How mining consultants think

Mining consultants are an unbiased third party that companies rely on to help them improve performance. The field of consulting is broad; it’s not all suits and ties. What they all do, regardless of the field, is analyse, evaluate, and recommend. But how do they make the recommendations they do?

How they’ve learned

Mark Noppe from The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy says this of a consultant and how they operate:

“The review, audit, improvement and optimisation of procedures and processes to improve outcomes is well within the realm of experienced technical consultants who tend to have broad experience, and bring a level of…objectivity, to the process, which may be lacking from internal resources. These consulting activities cover a range of disciplines or skills, such as geology, geotechnical engineering, mining engineering (mine planning, scheduling, ore reserve estimation, ore and waste management, drill and blast, production planning and operation), process engineering, environmental management and project management and control.”

Well, before they give out advice, they need to get educated! It’s typical of consultants working in the mining industry to have degrees in different types engineering, geology, and urban planning. For due diligence, other consultants will have a background in finance.

What’s the problem?

If there wasn’t one, consultants would have no job. As said by Noppe above, it’s a consultant’s job to bring an objective and independent view to company management and practice. They’ll conduct meetings with managers, directors, and staff before moving on to systems analysis.

How do we solve it and what can we recommend?

Professionals who work as mining consultants make it their job to analyse. What works? What doesn’t? How can this company improve its overall performance?

Commit.works exists to better the operations for various industries, including mining, and the people working there. Companies will lose business and profit if their final product is inferior thanks to faulty or outdated practices. Commit.works’ short interval commitment system analyses performance at two-hour intervals. This way if there’s a problem, the project manager using the software can fix it quickly before it gets bigger.

Let’s check in at regular intervals

Mining consultants don’t have a meeting, analyse some data, give out their product, and leave. They come in to prevent the vicious cycle of under-performance coming full circle. They ask questions, educate their clients, and check in regularly to see if the software and advice given is effective.