Modern Mining November 2017

CONSULTANTS/ PROJECT HOUSES

studies, and in instances where we may not have the requisite in-house skills, we will bring in the specialists as necessary – for example, social and environmental experts.” He adds that a particular competency of SENET is its ability to undertake projects in remote parts of Africa. “Working in Africa is as much about logistics and local knowledge as it is about engineering proficiency. Our track record of working in remote areas is unmatched and, in some cases, we have been pioneers. To take one instance, we were responsible for building the first-ever minerals processing plant in Eritrea. This was a complete 2 Mt/a CIL gold plant for the Bisha mine and we later completed a second phase of development, delivering a 2,4 Mt/a flotation plant to allow the mine to treat supergene ore.” Although SENET is not a construction company, the fact that it executes projects in areas where there is a dearth of engineering and contracting skills means that it sometimes has to ‘self-construct’. As Naylor points out, “Particularly in its early days, SENET had no choice but to go this route but it’s not our preference. If there are good local contractors available, which is increasingly the case in Africa, then we will use them. “Sites where SENET has had to rely on its own in-house construction skills have included Bisha and the Twangiza gold mine, built in the DRC’s South Kivu Province for Banro between 2009 and 2011,” he continues. “I was Project Manager on Twangiza and can attest to the fact that it was practically inac- cessible and we had to rely largely on our own resources to build the plant.” An interesting feature

awarded several additional contracts as the project expanded,” says Naylor. “We’ve also worked on various of their other assets and we are currently busy, at their Kolwezi complex in the DRC, with the Whole Ore Leach project, which we will soon be commissioning.” In all, SENET has completed 18 copper/ cobalt projects, most of them in the DRC. “We’re now as well known in copper and cobalt as we are in gold and we have one of the best hydro- metallurgical teams in the world,” says Naylor. “Certainly in the Central African Copperbelt, we stand head and shoulders above our peers. No one else has our track record.” Unlike many of its competitors, SENET

The 6 km long overland conveyor at the LEFA gold mine in Guinea, part of SENET’s overall contract for the provision of an 8 Mt/a CIP plant and related infrastructure.

Heap leach equipment at the Trekkopje uranium project in Namibia. SENET was responsible for the design and supply of the grasshopper-type heap leach stacking system.

of SENET is that a very high proportion of the contracts it wins represent ‘repeat orders’. A particular example of this is the close relationship it has forged with one of the world-lead- ing mining and commodity groups – now regarded as an anchor client – and its various subsidiaries in the DRC and Zambia. “We were approached by the group in 2008 to undertake its greenfield copper development in the DRC, which was our first solvent extraction/electro- winning (SX/EW) plant, and we were subsequently

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November 2017  MODERN MINING  37