Could you provide our readers with an overview of Ausenco’s work in Africa?

Ausenco has a proud history of supporting mining clients in Africa since 2002, where we have delivered countless studies, detailed design and EPCM projects across 14 commodities. Some of the key projects over the years have included the Lumwana project, the biggest copper concentrator on the continent at the time, the construction of several greenfield projects in Tanzania, including Tulawaka and Bulyanhulu, the delivery of the expansion of Kinross’ Tasiast gold mine in Mauritania, as well as various optimization and expansion contracts with Glencore at its mines in the DRC. We have also worked with developers of all sizes delivering studies, currently completing the detailed design for ASX-listed Deep Yellow for their Tumas uranium project in Namibia, where we are busy setting up an office in Swakopmund for the EPCM contract with Deep Yellow and mobilizing the project execution team to the site. We also have a team of asset management professionals working in South Africa supporting key South African operations.

What are the current growth drivers for Ausenco’s business in Africa?

Ausenco has traditionally been known as experts in copper, nickel, and gold; a number of the largest copper concentrators built in the last 15 years wear an Ausenco badge. However, we have expanded our expertise in critical minerals like graphite, rare earths, lithium and uranium, significantly diversifying our portfolio. The exciting thing about Africa is the diversity of opportunities across commodities and jurisdictions.  

As more African countries implement local content requirements, how do you approach local partnerships?

The most important aspect is to make sure local content requirements are not treated as a box-ticking exercise. The unintended side effect of local content policies can be foreign companies meeting their quotas without any meaningful impact on skills transfer or lasting partnerships. At Ausenco, we take a good look at how our partners can complement our skill set in a genuine, impactful way. There should be a lasting legacy from the partnership while still delivering a project that is best in class and meets the high standards our clients expect from Ausenco.  For instance, as part of our work at the Nachu graphite project in Tanzania, we teamed up with a local engineering firm who could assist in delivery but also brought valuable skills and local knowledge. We can only add real value to a project by combining skills, helping knowledge transfer and supporting the long-term growth of local businesses. This is what local content requirements were intended for.

Could you elaborate on what a capital-efficient design means in practice?

Rather than reusing old designs, Ausenco identifies the flow sheet that provides optimal returns from the ore body and minimizes the plant capex through smarter design principles, including compact layouts that reduce bulk quantities of concrete and steel. We pair our engineering smarts with an in-house financial modelling team, allowing us to tailor the project to meet the financial drivers of our clients. Making the right decisions during the design phase optimizes NPV, IRR, capital cost, or construction schedule as required. For example, a US$2 billion project might maximize NPV but is not so easily financed.  We align with our client’s financial drivers and feed that back into our decision-making process; this can mean designing a 10 million t/y plant to start as a modular, scalable, and more easily fundable 5 million t/y plant. Our clients are increasingly interested in this approach.

What is your outlook moving forward? 

Ausenco has a rich history of operating in Africa. We are excited about the opportunities on the continent as several of our clients are reaching the pre-development and development phases of their projects.  While demand for critical commodities grows, particularly for minerals related to the energy transition, the investment appetite will strengthen, and we expect to see more projects moving out of feasibility and into execution. The willingness to develop and execute mining projects in more African jurisdictions is certainly on the rise.  It's an exciting time to be part of Africa's mining landscape, and we expect our presence there will only grow in the years ahead.