Coffey Mine Development general manager Peter Naudé told International Longwall News the new subsidiary would fill a big gap in the Australian mining industry in particular, by providing a high level of specialised technical support.

“As the dry mining period went on in the late 1990s a lot of small companies were taken over by bigger companies, so there’s not a lot of boutique mining infrastructure services around anymore,” he said.

“When the mines have to do a new generation of infrastructure, for ventilation purposes or material handling … that’s where our company will become involved, to design and manage that work.”

Coffey Mining chief operating officer Dan O’Toole said the subsidiary would add new technical capability to Coffey Mining’s suite of services, which focus on exploration, resource estimation and feasibility study consulting services.

“Coffey Mine Development can now provide the next step for underground projects, the implementation and construction management of mining related infrastructure and access systems,” he said.

Three new offices will form the base of the new company – in Australia, South Africa and Eastern Europe.

The primary services supported by Coffey Mine Development include:

• Mining related infrastructure engineering design capability for headframes, winders, shaft furnishings, crusher stations, conveyor systems, underground dewatering systems and backfill plants;
• Project management of construction projects of mine related infrastructure designed by the group;
• Specialist mining supervision for shaft sinking and associated capital development projects, such as portal construction, decline development and large underground excavations;
• Supervision of mining operations starting at the operator skills level, working up to shift organisation and short-term planning implementation; and
• Supervision of mining equipment maintenance and training in maintenance systems.

Naudé has a wealth of experience in providing project management services in the mining industry through his work as technical director of the Global Mining Services (GMS) Projects group since 1996.

Rob Wienand, who has been employed by Coffey Mine Development since January 2007 and previously worked for GMS Projects in Peru and Bulgaria, will be the European regional project manager for the group.