METS has an in-house multi-disciplinary engineering and design team providing accurate and reliable engineering studies to our clients. Our engineering studies capability is based on extensive operational and delivery experience gained over the last 37+ years that we have been providing services to the resource industry. We take pride in the success of our clients’ projects through providing practical, functional, cost effective and constructible solutions to complex problems.
METS Engineering includes experienced processing, electrical, mechanical, civil and structural engineers with substantial experience. Our METS team apply their expert knowledge to all stages of a study, from scoping studies all the way through to definitive feasibility studies.
The Scoping Study is the first attempt at assessing the business case established by the venture analysis and the basic project parameters such as geological and deposit characterization, mineral resource configuration, head-grade, product quality, production rate, power requirements and water consumption. This phase identifies whether or not it is financially viable to continue exploration of the deposit. It also establishes the scope of the project, and a conceptual outline of the project architecture, which includes the development of preliminary process flowsheets, preliminary site location plan, conceptual plant layouts, and plant and support facility descriptions.
This may evaluate at a high level a number of options in order to establish the most likely route. The engineering is at a high level with a low order of accuracy. With an accuracy level of about +/- 50% we will identify whether or not it is viable to proceed to pre-feasibility stage.
The pre-feasibility phase is the first detailed assembly and evaluation stage of the project, during which the architecture is developed and key project parameters are measured and defined. It is an investigatory document largely based on testwork grades, recoveries and assumed data for the proposed project. It is the intent of this phase of the programme to provide information that will allow project owners and senior management to assess the viability of the project.
This is the most critical phase of the evaluation process, as a “Go” decision at this stage will result in the expenditure of major funds to complete the Feasibility Study (FS).
METS provides a formal analysis of the predicted technical, economic and financial viability of a project. This usually evaluates the two most likely options and undertakes more detailed engineering to a +/-25% level of accuracy.
The Feasibility Study (FS) is a refinement of the recommended project concept, capital cost and operating cost developed as part of the Pre-Feasibility Stage. The feasibility study will describe how the recommended scope will be executed. Any trade-off studies that were not completed or resolved prior to the completion of the Pre-feasibility Study must be resolved during this phase. Only measured and indicated resources are reported at this time and diluted mineable reserves are utilised at this stage for mine production planning. There is no guarantee of project success; it only states the business case for a project.
This requires significant engineering and an accuracy of +/-10%. Only a bank can determine if it’s “bankable”. We have a standard table indicating what is in and out for each study described above.
When the Feasibility Study passes the client’s internal corporate project investment criteria, a Definitive Feasibility Study is produced which predicts capital and operating costs to an accuracy range of +/- 10-15%.
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