38
MODERN MINING
May 2014
COMPANIES
PPM
makes mining
pay
O
f course, most consultants and
EPCM contractors will claim to
have saved their clients money
but how many can actually pro-
vide convincing evidence of
this? PPM – based at Rand Airport in Germis-
ton – believes its track record provides all the
evidence needed. Says Clarke: “We can show
clients and potential clients multiple projects
– complete with all the hard figures – where
we’ve managed to create very significant sav-
ings through innovative design and implemen-
tation. To take just one example, we took a fea-
sibility study done by one of the majors on a
new diamond mine development in Botswana
and totally reworked it, driving down the pro-
jected capex of the project from US$400 mil-
lion to US$120 million – so we knocked 60 %
off the capital cost. The operating costs were
also dramatically reduced. The project –
Karowe – was ultimately built pretty much to
our design and within the revised budget we
had estimated and today it ranks as one of the
most successful mines in Botswana.”
According to Clarke, PPM’s ability to bring
down the costs of mining projects owes much to
a methodology it has developed which it terms
‘Strategic Value Management’ or SVM, which
he stresses is not to be confused with conven-
tional ‘value management’. As Clarke explains
it, value management is mainly focused on pre-
serving the full functionality of a project while
at the same time attempting to drive down the
cost, an approach that often stifles innovation
and doesn’t always provide the results required
by the business.
“As we define it, SVM is a strategic interven-
tion that is aimed at provocatively assessing a
project to reveal substantial latent value that
significantly improves viability or mitigates
major risk,” he elaborates. “We question all the
assumptions that have been made in respect of
a particular project and ask whether the techni-
cal solutions proposed are fit for purpose and
consistent with both the limitations and oppor-
tunities associated with the mineral resource,
and whether or not they will ultimately satisfy
the business requirements.
“We don’t regard even functionality itself as
sacrosanct. In many cases, sacrificing a degree
Paradigm Project Management (PPM), which offers
consulting, project management, engineering and EPCM
services to the metals and minerals sector, is less than ten
years old (it was formed in 2006) but has already built
up a formidable reputation as one of the best ‘solutions
providers’ around, with one of its specialties being the
conversion of ‘unviable’ projects into sound business
propositions.
Modern Mining’s
Arthur Tassell recently
spoke to Jeremy Clarke, one of the company’s directors and
founders, to learn more about PPM’s unique approach and
its track record of innovation in the mining space.
PPM has undertaken work for most of Lesotho’s diamond mines and projects including the Let
š
eng mine (seen here) of Gem Diamonds.
