39 / 76
May 2015
MODERN MINING
37
COMPANIES
The 800 t/h Benga Coal
Handling and Preparation
Plant (CHPP) near Tete in
Mozambique.
finding that more and
more clients are recep-
tive to the EPC delivery
model.”
He adds that EPC
delivery takes a certain
culture. “We see EPCM
companies trying to con-
vert to EPC but it’s a huge
cultural change for them.
To be successful you
need an appetite for risk,
a ‘can-do’ approach and
a willingness to innovate
to achieve cost and time
savings. These are quali-
ties that Sedgman has in
abundance. Being able to
come up with a smarter
solution and then deliver it with certainty –
that’s the core of the Sedgman offering.”
Elaborating on van Barneveld’s comments,
Kent van Twest says that another key differen-
tiator separating Sedgman from its competitors
is the amount of time it puts into engineering.
“We take it to a greater level to ensure that there
are no surprises once we start construction,” he
observes. “In addition, we place great emphasis
on modularising components and sub-systems
with a view to reducing the build time on site.
This not only has a positive impact on costs but
also, of course, on safety.”
As regards procurement, Danie Coetzee –
who, as his name suggests, hails from South
Africa although he is now based in Perth –
points out that part of Sedgman’s strategy is
low-cost sourcing. “We have gone through
quite a learning curve to understand what it
means to source out of Asia but the result is that
we now have excellent procedures and systems
in place. Our office in Shanghai operates as our
Procurement Hub and is able to source a huge
range of quality products that benefit from the
lower manufacturing costs in China and other
parts of Asia,” he says.
On the subject of Sedgman’s delivery model,
he stresses that clients and potential clients in
the African region should have no reservations
about the group’s ability to deliver projects any-
where on the continent. “The fact that we are
now operating only a ‘Create’ office in South
Africa in no way limits our ability to execute
African projects,” he maintains. “Executing
globally is what we do and in fact is entirely rou-
tine. For example, one of our current major EPC
projects is for the Aurora gold project in Guyana
in South America. We will shortly be complet-
ing this US$134 million contract which has seen
the construction of a gold processing plant on a
very remote site – it is accessed by a 180 km long
logging track inland from Buck Hall – but we are
well used to challenges of this type.” He adds
that the project has thus far enjoyed a superla-
tive safety record, with over a million LTI free
hours having recently been achieved.
Finally, and looking ahead, Berger says that
one of the messages he wants to get across
to the local mining market is the breadth of
Sedgman’s expertise. “We still sometimes come
across the perception that Sedgman is primarily
a coal specialist with only limited experience
of other commodities,” he says. “This is simply
not true. The group started to move away from a
dependence on coal nearly a decade ago and is
now active in most metals and minerals.
“Here in Africa it has worked in copper, not
only in Botswana – as we’ve mentioned – but
also the DRC, while globally recent contract
awards show the extent of the diversification.
For example, in Australia we secured our first
major iron ore order – for a 7,5 Mt/a plant for
Fortescue Metals – in July last year and later in
the year we won another EPC contract, worth
nearly A$60 million, from Alcoa of Australia
for a filtration plant at its Kwinana alumina
refinery. We’re also working on a A$133 mil-
lion EPC contract in the manganese field in
Australia and this year we’ve won two con-
tracts – both from the same client in the US
– for mineral sands treatment facilities.
“The result is that Sedgman is now deriving
more than half of its turnover from outside the
coal sector for the first time in its history. So
it truly is a versatile group with the ability to
work across a range of commodities. This ver-
satility will be a strength in Africa given the
diversity of the continent’s minerals sector.”
“... we place great
emphasis on
modularising
components
and sub-systems
with a view to
reducing the build
time on site. This
not only has a
positive impact
on costs but also,
of course, on
safety.”
Kent van Twest, Group
Manager Engineering,
Sedgman