Expertise
Behre Dolbear’s skills span the technical, financial, business, and managerial aspects of the mining industry. We examine each project from a range of angles, offering counsel with both breadth and depth. Our services encompass virtually every aspect of the mineral industry.
Professional Skills
BD has a wide range of qualified professionals, many of whom are international leaders within their specialisation. This wealth of expertise and experience is structured to enable us to play a balanced, multi-disciplined role, which is fully supportive of and entirely complementary to the studies and engineering project work carried out by the Behre Dolbear group.
Impartiality
BD has no affiliation with specific suppliers and consequently its choice of process, technology and equipment is entirely impartial. The range of technical and management services provided by engineers, consultants and other professionals available to BD covers every aspect of the mining and metallurgical industries from mine to metal.
Customised Service
BD evaluates, designs, plans and manages projects in a broad range of commodities including base and precious metals, coal, industrial minerals, fertilizer minerals, diamonds and gemstones, ferrous metals, and construction materials. BD specialists and engineers interpret clients’ ideas and concepts into viable operations. BD will respond to the particular requirements of the client. According to project needs, BD may work alongside in-house capability, process licensors, specialist groups, or on a total technical and project management basis.
Geology and Mining
BD offers technical expertise and proven experience in the fields of geology and mining engineering. This experience covers all types of metalliferous and industrial mineral deposits and includes all aspects from initial economic appraisal through to orebody evaluation and the management of production, including mine design and equipping, mine planning, mine development and operational management and consultancy.
Metallurgy
A complete range of services is offered by BD embracing all aspects of mineral processing for both base and precious metals – including mineral dressing, extractive metallurgy, refining and secondary processing. Specific expertise covers concentrating, roasting, smelting, gas treatment, secondary metal recovery, hydrometallurgical processing, solvent extraction, electrowinning, electrolytic refining, casting and finishing. Where required, BD services include the organisation of laboratory and pilot-scale testing and extend through to the design, commissioning and operation of full-scale processing installations.
Engineering
BD’s design capability covers the major engineering disciplines, civil, structural, mechanical fluids, electrical and instrumentation. BD engineers have extensive experience in the mining, metallurgical and infrastructural fields. The scope of activities ranges from conceptual engineering to feasibility studies and “bankable documents” through to detailed engineering for procurement and construction management.
Project Implementation
We have the ability to use our vast global group resources to create teams of personnel, whose individual skills and experience are precisely matched to meet the demands and disciplines required for a particular project. Team members report directly to the Project Manager and remain dedicated to the project for as long as their services are required. The Project Manager reports to a Project Sponsor who is also Director of the company.
Personnel
BD personnel have unrivalled experience gained in the major international mining houses and contracting companies, and this invaluable experience is translated into the BD designs, start-up and commissioning services for mines and metallurgical plants.
Finance
The range of services BD offers its clients is further enhanced by the provision of finance-related project services. In addition to preparing reliable financial evaluations and asset management services, BD has considerable experience working with international financing institutions, banks and other sources of finance.
Project Management
BD provides an integrated project management service to direct and co-ordinate the major activities of study work through engineering, procurement and construction management common to major projects. The service covers all aspects of financial, commercial, technical and administrative controls and is directed to ensuring that projects are completed on programme, within budget and meet all the necessary standards of technical fitness for purpose. Continuous liaison is maintained with clients to ensure that their requirements and directives are clearly understood, correctly interpreted and fully implemented. Estimating, Cost Control and Planning provide detailed and ongoing analyses of project costs and progress. The latest software is utilised to ensure that the information provided is presented in a clear and informative manner.
Site Management Services are provided to suit the project requirements and range from the provision of advisory or liaison personnel through to the establishment of a full site-supervisory team with complete responsibility for managing construction. In all cases site personnel are fully experienced professionals totally supported by head-office personnel.