mining consultancy
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A. Financial
Provide financial evaluations
PSM provides comprehensive financial modelling and economic evaluation services for any aspect or stage of mining projects. From project exploration to mine closure, develops conceptual to detailed cost estimates and financial analyses for use in project feasibility studies, budgets, valuations, capital justification and reclamation accruals. Cost estimates are grounded in practical engineering and tempered with the perspective of years of mine operations and management experience.
Economic models and valuations
PSM develops economic models and valuations of many mining projects worldwide. Valuations have been provided for investment decisions, project financing, and dispute resolution. PSM has performed valuations based on:
net present value and internal rate of return estimates
analyses of comparable transactions
plant and equipment value and replacement value
Bankable financial models
PSM provides detailed mining project financial models to banks and other investors for valuation and sensitivity analyses. These models are based on mine plans and production schedules that reflect historical performance and results, if applicable. For new projects, PSM estimates are designed to be practically achievable based on the actual and likely geological and mining conditions associated with each project.
Economic analyses
For project optimization, equipment selection or capital justification studies, PSM will develop detailed economic analyses of practical available alternatives. PSM's economic studies focus on determining the estimated life cycle value of each alternative, including impacts on capital and operating costs, production and productivity.
Detailed Project and Operations Budgets
PSM develops detailed budget models of mines or mining projects for producers, cost-plus contract buyers and financial institutions. Most often, our budget models are zero-based. They are designed to accept annual labour and equipment work effort estimates from detailed mine planning exercises. Overhead costs, burdens and similar charges are based historical values or line item estimates. These are based on the best available information at the time of the budget.
Cost, Escalation and Productivity Studies
PSM conducts detailed analyses at mines to determine controllable costs, cost escalation, and productivity trends. Coupled with a thorough review of historical work effort records versus plans, these analyses form the basis for recommendations on contract cost escalation factors, controllable costs, and work efficiency and planning improvements to realize significant added value from operations.
Mine Reclamation and Closure Liability and Accrual Estimates
PSM provides defensible independent estimates and accrual calculations for final mine reclamation and closure. PSM's estimates meet the requirements of U.S. securities regulations including Sarbanes-Oxley. The estimates and accrual calculations are based on work effort and schedules required to fill and reclaim pits and all other mine structures that will remain when all production ceases from a mine area. PSM's estimates are thorough, detailed and fully documented.
B. Investment Consulting
Investing Wisely
PSM provides complete services for mining investment decisions. These services include:
Exploration programs & resource verification
Conceptual studies of mining, infrastructure, transportation & markets
Pre-feasibility studies & economic analyses
Competent/Qualified Persons Reports & NI 43-101 Technical Reports
Project valuation
Bankable feasibility studies
Detailed mining & development plans
Detailed due diligence of projects & mines
Strategic planning & organizational studies
Economic studies - mining alternatives, equipment selection, productivity improvements
Operations reviews, performance monitoring & productivity improvements
Mine restructuring studies & implementation
Be well grounded
PSM consultants have broad, practical industry experience in project development and mine operations. PSM's consulting solutions are grounded on deep capabilities in geology, mining engineering and economic evaluations. For nearly 30 years, PSM has constantly improved its tools and staff required for geological modelling, resource and reserve estimating, mine planning and economic modelling.
Get the details
PSM projects have included the full spectrum of investment decisions. From exploration programs through mine financing, PSM studies have been accepted by investors and financial institutions worldwide. PSM has also provided market studies, due diligence, performance reviews, and restructuring plans on industries, companies and individual mines.
Technical Reports
PSM routinely completes technical reports that meet the required standards for all major reporting agencies. PSM clients are delivered a timely, accurate and independent study that is then filed with the appropriate reporting agency. Clients of all commodity types, including coal, gold, and phosphates, have called on PSM to produce reaerve estimates, feasibility studies and due diligence reviews in order to complete the required technical reports.
C. Reputed Experts
Because PSM consultants are reputed experts in the many aspects of the mining industry, expert witnesses from our staff have been provided to clients - around the world involving:
Mine Planning and Operations
Mining Property Valuation
Coal Supply Contracts
logistics
Market research
Permitting
Land Reclamation and Environmental Compliance
Mine Health and Safety
Statutory compliances
PSM's expert testimony is grounded in fundamental, detailed geological, engineering and economic analyses that are key to resolving and explaining complex mining issues to judge and jury.
Decades of Experience
PSM's staff includes geologists, mining, civil and geological engineers, minerals economists, environmental scientists and professionals with graduate degrees and backgrounds in engineering, business, and law. Our senior consultants have deep practical experience and perspective on operational, technical and commercial issues encountered in the coal mining industry. Our technical staff is expert in leading geological modeling, mine design, planning and simulation packages used in the mining industry. PSM can fully develop and support expert witness testimony with extensive geological, engineering, and economic analyses and exhibits.
D. Mine Planning
PSM routinely performs surface mine planning studies that encompass all aspects associated with the investigation, design, economic analysis and resulting investment decision-making of potential mining projects for all sectors of the mining industry worldwide.
PSM's surface mine planning efforts normally culminate in the development of mining cost estimates based on the production statistics derived from the mine plan. PSM's surface mine planning projects may be in support of comprehensive feasibility studies or to assist active mining operations in identifying efficiency improvements for short- and long-range planning including the evaluation and selection of equipment utilized in the production sequencing and scheduling process.
PSM's results are generally presented in a comprehensive report that may be used internally for board approvals, management decision making, budgetary planning and project financing.
PSM's studies are geared towards identifying fatal flaws or technical deficiencies in data and approach, then recommendations for advancing a project into the next logical stage based on a cohesive, achievable and dependable result utilizing a team of talented geologists and engineers with a combination of practical operating experience and sound engineering principals.
E. Geology
Comprehensive geological services.
PSM's professionally licensed geologists offer years of mining-related experience and after reviewing client geological issues or problems, they provide innovative and viable solutions.
Geological Services
Exploration Program Design and Management
Construction of Geological Models and Reserve Estimates
Evaluation and Estimation of Coal Quality
Full-Service Geological Programs
Conduct detailed literature search of mineral deposits
Exploration Services
Exploration Planning, Exploration Licensing and "Lease by Application" Services
Surface and Underground Exploration Management
Overburden, Resource and Bulk Material Sampling Services
Surface and Underground Mapping Services
Remote Sensing, Photo-geological Interpretation
Design and Management of Geophysical Exploration Projects
Geological Modelling Services
Development of Reserve Models in Basic and Complex Geological Deposits
Detailed Geological Maps and Cross Section Graphics
Detailed Coal Quality Modelling
Detailed Burden Characterization and Modeling
Reserve Analysis
Comprehensive Resource and Reserve Analysis
Determination of Economic Reserves
Detailed Basin-Wide Comparison Studies
Geological Due Diligence Investigations
Mining/Geological Database Services
Detailed Drill Hole Analysis and Preparation Development
Implementation of Detailed Mining and Geological Databases
Analysis of Mining and Geological Data
GIS Services to the Mining and Energy Industries
Mine Operation Support Services
Geological Hazard Mapping and Assessment
Geological Hazard Mapping and Mitigation
Expert Geological Witness Testimony
Geological Consulting
Mine Dewatering Program Design and Implementation
Operational Product Quality Control Programs
Coal/Fuel Utilization Services.
F. Project Management
Increasingly worldwide...
Developers, governments and the public are evaluating mining projects to determine the overall cost-benefit of specific projects. Such analysis goes beyond the cost of building versus the benefit of project output.
Whether or not it is codified in law and regulations, environmental impact analysis has become a central part of this evaluation process. The '70s focus on local natural resources-only has grown up. Today, complex analyses of impacts on local natural resources must be integrated with an understanding of mine planning, economics and expected fuel costs under varying scenarios and global markets.
Strong effect
PSM applies Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to mine management and operations. GIS is a versatile tool that integrates spatial and numeric data, which can provide all the attributes of a specific piece of property, e.g., land owner, lease holder, county, township/city, previous uses, topography, roads, civil features, threatened and endangered species, watershed features and collected data (e.g., soil and water quality). By overlaying these data layers, relationships are determined and patterns recognized.
Permit This
Mine development and operation, , require acquisition of many various permits, e.g., mining, water rights, waste water discharge country-wide. PSM offers the required components of environmental evaluation and permitting from pre-mining fatal flaw analysis to site closeout and cleanup, including:
Fatal flaw analysis
Permitting strategy development
Baseline studies
GIS Services - Baseline Data Management, Compliance Monitoring, Site Assessment, Remediation Planning, Land Owner Tract Information
Permit acquisition compliance audits
Reclamation planning
Bond release
AMD remediation
Phase I and Phase II environmental site assessments
Site closeout and clean up.
Range of services
Mine planning and design
Feasibility studies
Benchmarking
Procurement assistance
Productivity improvement
Mine re-grade and closure planning
Mine safety consulting
Mining systems and equipment selection
Computer simulations
Development planning
Efficiency studies
Due diligence
Economic, financial, and valuation studies
Risk analysis and assessment