Consultant’s Comment: Strengthening Australian–Russian mining relations

By Dmitry Przhedetsky

While we all are concerned about losing the ownership of our key mining assets and potential dependence on foreign capital and governance, the process of relinquishing of large mines sometimes is the only current alternative to keep these operations afloat.
As some projects are backed by Russian investors there will be more investments into new mining projects either directly from Russia or through Russian owned offshore entities. This certainly presents an opportunity for some juniors to develop projects which otherwise would struggle to rise enough funding.
My recent encounters with a new generation of mining professionals in Russia have been interesting and give rise to confidence in their management capabilities.
Mining projects funding by Russian investments will generate more jobs for Australians, both locally and overseas, including directors and managerial positions. Just recently I was asked by one of my Russian clients to find a very experienced CEO for a junior-to-be-public company. This is a good example of the expectations of Russian business and their trust into Australian mining practices.
With the next mining boom at Australia’s doorsteps we are looking again at a shortage of mining specialists at many levels. This may be even more painful due to a large part of the Western Australian mining workforce moved into oil and gas projects. As the Russian mining industry may not be in a full swing yet due to its slightly longer way out of the recession, it may create a win-win situation for both Australian mining companies and Russian specialists willing to take on contracts.
Mining contractors are changing hands as well. It is not unlikely that one day a large provider of mining services will be operating under new management. Also, over recent years Russia has developed its strong specialised mining contractors and participation of these companies in large projects in Australia may be closer than it seems at the moment.
As always, Australian mining consultancies will get engaged into due diligence and feasibility studies for such projects. Also, it would be fair to say that in the future there will be more interaction between Australian and Russian consultancies and some streamlining of communications and standards. It is also possible to outsource some of consulting work for Australian projects in general from Russia, such as design, modelling, data analysis etc.
Russian mining knowledge can bring many new opportunities for Australian projects – from different mining methods to new engineering concepts. There are practical skills and experience achieved in many areas. Some of these include large underground excavations in highly unstable soft rock; special methods of dewatering and rock stabilising, such as freezing in situ; dewatering of large open cut mines; hydromining of steeply dipping coal seams; various backfill techniques and surface subsidence prevention methods; vast geotechnical experience and ground control practices; geological databases and a massive amount of research work in various fields.
Over many years Russian mining equipment designers and manufacturers were forced to be self-sufficient, which led to many proprietary models or even types of mining equipment. Some of this equipment is not yet competitive on the global and especially on the Australian market. However, some unique equipment may need to come along with the above mentioned new mining methods and technologies. Also, the amount of well qualified design engineers and multiple large manufacturing facilities spread across the country give a chance for joint ventures and potential for outsourcing mining equipment and consumables. Simultaneously, Russians have already started investing in mining equipment manufacturers in Australia and this may be developed further.
Both Australian and Russian educational facilities could benefit immensely from student exchange programs as well as from exporting their innovations (such as a 3D mine working simulation of the UNSW).
Many publications and Russian mining news are available in English in both: hard and electronic copies, such as Eurasian Mining (Russian Mining Journal) for those who want to be up to date with the mining and engineering activities. The World of Mining Book association offers a great variety of technical books with a view of translating some of them into English and other languages to simplify access to the fundamentals of Russian mining, exploration, processing and minerals economy.
 Dmitry Przhedetsky (M Eng (Mining), FAusIMM) is a director of Rock Cognition Pty Ltd. Contact him at:  dmitry@rockcognition.com.au