Modern Mining November 2016

CONSULTANTS/ PROJECTS HOUSES

Sound Mining weathers the storm

lar which could indicate that the industry is turning. Duke, a Wits graduate in Mining Engineering who worked for Anglovaal for most of his early career, started consulting from Sound Mining in 2004 with Pieter Potgieter, also a mining engineer. The timing of Sound Mining’s launch was almost perfect, as 2004 was the year in which the commodities boom was taking off. “We were able to grow rapidly,” says Duke. “The global financial crash of 2008 slowed us down for a few months but this proved to be only a temporary setback and we thereafter experienced steady revenues right through to late 2014.” According to Duke, Sound Mining was over-exposed in its early years to a single com- modity, platinum – which accounted for as much as 75 % of revenue – and a single cli- ent, one of the platinum mining majors. “We saw the dangers in this and, thankfully, took a conscious decision around eight years ago to broaden both our client base and our commod- ity base. This strategy has paid off handsomely and has been a key contributor to the resil- ience which the company has displayed,” he says. “We now have a client base that includes majors, mid-tiers and juniors and we’ve worked

The recession in mining has not spared mining consultan- cies, many of whom have struggled to stay afloat over the past couple of years as work has dried up. One company, however, that has managed to hold its own in these difficult circumstances is Johannesburg-based consultancy, Sound Mining Solution (Sound Mining), which attributes its solid performance not only to the quality of its service offering but also the diversity of its client base and the fact that it operates in virtually every commodity.

C ompany founder Vaughn Duke says that while Sound Mining – like all its peers – has seen a de- cline in revenues over the course of the recession, it has neverthe- less avoided material reductions in staffing numbers. “Everyone in the company without exception has voluntarily taken a salary cut. As a result we’ve managed to keep our highly experienced team of around 25 people togeth- er at a time when most other consultancies have been shedding jobs,” he says. He adds that while it is still too early to say that a re- covery in mining is on the way, Sound Mining is seeing an increase in study work in particu-

Some of the directors of Sound Mining. They are (from left) Vaughn Duke, Malcolm Lotriet, Diana van Buren, Pieter Potgieter and Graham Stripp.

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34  MODERN MINING  November 2016