And the Busy Year Continues...
For 5 months from December 2016 to April 2017, Chris Brodie Consulting worked at Shanta Gold in Tanzania, reviewing supply chain matters.
This was followed immediately by work (and a bit of a Cotswold family break) at our offices in Ewell and Telford UK.
At the beginning of May, I slipped in a a flying 2 days visit to Hatch' Edenvale office in South Africa to discuss potential work later this year - more on this separately (I don't want to spook it!).
At the end of May, following acceptance of our proposal for a 3-week supply chain study at Kaz Minerals in Kazakhstan, worked for 2 weeks at SCM office in Almaty and 2 days at each of Aktogay and Bozshakol, which with travelling and 4 overnight train journeys, actually took 6 days. The final 81 page report document was issued on 14 June, presented on 19 June in Almaty, with a final Q&A on 22 June, again in Almaty.
And now for our summer vacation for 2 weeks!
There is more in the pipeline from August. Watch this space!
A BUSY WINTER
Migrating south for the winter this year, Chris has been working for several months with Shanta Gold at New Luika mine in SW Tanzania.
The first half of the assignment was to assess supply chain while managing the department until new SCM leaders were recruited,
Since the end of January, the new management recruits have settled in and attention has turned to development of systems and procedures. This will continue at site until April.
Busy Week In Almaty
Last week, Kazakhstan hosted Mining World Central Asia exhibition in Almaty from 14 - 16 September.
It was better this year with less Chinese and Russian influence and more of an international flavour. Three halls were filled with exhibitors which was an improvement over recent years and a wider range of exhibitors seem to be returning.
Outdoor exhibitors are conspicuous by their absence though. The yard was filled a few years ago. Now there are very few exhibitors showing large outdoor equipment. Borusan, the Kazakhstan Caterpillar dealer, was once more absent as they have been for many years now.
Attendance seems to have improved too, which appeared to catch out organisers ITE as registration meant a 30 minute queue.
It was worth attending the exhibition (as I am in Almaty right now) but unless you have specific targets, you can be in and out in an hour!
UKTI organised a trade visit to Kazakhstan to coincide with the Mining Exhibition and, as a delegate, and I attended some of the meetings.
This will be covered in more detail in my next blog
Newmont Does It Again
Having worked with Newmont for many years, it's good to see this success continuing.
This mining.com article entitled:
Newmont ranked mining industry leader by Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for second year in a row
tells the full story.
Effect of Continental Drift on Mining
Don't you love maps? We do!
This fascinating map supposes that continental drift is yet to occur as Africa on the right and South America on the left are 'jigsawed' together
Interesting1
Courtesy: Columbus Gold Corporation
CBC Review September 2016
For the last few weeks, Chris Brodie Consulting (CBC) has been busy with Iluka Exploration Kazakhstan LLP concerning importation of their equipment for a drilling program to commence next year. This is ongoing logistics work that should be completed by November. This work is being handled by our associate company Prolog Supply & Services Ltd, UK. See below for an explanation of our new organisation structure.
Our other client this year in Kazakhstan, Rio Tinto Exploration, has issued tenders for drilling and associated work following CBC’s due diligence of local drilling providers earlier this year. This was also conducted through Prolog Supply & Services Ltd.
Chris Brodie Consulting and Prolog Supply & Services Ltd
To explain, Chris Brodie Consulting is managed by Chris Brodie on a self-employed basis. However, some clients prefer to work with established companies and Prolog is the vehicle that we use for this. CBC simply sub-contracts with Prolog in such cases and Chris handles the work personally with his team.
Prolog was founded in 2006 by Chris and has mainly been involved in previous years with supply chain activities, principally helping mining companies to conduct procurement and logistics business in Europe from Central Asia. Many UK and European companies are reluctant to accept orders from overseas companies. This may for many reasons, especially if suppliers are not principal mining suppliers, if they are not geared up for exports or if they sell in currencies that are inconvenient to Central Asian buyers. Our customers simply order from Prolog and we do the rest, buying and exporting the required materials.
Since July last year, Prolog has expanded its mining supply and services interests and now provides three main services:
1. Prolog now provides the same consulting services as CBC if clients wish to deal with a registered British company. Prolog sub-contracts to CBC where necessary. CBC still operates in its own right too of course.
2. As previously over the past 10 years, we help foreign entities to buy from Britain and Europe by sourcing, buying and exporting to overcome direct supply difficulties.
3. Because of Prolog’s wide knowledge and experience in mining worldwide, Prolog’s General Manager, Ross Brodie, is successfully developing flourishing business in matching overseas mining companies with chosen high-quality suppliers in Europe. Ross’s time is currently dedicated to Speedcast Group http://www.speedcast.com and its associate company SatNetCom (SNC) http://www.satnetcom.com/Tracking-Solutions/snctrack-gps-tracking-and-fleet-management-system.html. Prolog seeks further arrangements with renowned innovative mining suppliers and service providers and with mining companies in Africa and Central Asia.
Prolog is redeveloping its web site and can in the meantime be seen at www.prologsupply.jimdo.com
Ross Brodie ross.brodie@prologsupply.co.uk
Chris Brodie at Prolog chris.brodie@prologsupply.co.uk
Chris Brodie at CBC chris.brodie@chrisbrodieconsulting.com
Muruntau, Karimov, Misleading Headlines and the Aral Sea
Mining.com usually gets whatever they are reporting spot on. So their headline:
World's largest gold mine could come under threat
is a bit of a puzzle. Why? Because the article beneath the headline fails to explain this claim and merely reports on Karimov and Uzbekistan's Muruntau Mine statistics - it is the largest pit in the world, after all.
So what could mining.com mean? It's a puzzle because Uzbekistan is so politically closed, Karimov's passing is unlikely to herald any shift from the nation's political economic and tyrannical situation under his regime. Muruntau, as the economies foundation, isn't gong to change any time soon.
The article also includes a map of the area. Can anyone pick out the Aral Sea?
Bigger Is Better - But Is It Lower Cost? Tesla Thinks So.
Tesla is going big - in fact very big! In fact gigantic!
Mining.com has produced this infographic to explain the factory, why it's needed, how it will revolutionise motoring and how it will reduce costs.
Check it out by clicking on the link below. It's fascinating.