EGC has extensive experience in managing exploration and mine development projects in Africa, Australasia and the America’s.
Commodity experience includes gold, base metals (lead, zinc, copper, cobalt, nickel), platinum, bauxite, titanium, tin, BIF and itabirite iron ore, coal, graphite, heavy mineral sands, manganese, rare earth elements, uranium, lithium and potash brine systems and industrial minerals.
EGC offer the following technical services;
1. Geoscience
EGC provides technical services to assist companies with Project Generation, Technical Project Due Diligence, Project Reviews and Assessment.
EGC technical expertise;
- Commodity specific Mineral Exploration reviews from regional targeting down to project level budget reviews and program sequencing.
- Project due diligence reviews for JV or acquisition.
- Mine Resource studies including strategies for maiden resource classification with ultimate conversion to classified reserves, including geo-metallurgical assessments.
- Geological dataset/s including historical reports, reconnaissance assessments, field mapping, geophysical & geochemical raw data interpretations, surface contouring, geological cross-sections, drill hole databases and litho-petrophysical interpretations.
- Mineral Exploration project generation specialists with regional to continental scale studies completed in Africa, Australia and USA.
2. Exploration Management
EGC expertise includes Field Geology Management, Permit applications, Exploration Program Design & Management and Reporting Exploration Results.
Our team has decades of experience working and managing exploration programs with budgets from large hundred million dollar annual programs to small field reconnaissance visits with tight budgets. Our experience includes managing early stage grass roots exploration projects through to larger mineral resource and reserve style drill outs. We have worked in developed and underdeveloped countries and have decades of combined African knowledge and experience. We understand the full mine life cycle having worked on projects in all mine development phases as well as underground and open pit mines.
Our key strength is our depth of experience and ability to run efficient and cost effective programs, we spend money like its our own. We use innovation and technology to assess projects for their prospectivity as soon as practical.
If you’re looking for third party technical due diligence or a group to manage your exploration project we have extensive experience in all phases of exploration.
Our expertise includes field mapping, soil sampling, ground and airborne surveys, seismic operations, all types of drilling (maiden, resource, reserve, hydro-geological, geo-metallurgical, geo-technical etc) maiden Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves, mine concept-PFS/PEA and metallurgical studies as well as Environmental Impact & Social studies and Acid Mine Leachate Studies.
3. Mine Project Study Management
EGC has experience in Mine Project Study Management including Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve estimation and classification, Due Diligence, Independent Technical Reviews and Exploration Planning for a wide range of commodities and mineralisation styles.
We use Surpac (3D Software), Vulcan (3D software) and Supervisor (Geostatistical Software).
EGC’s commodity experience includes gold, base metals (lead, zinc, copper, cobalt, nickel), platinum, bauxite, titanium, tin, BIF and itabirite iron ore, coal, graphite, manganese, rare earth elements, uranium, lithium & potash brine systems and industrial minerals.
4. Digital Support
GIS database design & management
EGC provides expert GIS database design and GIS project management support. Based on EGC’s own experience of managing projects, GIS is a time consuming yet critical task and is optimised when managed by GIS experts rather than irregular or part-time GIS users. EGC’s model is to work collaboratively with field teams to ensure GIS databases are practical and effective.
EGC offers the following GIS services:
- Design and management of GIS data for a range of industries using ESRI ArcGIS software
- Compilation and management of project specific GIS databases
- Safe storage of data according to our clients requirements
- Project specific tasks including map production and GIS data tracking
- Field team collaboration with daily, weekly or monthly communications
- Conversion of historical dataset/s such as old hardcopy maps to digital formats
- Search, fossick and compile dataset/s per client requirement
2D & 3D Project Assessment
EGC uses software to view a range of surveyed geological datasets simultaneously including 2D & 3D geology, geophysics and geochemical data. The software enables 3D spatial interpretations to better understand the key mineralisation criteria during the early exploration phase which can save time and money. EGC use Geosoft Target software for its 3D evaluation.
EGC works closely with field teams to help them build a pre-resource 3D conceptual model useful for drill targeting and mineralisation potential assessments (conceptual grade and tonnage range analysis). This is an excellent method to establish project economics prior to completing costly drill programs and detailed studies. Conceptual models is a good method to define a critical pathway to determining if the project has the potential to host an economic deposit and is a great visualization for investors to see the potential in a project.
Geological Cross-Section Drafting
A range of data types can be plotted against down hole traces including logged geology, geochemical, petrophysical (down-hole survey) and downhole imagery using Geosoft Target software. Surface plans can be plotted at the top of the cross section to enhance hand drawn interpretations.
5. Project Brokerage
EGC’s team of technical experts interface with investors whom specialize in global mine investment. We help project owners by reviewing the mineral potential of their project and then present only those projects deemed prospective in current market conditions to investors in an investor friendly language, we also advise project owners on market competitive deal terms.
In the modern innovative era, mining skills have diversified to the point where miners don’t make good explorers and explorers don’t make good miners, each has its own separate knowledge base. Mineral Exploration and Mine Development now requires in-depth knowledge of a wide range of disciplines including mineral economic indicators and funds raising, these skills are not all taught at University level nor form part of a post graduate degree, they are acquired by decades of mineral exploration and mine development experience with first hand knowledge gained by working on hundreds of deposits for a range of companies.
EGC consultants have discovered mines, worked in mines (underground and open pit) and have developed mines and we know an exceptional mineral resource (reserve) in a positive investment market is needed to fund and start a mine. Fiscal and regulatory perceptions are also important indicators for investors.
If you have a capital stranded project and are seeking investors, contact us and we can promptly discuss with you the what, where and how to attract mine investors and the most suitable market deal terms.
6. Merger Acquisition (M&A) Strategy & Management
EGC consultants are experienced in Merger and Acquisition studies and commercial negotiations and agreements as well as divestment, joint ventures, spin outs, introductory purchase offers, term sheet, memorandum of understandings.
EGC’s corporate experience includes capital raising, strategic development, communications, announcements, company reports, investor presentations, websites, social media, video interviews and conference speaking.
7. Environmental Practises and Protocols
EGC has environmental expertise to assist companies (commonly via steering their contracted national partners) with identifying key environmental and community risks and provide expert advice on how best to manage these risks in a mutual beneficial yet sustainable way.
EGC Environment has experience in managing a diverse range of projects from early stage exploration, through to mine development, ongoing mine practices and eventual mine closure planning.
Our approach is to train field teams to be progressively self-managing whilst meeting industry acceptable standards.
EGC’s environmental & community services include:
- Expert advise regarding environmental and social impact assessments, building responsible and practical environmental strategies with long lasting sustainable benefits.
- Assist companies with expert guidance of their Environmental and Social Studies ensuring mutually beneficial long term sustainable impacts are economic and well balanced for impacted and affected parties.
- Exploration phase environmental risk identification (& ranking) and management including site specific research*
- Implementation of practical baseline (±multi-seasonal) guidelines for projects operating in sensitive areas. EGC trains field teams on how to sample in the field and analyse the results so they can progressively learn to be self-managing.
- Coaching national staff and local contractors for mine studies to ensure legislative requirements are met and full commitments are considered with long term sustainable strategies, this involves evaluation of full sequence of change management including primary, secondary and tertiary impacts which EGC believes is a true measure of the plan’s long term environmental and community sustainability and effectiveness. Secondary and tertiary impacts are often challenging to define and measure without prior experience.
- Coaching of site staff on how to implement simple but effective management plans.
- Front-end-loading of environmental and community studies during the exploration phase should a mining phase be considered.
*Site specific research includes unknown or unmeasured risks identified during the exploration or early development phase. Some examples include management of wildlife or dangerous animals on a project, strategies to minimize tree destruction during the job seeker inward migration phase, what are the most suitable yet sustainable community investment initiatives, how best to work with and manage community relations, cultural beliefs, male and female cultural beliefs, early identification of rare and endangered species and its potential impact on the project start-up etc. It sounds easy however many companies struggle during the early commissioning and development phase which results in community distrust, anti mining lobby groups, lengthy court actions and general conflict which ultimately negatively impacts the project and its commissioning schedule.
8. Hydrogeology
Hydrogeology is one of the most challenging earth sciences and water our most precious resource. Understanding where water flows underground is critically important for infrastructure design and planning as well as contaminant modelling.
EGC consultants have been in the industry long enough to see how hydrogeology has evolved to now becoming a critical focus for infrastructure and mining companies, community groups and the government. If you’re either of these parties and need advice or assistance call us to discuss, we provide technical knowledge to all groups whom have an interest in how infrastructure, mining or mine development can impact hydrogeology.
EGC provides specialist services in all types of hydrogeological field assessments, site visits, contaminant sampling, hydrogeological drilling, borehole monitoring for seasonal water depth changes. This is all conducted incorporating the infrastructure design and extraction methods over time. Once a model is calculated and infrastructure construction commenced, we then continue to monitor and feed the collected information back into the model to build confidence over time.
9. Acid Mine Leachate Studies
Acid Mine Leachate is one of the largest negative environmental risks mining companies need to responsibly manage. Our knowledge in acid mine leachate has significantly increased in the past twenty to thirty years.
EGC is able to assist Exploration and Mine Development companies with establishing predictive mine leachate models over the life of mine by conducting mineralogical and geochemical assessments of the mine orebody rock samples and processed tailings. Mineralogical assessments are used to establish the type and amount of leachate producing minerals contained naturally within the mined rock and also identify those minerals capable of buffering leachate. A series of geochemical assessments are required to understand the behaviour of the fresh or oxidised rock once placed into temporary or permanent storage stockpiles, waste dumps and tailings ponds as well as post mining within the pit. The best mining footprint legacy is a large water body suitable for aquatic or terrestrial farming.
Acid Mine Leachate studies can be conducted on proposed mines under development, existing mines as well as closed and rehabilitated mines.
EGC is also able to assist companies with ongoing operational mine leachate sampling protocols and can train mine staff how, when and where to take samples as well as how to evaluate geochemical results ongoing with mining.
