when it has been documented that ancient tribes silver mined the surrounding foothills of Puntac-Marca.

Located in the Cerro de Pasco region of the country, the Colquijirca mine, and the adjoining Huaraucaca concentration plant, is today managed by Sociedad Minera El Brocal, a Peru-based company primarily active in the extraction, concentration and commercialisation of polymetallic ores, including zinc, silver, lead and copper.

In addition to the aforementioned activities the company conducts a number of other important operations including the open pit activities at the Tajo Norte mine and the running of the Marcapunta Norte underground mine. Furthermore, Sociedad Minera El Brocal is also engaged in exploration projects currently underway at the Marcapunta Oeste and San Gregorio mines.

At the Tajo Norte mine the company is presently involved in the exploiting of polymetallic mineral content and sulphides consisting mainly of silver, lead, zinc and copper. The Marcapunta Norte mine on the other hand is an underground operation that exploits copper ores consisting mainly of enargite and minor amounts of chalcocite, chalcopyrite, tennantite, luzonita, colusita and bismuthinite, and the bargain includes mainly pyrite, quartz, alunite, kaolinite and

be weekly | 35

SANDVIK Nowhere is the breadth and depth of Sandvik’s expertise more apparent than in bulk materials handling. Since our origins, we have developed into a global industry leader. Wherever bulk material is handled, Sandvik is present.

In-Pit Crushing and Conveying IPCC is the use of fully mobile, semi-mobile or fixed in-pit crushers coupled with conveyors and spreaders or stackers to remove material from an open-pit mine. It can achieve full or partial replacement of trucks for material transport within and out of a mine. Although IPCC was conceived in the 1970’s, it is now that its evolution and flexibility are producing measurable and sizeable returns.

38 | be weekly

Fully-mobile plants A newly developed fully-mobile crushing plant makes IPCC method a better alternative to traditional truck haulage due to lower operating costs, higher energy efficiency and reduced CO2 footprint. Sandvik improvements to IPCC help ensure higher production and profitability, while reducing dust, noise and pollution. With a unique and compact design, the new PF300 series is a big breakthrough as an essential part in IPCC and offers significant benefits for our customers’ mining applications. With capacities from 2000 to more than 12 000 mtph, the PF300 is designed for on-face mining applications which can be equipped with different Sandvik crusher types, for

Sociedad Minera El Brocal

any client’s uniquely varied demands. The stability concept allows loading of the crusher via hydraulic- or rope shovels without any temporary support, keeping the system fully mobile and rock solid under all conditions while machine oscillation is significantly reduced.

This keeps availability at a high level, improving the positioning of the machine.

Fixed and Semi-mobile plants In this method, trucks are used to transport material from the mine face to the in-pit crushing plant, just like the plant developed by Sandvik for Sociedad Minera El Brocal.

As mining advances, the hauling distance to the

crusher plant increases, eventually requiring the crusher and shiftable conveyors to be relocated.

Sandvik semi-mobile crushing plants consist of movable modules and can be shifted to follow the development of the mine site. Crushers represent the core of semi-mobile crushing plants, with various types of crushers that can be utilized: sizer, hybrid, double-roll-, gyratoryor jaw crusher. The throughput capacity can be more than 10 000 mtph, the maximum feed size up to 1500 mm and the crushing ratio up to 1:5.

Feed materials include coal, ore, limestone, oil sands, gypsum, chalk and similar materials. www.mining.sandvik.com

be weekly | 39

Sociedad Minera El Brocal

“In our role as neighbours we have worked hard to establish good relationships with the local communities that live close to our operations” clays. Mineralisation is housed in carbonate rocks and clay horizons, and the daily production level at this particular asset is approximately 4,000 tonnes per day.

While important work across all of the aforementioned properties continues unabated, arguably the biggest current undertaking for the company involves the Huaraucaca concentration plant, an industrial facility where the company uses selective floatation processes to achieve the concentration of

economic mineralisation from the Marcapunta and Tajo Norte mines, and which currently boasts a treatment capacity level of 10,000 metric tonnes per day.

“It is here,” explains Project Director, Jesus Humberto Montes Chavez, “that we are now developing a hugely ambitious project that will treble the capacity of the plant to a design treatment capacity of 18,000 metric tonnes per day. This represents a massive undertaking on our part and is one where we are focusing

be weekly | 41

A single source for ensuring results Based in Zurich, Switzerland, ABB is a global leader in power and automation technologies, employing 145,000 people and operating in approximately 100 countries. The company in its current form was created in 1988, but its history dates back more than 120 years. ABB’s success has been driven particularly by a strong focus on research and development, with the company maintaining seven corporate research centers around the world, while continuing to invest in R&D throughout all market conditions.

The result has been a long track record of

42 | be weekly

innovation, with many of the technologies that underlie modern society, from high-voltage DC power transmission to a revolutionary approach to ship propulsion, being developed or commercialized by ABB. For its customers in the mining sector ABB offers comprehensive packages of competencies, products and services for the complete primary production chain in the mining and minerals processing. ABB’s experience is unmatched, with a track record of supplying complete electrification for more than 60 plants worldwide.

Sociedad Minera El Brocal

Power and productivity for a better worldTM

Having been present in Peru for more than 60 years, ABB has long been intimately linked with the development of the country’s mining sector, where the largest local and global companies have installed its power and automation technologies in every neural part of their processes.

ABB covers the entire range of mining services, going from mine electrification at low, medium and high voltage in open pit or underground applications, all the way to the processing plant, where it has supplied Drive Systems for the highest power mills, both installed and to be installed, and Automation Systems that help control and optimize process variables, generating information in real time for business decision making, based upon transparent connectivity with company-wide IT systems.

One of the many clients that ABB is currently engaged with is Sociedad Minera El Brocal.

Two specific agreements underscore ABB’s role in Sociedad Minera El Brocal’s Huaraucaca concentration plant upgrade project, the first being its commitment to achieving an alignment between the scope of the project itself and the operational needs and capacities, while the second calls for ABB to effectively improve delivery times during the development process.

Electrification and automation projects make up many of the most recently completed and ongoing tasks being carried out by ABB on behalf

of Sociedad Minera El Brocal. These include the delivery and/or installation of low-voltage power systems, medium-voltage switchgears, medium-voltage switchgear and control building equipment, and voltage and current transformers for high-voltage switchyards. From an automation perspective most of ABB’s recent work has involved the automation of the Huachuaccaja tailings plant and the automation, repowering and starting of the projects’ Osborn Mill.

As is the case with Sociedad Minera El Brocal, ABB’s renewed organization, portfolio and corporate strategy will always be available to its clients, with whom the company will partner in their efforts to continue contributing to both the industry’s and Peru’s long-term development.

E. mining@pe.abb.com carlos.mayhua@pe.abb.com www.abb.com.pe/mining

be weekly | 43

Sociedad Minera El Brocal the majority of our efforts at present. This project equates to a $420 million investment and is one we hope to bring to a conclusion by the end of 2013.”

While it is by no means immune to the global economic pressures that continue to beset mining companies throughout the world, Sociedad Minera El Brocal does possess the advantage of being the holder and operator of a host of impressive properties, each of which possesses excellent medium-to-long term prospects. In addition to its existing assets the company is also continuing to explore for other opportunities

in the areas surrounding its operations. The results of this exploration have so far proven very promising, with the company optimistic that several new developments could be set to take place in very near future.

Being a Peru-based company with Peruvian values, it has always been the case that the concept of social responsibility runs through the heart of everything that Sociedad Minera El Brocal does as a business. Indeed it is the policy of the company that its own pursuit of development always aligns itself with the growth and development of the communities who live and

OHL INDUSTRIAL SOCIEDAD MINERA EL BROCAL SAA mining company has contracted the services of OHL Industrial for the design, supply, construction, commissioning and start-up of the bulk material (coarse mineral) transport system of an “Overland Belt Conveyor” and “Belt Conveyors for secondary and tertiary coarse material” as part of the “Expansion of Operations to 18000 TPD” project – Second Stage, which will be carried out in its facilities located in Cerro de Pasco, Peru.

The OHL Industrial Mining & Cement line has been responsible for executing the contract, under the EPC system with high levels of compliance and professionalism demanded by the OHL Group in all of its projects. With our experience in the design of the solids handling material equipment, a speciality

of our subsidiary Sthim, Sociedad Minera El Brocal has achieved its aim of designing a facility which was needed to transport 18 000 TMD, to the client’s complete satisfaction. Based on the Projects Management, this has been developed in close collaboration with the client in order to optimise the time, cost and adaptation of the facility to the needs of Sociedad Mineral El Brocal, with the ultimate aim and objective of complete customer satisfaction.

In accordance with our company policy, all the processes have been properly monitored and analysed in order to continue advancing in our objective of continuous improvement.

E. info@ohlindustrial.com www.ohlindustrial.com

be weekly | 45

PRECIOUS RESOURCE DISCOVERED Click here to visit our dedicated homepage for the mining community

www.bus-ex.com/mining

Sociedad Minera El Brocal work in the areas surrounding its operations. In working to We are part of one of the most important economic groups achieve this it runs a number of Peru. Our Core is to provide the correct diagnosis of social development and treatment of Risks on different industries, through programmes that benefit prevention strategies. neighbouring towns and Our strategy is based on the proper managing of risks, by villages. These programmes eliminating, reducing and retaining them.

Nevertheless we are experts in the proper transfer of risk to fall into vital fields such as insurance companies. health, education, training, Our staff has significant experience not only as brokers, but sanitation and workforce also as insurers, which gives us a comprehensive view of development, each of which the risk and insurance management. contribute towards providing We have an important international support, from global a better quality of life local companies such as Arthur J. Gallager Co. inhabitants. www.contacto.com.pe This philosophy also extends to the company’s day-to-day operations where it has put into place specific requirements throughout its engineering design that highlight just how respectful it is of the environment and how conscious it is of its own footprint. One such requirement involves the regulating of all the water used across its operations to ensure sustainable usage is maintained at all times.

Specific installations also exist amongst Sociedad Minera El Brocal’s infrastructure, such as sewage treatment plants that make sure that all waste is treated accordingly before leaving its facilities.

CONTACTO CORREDORES DE SEGUROS

$420 million Investment made towards the Huaraucaca concentration plant upgrade

be weekly | 47

Sociedad Minera El Brocal “In our role as neighbours we have worked hard to establish good relationships with the local communities that live close to our operations,” Montes states. “One particular community for instance has worked so closely with us over the years that they are today the owners and operators of vital heavy machinery and equipment which we utilise across several of our key projects. We believe that this example also highlights how we are trying to create a legacy that will exist after the mine operations end. By providing the opportunity for communities to develop certain skills and expertise we are helping them to prepare, and be equipped, for whatever new challenges await in the future.”

Speaking of the future, Montes is very much aware of what Sociedad Minera El Brocal needs to do in the short term to remain prosperous and why things look bright for the company as a whole. “We are focusing a great deal at the moment on reducing our costs. While this is never an easy thing to achieve, without doing so I believe we would find ourselves ill-prepared for other challenges that may lie ahead. It is therefore vital that we find ways of decreasing our unit consumption levels. Nevertheless, from an operational perspective we remain in a very good place, operating as we are with reserves that have set us up for the long-term and within an area rich in mineral prospects and potential.”

For more information about Sociedad Minera El Brocal visit: www.elbrocal.pe

be weekly | 49

Growing on goodwill

50 | be weekly

Lubritene (Pty ) Ltd Lubritene is a South African registered company, specialising in the manufacture of high performance greases, compounds and oils: a statement that barely describes a company that enjoys remarkable symbiosis with its clients

written by: John O’Hanlon research by: Robert Hodgson

be weekly | 51

M

ining operations rely on their equipment, and there’s no doubt that each site has a lot of moving parts in its conveyors, trucks, shovels, milling and grinding trains, not to mention its associated drilling programmes. All of this has to be nursed and protected with the right oils and greases. As any operations manager knows, lubricants can be a big budget item and one that pays back in proportion to its contribution to things like frequency of maintenance, equipment life and the avoidance of running problems that involve stopping the machine.

The market is crowded and to a large extent protectionist in nature. The big oil companies all sell their own brand specialist industrial oils. Some equipment OEMs list approved suppliers; others provide a spec; some even sell their own branded lubricants, made for them by third parties, and try to compel the mines to use them by warranty sanctions.

But this very market has been Lubritene’s opportunity. The privately owned company, which started life around 16 years ago as the spin-out of the lubrications division of a more diversified chemicals company, has made a point of staying the right size. It has also steadily grown its own range of products specifically designed for mining applications including earthmoving equipment like draglines, shovels & dump trucks, drilling rigs and a variety of equipment in open cast mining operations.

Typically the major oil companies approach the market from the outside in, providing a product that meets OEM specs. Lubritene has always approached it from the inside out

52 | be weekly

Lubritene (Pty ) Ltd

– starting with the equipment’s user. “Our model is that we supply a product specifically designed for the machine,” says Dave Gons, Lubritene’s Sales Director. “We try to keep in line with OEM specs and if we do have a spec we try to exceed it.”

But more important is that the product works in the field. The big companies are not always hot on service: a customer may be pressured into using an OEM product for fear of nullifying his warranty but will think again when the warranty expires and he realises he has been paying a large premium for something that originates from an unknown third party, with indifferent support.

Other larger customers use their buying power to insist on keeping their long-standing relationship with Lubritene, which at a large site is likely to have its own personnel permanently on site, looking after all its lubrication requirements. “Backup service comes as part of our package, and when these customers procure new machines they are not about to be told they have to change the way they have operated for many years.” There’s always another supplier, he points out.

There may be two permanent Lubritene engineers at a large Anglo Coal mine, equipped with their own vehicles. The relationship is a close one – almost a family relationship at

the mine site, says Gons. “It doesn’t matter what mineral they mine: our business is to look after the machines and we have a very strong relationship with the mining groups going back many years.”

The lubricants, branded as Lubrene, are manufactured on the company’s site at Edenvale near Johannesburg. There are separate plants for each of the different

“We try to keep in line with OEM specs and if we do have a spec we try to exceed it” 54 | be weekly

Lubritene (Pty ) Ltd

products – open gear established in the Australian lubricants for example, nonmarket, with offices in Perth melt grease or drilling core and Brisbane. At one time fluids as well as synthetic oils it experimented with local for enclosed gearboxes. toll manufacturing but Years since Lubritene In 2006 the management unsatisfied with the quality was founded of the company discussed the and consistency it drew next phase of its expansion, back to supplying direct realising the domestic market from South Africa. Better a was reaching saturation. It was decided that dependable product than saving a few dollars the next target should be Australia, where in transportation costs, he says. there was growing interest in Lubritene’s Lubritene is used to requests from other product and service model. A subsidiary parts of the world too, largely driven by the company was set up there, and to cope with diaspora of mining engineers from South the increased demand a new six-ton capacity Africa. The latest new office was opened in Santiago, Chile, where it is servicing the grease plant commissioned at the factory.

Seven years later the company is well booming South American market. And Dave

16

be weekly | 55

Gons has been able to advance his personal he declares, “Our model is a bit different dream of capturing the wider African from theirs. They have tried to open service market. “We supply neighbouring Namibia, divisions but they provide a service for a Mozambique, Botswana and all the way up period, then it breaks down or they outsource it to a generalist” into Mali, and Tanzania.”

Service levels in these territories are no Service is not the only differentiator less than in South Africa. With 40 van- though. “Most of our products arose from equipped engineers ready to fly out to a problems at mines that we were approached mine if it is not close enough to solve. If you are faced with to drive to, Lubritene will a persistent problem and ask one of the big players to not compromise on the service that differentiates it. make a grease with special Gons is undismayed by the properties to solve that – competition that undoubtedly forget it. They have a list exists. “You need to know of products that they work Year Lubritene Australia was founded your position in the market from. We are completely or you know nothing at all!” different.”

2006

56 | be weekly

Lubritene (Pty ) Ltd

“If it works, well and good; if not we try something different till it does work!”

In such a situation he will travel to the mine, accompanied by a chemist, and analyse the problem with the customer’s engineers, testing the product they have been using.

Back in Gauteng, Lubritene’s R&D team will work on a customised sample then return to the mine to test it. “If it works, well and good; if not we try something different till it does work! Unlike the large companies I can

talk to my chemist any time, tell him what I want, and he can do it. No red tape.”

And once the right product has been formulated, that product is thenceforward available to that customer. In a recent case, a large mine near the Namibian coast had problems associated with the regular 20-degree daily temperature swing in that climate. No existing product could cope with that so Lubritene made one: “It is made specially for them and it is their grease. The quantity is not a problem.” Try getting one of the majors to develop a special product then manufacture just four tons for a single customer, he says. It won’t happen.

There’s no pressure on Lubritene to grow exponentially – one of its strengths is that it is right-sized. Nevertheless the breaking news is that it is on the point of commissioning a new 16-ton grease plant. Joining the existing four-ton and eight-ton kettles, this one will keep a growing band of satisfied customers happy. Not just the customers. Lubritene, he says proudly, enjoys vanishingly small staff turnover rates.

For more information about Lubritene (Pty) Ltd visit: www.lubritene.co.za

be weekly | 57

58 | be weekly

Maersk

Riding the waves of change As Maersk Line’s Chief Operating Officer, Morten Engelstoft explains, despite being the largest container ship operator in the world, Maersk Group continues to steer itself forward into new areas of growth

written by: Will Daynes research by: Peter Rowlston

be weekly | 59

Maersk

F

or some companies their very name has come to be synonymous with their particular area of industry.

Think mobile phones or tablets and Apple springs to mind. For oil and gas it will be BP or Royal Dutch Shell, while mention of the fast food sector immediately conjures up images of McDonalds or Burger King. While these businesses are hugely different when it comes to what they do, what they share is the fact that their strong history and track records of success have made them the leaders in their field.

The same holds true for Maersk Group, arguably the most recognisable name in the global maritime world. Made up of four core business, Maersk Line, APM Terminals, Maersk Oil and Maersk Drilling, with Services and Other Shipping set to become its fifth core business unit from 2014, the group today employs around 121,000 people across 130 countries and generated some $59 billion in revenue in 2012 alone, a figure that is all the more astounding when one considers the challenging environment the group finds itself in at present.

“Our market as it exists today is unquestionably tougher than it has been in the past,” states Maersk Line’s Chief Operating Officer, Morten Engelstoft. “At present we are witnessing a trend whereby our more mature markets are experiencing flat development, while emerging markets are slightly better, giving us a global annual growth rate of between three and four percent.”

While growth of any kind is of course welcomed, it does pale in comparison to the tenplus percent yearly growth that the industry

60 | be weekly

Maersk regularly experienced in the ERICSSON years between 2002 and Embracing change in a fast-moving environment requires a 2007. Nevertheless, where new approach in business. Technology or services singlethere is growth today there handedly are not enough, but when combined, they bring is opportunity, particularly if enriched solutions and capabilities to address everyday you happen to be the largest complexity in multiple industries. Ericsson believes in the container vessel operator on power of the combination.

For Maersk Line, the demand on transportation of goods the planet. around the planet requires a vessel communications system “Emerging markets are that can precisely monitor and manage each ship and definitely the source of any coordinate the entire fleet. Constantly improving customer green shoots we are coming value and operational efficiency is crucial. Ericsson has across at the moment,” given Maersk an edge by providing an end-to-end solution, Engelstoft continues, “with combining our expertise in mobile and satellite technology Latin American, African with our global reach in services – including monitoring, operation and maintenance. and Intra-Asia freights all www.ericsson.com experiencing strong growth characteristics in recent years. Meanwhile, what we term our back haul business, meaning business moving from regions such as Europe into China, is also picking up well, which is a reflection on the fact that China is importing more now than it has previously.”

The reality of the situation that the container industry finds itself in today is that it is a highly fragmented market in which a vast number of players are essentially competing to offer very similar products and services.

“Maersk Group today employs around 121,000 people across 130 countries” 62 | be weekly

Maersk Understanding the necessity to stand out amongst such a crowd Maersk has focused a great deal of effort on the service it provides its clients by creating its own Customer Charter. Made up of eight key components of services that its customers themselves highlight as being most important to them, the Customer Charter provides a transparent overview of how the business is performing in these areas and what its long term targets are for improving itself further.

Another area in which Maersk is very much taking the lead is energy efficiency. The drive

towards this actually began in 2007 when the group set itself a target of reducing CO2 emissions per container kilometre by 25 percent before 2020. Remarkably this figure was actually achieved eight years ahead of schedule in 2012. Maersk Line would then go on to raise the bar further by setting itself a 40 percent reduction target by 2020.

One of the more impressive examples of Maersk’s work in this field is without doubt its new Triple E class of vessels, launched in July 2013. Measuring 400 metres in length and boasting a capacity of 18,000 TEU, the

TERMINAL DE CONTENIDORS DE BARCELONA Grup TCB is a global reference in the design and efficient management of maritime port terminals. Currently, it operates 10 container terminals from Spain (Barcelona, Canary Islands, Valencia, Gijon), Brazil (Paranagua), Cuba (Havana), Mexico (Progreso), Colombia (Buenaventura), Turkey (Nemrut Bay) and Guatemala (Puerto Quetzal). It also has two subsidiaries in the intermodal services sector (TCB Railway Transport and TCV Railway Transport) and four rail terminals.

The company offers global services related with port infrastructure, design equipment acquisition and management, intermodal connections, online solutions, etc. Grup TCB puts special emphasis on innovation, quality service, safety, sustainability and

environmental compatibility, which are certified by independent organisations. Implementing the latest technologies, improving and expanding its facilities and professional training of its personnel are the main pillars of its growth strategy. All these values contribute to the economic and social development of the places where its activity takes place. Currently, Grup TCB is immersed is an ambitious international expansion programme to develop new projects and add new terminals to its portfolio. The most recent project undertaken by the company is the modernising, expanding and increasing the efficiency of Puerto Quetzal coinciding with the Panama Canal expansion. www.gruptcb.com

be weekly | 65

Maersk

Triple E vessel is the largest ever built. It environment and efficiency improvements.” will also represent one of the most energy By mid-2015 Maersk expects to have received efficient vessels on the planet, reducing CO2 delivery of the 20 Triple E vessels it has on order, emissions by around 50 percent per container each of which will be periodically deployed into moved, compared to the industry average CO2 the group’s network where they will replace performance on Asia-Europe trade routes. older vessels that are operating along the Asia “In many ways the Triple E vessel to Europe trade lines where much of the group’s showcases the way Maersk Group undertakes business is currently emanating from. a continuous process of innovation when Interest in these massive new additions building for the future,” to Maersk’s fleet has been Engelstoft enthuses. “It also impressive. More than 250 highlights how we do not customers and government shy away from ploughing officials, and thousands of considerable amounts of people, have participated in events in the maiden voyage capital into better, more ports of call; however Maersk’s fuel efficient vessels, what attention is already turning with each Triple E vessel towards applying the Triple representing $185 million In revenue achieved by E’s fuel and energy efficiency in investment, $30 million Maersk in 2012 of which has been spent on learnings to other Maersk

$59

Billion

be weekly | 67

ALREADY REACHING FURTHER • Biggest SSG ever comissioned in TURKEY, leading ones in MEDITERRANEAN • SGS cranes have a capacity of 22 row wide outreach and 41 meter height under spreader • Capacity to serve 3 mother vessels at the same time

Phone: +90 212 866 83 00 Fax: +90 212 875 27 60 E-mail: kumport@kumport.com.tr www.kumport.com.tr

Weekly Because a month is a long time to wait...

Your weekly digest of business news and views www.bus-ex.com

Maersk Line vessels, and replicating Kumport Liman Hizmetleri it across the group’s different Kumport is one of the leading international container business divisions. terminals strategically located in Ambarli at the entrance “Looking at the Triple E of the Black Sea. It provides competitive and reliable port it should be immediately services to customers since 1994. The biggest SSGs in clear that they are built upon TURKEY, an easy port access, a serving capacity of three industry leading experience, mother vessels at a time, and a strong track record in port management make Kumport the most desirable port service innovation and confidence provider in the region. in our abilities,” Engelstoft www.kumport.com.tr says. “A good example of this is the vessel’s Waste Heat Recovery System, the installation of which costs approximately $10 million per vessel alone. The purpose of the Waste Heat Recovery System is to reduce the engine’s need for fuel and therefore its CO2 footprint. The effect is a reduction in the engine’s fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by approximately nine percent.”

This system was actually developed and perfected on earliest vessel classes, before being upgraded to become a key feature of the Triple E’s energy efficient design. It is this methodology of building upon Maersk’s achievements that will ultimately see it further improving on the successes of the Triple E in the years ahead.

A separate development that has occurred in recent months took place in June of this year. It was then that news broke that Maersk Line, MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company and CMA CGM has agreed, subject to regulatory approval, to establish a long

“Measuring 400 metres in length and boasting a capacity of 18,000 TEU, the Triple E vessel is the largest ever built” be weekly | 69

Maersk term operational alliance on East-West trades, called the P3 Network.

“If and when we get regulatory approval, we will operate a joint network of approximately 250 vessels with a total capacity of around 2.6 million TEU,” Engelstoft highlights. “The creation of this network will benefit all parties by providing increased cost efficiency and will also provide our customers with better frequency, increased coverage, lower CO2 footprint, and ultimately a better product.”

While 2013 will go down as a year of big achievements for Maersk Line; longer term we know that the coming months will remain challenging, with annual market growth expected to reach between four and five percent.

One of the primary reasons for this will be the increase in vessel capacity set to be delivered throughout the world’s major markets. This trend however is expected to subside during 2015, meaning that the sector does still possess encouraging growth potential in the long-term.

“Our own business approach revolves around the fact that we want to grow with the market, retaining our market share,” Engelstoft concludes. “In the meantime we will continue to work to improve our bottom line by working to reduce our cost levels to among the lowest in the industry, and to deliver best-in-class customer service, all while carefully watching how the industry performs so that we can grow accordingly as the environment evolves.”

For more information about Maersk visit: www.maersk.com

be weekly | 71

72 | be weekly

Aqualogy

Transcending water into wellbeing Aqualogy’s efforts throughout the world highlight precisely why it is positioned as a global benchmark when it comes to providing water solutions for sustainable development

written by: Will Daynes research by: David Brogan

be weekly | 73

View of La Farfana sewage treatment works in Chile

Aqualogy

A

chemical compound whose molecules are made up of one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds, it covers 71 percent of the earth’s surface and is a vital ingredient to all known forms of life. I am of course referring to water, a commodity that can all too often be taken for granted for people living in developed societies The same however can certainly not be said about Aqualogy, the global brand of integrated water solutions for sustainable development. It understands that water is essential to achieving a higher quality of life and wellbeing in society, as well as being a basic resource for productive economies on all continents. It is for that reason that the company sets out to tackle the serious challenges posed by the lack of proper water management in parts of the world by providing intelligent and innovative solutions that also help facilitate sustainable development.

It is the company’s mission to promote research based on knowledge and experience in order to respond to the current and future challenges of its customers and society, thus allowing it to become the leading figure in the development of water solutions and technologies. In striving to achieve this Aqualogy conducts itself under a strict set of values which include maintaining excellence in its performance, its commitment to innovation and the talent of its people, its ability to adapt to each individual customer’s needs, and its commitment to creating lasting value.

Aqualogy is present anywhere in the world where it is able to provide solutions to improve

be weekly | 75

71% Of our planet’s surface is covered with water

Detail of one the installations at La Farfana sewage treatment works in Chile

76 | be weekly

water management. Indeed its global reach is impressive by any standards, what with 1,939 drinking water treatment plants, 264 desalination plants, 20 supply networks, 726 sewerage networks and more than 10,000 professionals based across the world.

In locations subject to shortages, such as northern Africa, the company is helping to ensure water supplies, while in Europe it is working to develop integrated solutions for the urban water cycle and serve the demanding needs of the food, energy, healthcare, tourism and pharmaceuticals sectors. Meanwhile, in Turkey it is preparing innovative initiatives that it believes will open the door to new markets.

Elsewhere, Aqualogy provides solutions tailored to the needs of its customers in the United States, Mexico and Brazil, while in Chile it has established a successful model for integrated water management. In rural Latin America it has also implemented several projects relating to water access and the promotion of efficiency in the use of water resources.

All of Aqualogy’s activities are executed using its own resources, either through public-private partnerships or in collaboration with other companies. Its four main areas of activity involve providing solutions to companies within the water sector, developing

Aqualogy

One of the installations of La Farfana sewage treatment works in Chile

hydraulic engineering building projects, providing specialised services and solutions aimed at improving water management, and offering services based on knowledge and people management.

Examples of Aqualogy’s work have their roots in all manner of industry sectors and global regions. For instance, in Oran, Algeria, the company has installed its iDROLOC system to search for leaks in the drinking water supply network. The system itself uses helium as a tracer gas to pipelines where conventional acoustic methods cannot be used to locate leaks.

Oran is familiar territory for Aqualogy with the company previously contributing to a number of important projects including meeting the challenge of providing the population of the entire province with water 24 hours a day and modernising its water analysis laboratories.

Head west across the South Atlantic Ocean and across South America into Colombia and you will find yet more evidence of the diversified work of the company, this time in the form of its role of supervisor in the construction of a submarine outfall. Built over a period of 17 months in the city of

“Aqualogy understands that water is essential to achieving a higher quality of life and wellbeing in society� be weekly | 77

The Ice Pigging technological solution truck

Idroloc s

“Aqualogy aims to become a benchmark in each and every sector in which it operates and a key partner for water-related and environmental projects�

Cartagena de Indias, this outfall is the third largest anywhere in the world and completes the city’s plan to install a network of aqueducts, sewerage systems and basic treatment facilities. The outfall constitutes the most important project within the water sector for the city and means that Cartagena de Indias will become the first city in Colombia to be able to treat 100 percent of its wastewater.

78 | be weekly

Aqualogy aims to become a benchmark in each and every sector in which it operates and a key partner for water-related and environmental projects. To do so Aqualogy offers its customers its solutions and technologies, in order to provide a highquality service, adapted to suit their needs.

The company presently focus its efforts here on three important value drivers.

They are the optimisation of the amount of

Aqualogy

system, centred on leak location

water required in a given process, in order to draw up contingency plans and water source studies; the quality of the water and the environmental impact, from the prior treatment of process water to wastewater treatment; and the optimisation of waterrelated operations, with the operation and maintenance of assets and the supply of materials and products.

Come 2050, it is expected that the world’s population will have reached approximately nine billion people, the majority of whom will remain concentrated in large metropolises.

Combine this with the effects of climate change and it appears inevitable that water will increasingly become one of the most valued and sought after assets on earth, when it comes to both domestic consumption and

View of La Farfana sewage treatment works in Chile

use in agriculture, industry and services.

Aqualogy understands that in facing such a future it is imperative that sustainable water management models continue to be promoted. This will enable water to remain available to the entire population that encourages wellbeing and economic development. This has been Aqualogy’s fundamental aim since the day it was created, therefore it stands to reason that every decision it makes or project it takes on going forward will be designed to achieve a future where H2O continues to flow.

For more information about Aqualogy visit: www.aqualogy.net

be weekly | 79

Included The BE Mining Directory showcases leading mining organisations from across the world, ranging from big corporations to junior mines and their supply chains.

Be seen throughout our portfolio of magazines: • BE Mining Directory • BE Mining • BE Weekly • BE Monthly •

To find out how to get involved contact: vincent@bus-ex.com