What have been the main developments for G Mining Services over the past months? 

2023 was another busy year for G Mining and we increased our headcount to approximately 260 people. We are on track to open our Brazilian office in Belo Horizonte on June 1, 2024, and are looking forward to further geographical expansion moving forward. 

In what areas of the mining lifecycle are you seeing the most demand for G Mining’s services?

G Mining is active on various projects, including Equinox Gold’s Greenstone project, G Mining Ventures’ Tocantinzinho (TZ) project, Arcadium Lithium’s Galaxy project, and Lundin Gold’s Fruta del Norte Phase 3 project. There, we provide geology and resources, metallurgy and processing basic engineering, detailed engineering, construction management,  supply chain, and logistics services. Both the Greenstone and TZ projects are now in the commissioning phase. In 2023, Foran Mining chose us for the detailed engineering on their McIlvenna Bay copper project in Saskatchewan where we are also providing construction management services for the early works construction that has commenced. We have also worked on the feasibility study of Atico Mining’s La Plata project in Ecuador, the PEA for First Mining Gold’s Duparquet project in Québec, and started work on a PEA for Reunion Gold’s Oko West project in Guyana, which G Mining Ventures is in the process of acquiring. 

Most of our engineering projects that are pushing forward are outside of Québec, and although there have been many feasibility studies completed over the past years, there are fewer construction projects in the province. We hope to see the Galaxy project attain permitting and financing soon to move into construction. 

Are you seeing customers putting more emphasis on energy savings and digitalization at the earliest stages of their projects? 

With decarbonization being a focus, many companies are trying to implement electric vehicles (EV) into their operations, which is easier for an underground mine than an open pit as technologies for underground electrical equipment are more advanced. We are increasingly seeing miners in Québec wanting to go green, and they are deploying capital investments into digitalization and electrification technologies to reach their decarbonization goals. It is a greater challenge for older mines to go green, but we are seeing significant efforts by the newer mines in terms of green initiatives. Engineering firms such as G Mining have a big role to play in the mining industry’s efforts to decarbonize, and we need to be aware of the technologies available and if they will meet the needs of our clients while still making their projects economically viable. Most new technologies are electrically driven and there is thus the need for good electrical engineers. G Mining has experienced engineers who understand new technologies and can give our clients knowledgeable advice and recommendations.

How do you anticipate 2024 to be for engineering companies in Québec?

Projects have slowed down in the past few months given the high interest rates making it more difficult to raise capital for large CapEx projects. This is counterintuitive given the trend of companies wanting to invest in new mines to help in the decarbonization effort, but the interest rates will first have to come down for all these projects to get more funding, which will give a big boost to the mining industry. 

In terms of commodities, G Mining is seeing the most activity in the gold, copper, and lithium areas. Gold will always do well, especially given the large increases in the money supply over the past two to three years. Copper also continues to do well given the ongoing decarbonization trend, and even though lithium prices have come down slightly, there will continue to be great demand for this metal globally.

What are G Mining’s growth strategy and key priorities for the remainder of 2024 and beyond?

G Mining is focused on ensuring that we have regular work to keep our team busy and happy, and we want to maintain the highest level of quality in our service offering while still being competitive in the industry. We will ensure that the projects we are involved in get built safely on time and within budget.