Since we began operations in 1991, The Highland Group has acquired best-practice knowledge and provided consulting services in the Mining and Metals Sector. We have worked in all facets of mining work all over the world. We have engaged with the mining sector’s leading companies on 6 continents in:

• Operations and Dispatching
• Open Pit and Underground Operations
• Leach pad construction and management
• Oil Sands Operations
• Maintenance
• Mobile and Processing Plant Equipment
• Processing Plants – both batch and continuous processes
• Zinc, Aluminum, and Copper Smelters
• Nickel and Palladium Processing
• Gold and Silver Refineries and Merrill-Crowe Processes
• Water and Acid Treatment Plants
• Phosphates, Borates, and Talc Processing
• Carbon Processing and Filtration Plants
• Agglomeration and ore pre-treatment
• Mine Services including road planning and construction
• Haul Truck Road Maintenance Programs
• Procurement Services and other administrative areas
• Vendor Management and Contract Negotiations
• Human Capital Management
• Back Office operations
• Working Capital Management
• Accounts Receivables
• Accounts Payables
• Inventory and Logistics
• MRO, Materials and Supplies Management
• Energy Management
• Fueling Strategies for Haul Trucks
• Steam Trap Maintenance
• Compressed air demand and maintenance
• Co-generation feasibility studies and procurement
• Environmental Certification and Safety
• ISO 14001 Certification 

At The Highland Group, we understand the issues facing your industry today.

•         lost opportunity in a bullish market due to capacity constraints, particularly in precious metals

•         increasing maintenance cost per ton

•         escalating contractor costs

•         global supply chain constraints

•         volatile energy costs

•         challenges in leveraging the value of consolidated operations

•         a retiring workforce with the potential loss of their knowledge base

•         competition for shared services

•         human resources constraints

•         systems that don’t meet the demands of today’s business needs

•         a need to better integrate customers and other stakeholders into the value chain to improve relationships

•         Increased government regulations

Through the use of our tools, and the consulting provided from our all-senior staff. Every one of our mining consultants have a minimum of 15 years experience and have worked for the top mining companies in the world. We have been able to achieve the following results in the past when working everyday alongside our clients during a project implementation:

Operations

• Increased Throughput by as much as 10%
• Operator Skill Programs for Shovel and Haul Truck Operators that extend equipment life cycles by 10-15%
• Capacity-matched operations to bottleneck process
• Precise asset management eliminating CapEx spend

 Maintenance

• Increased availability of mobile and plant critical equipment by 25-30%
• Reduction of change-over time of haul truck tires by 50%
• Increased productivity of maintenance personnel by 25-50%
• TPM (Total Productive Maintenance) training and implementation

Processing

• Reduction of raw material consumption by 10-50% in most cases
• Increased Yield and Throughput by 5-10%
• Standard work and Procedure Design to off-set shift variability
• Tool consultations and design with engineering when dealing with human manipulation of ore and other process plant material
• Reduction in scrap and/or recyclable ore to improve 1^st pass yield by 2-30%
• Reduction of line change-over time for filters, pumps, etc. by 50%
• Reduction in energy consumption by 2-5%

Mine Services

• Collaborative work environment design with Road Services, facilities management, and mine operations to provide support and participate in ownership of mine throughput and yield goals

Administrative Services

• Reduced size of back-office operations by 30%
• Reduced required office floor space by 50%
• Increased labor productivity by as much as 300%
• Reduce use of contractor spend by as much as 20%

Working Capital

• Implementation of best accounting practices in Accounts Payables and Receivables improve cash positions by 10-35% & 15-45% in each area respectively
• Improved M&S positions by 10-35%
• Improved Logistics and Inventory understanding and modeling have shown cost reductions of 15-40%

Energy Management

• Reduction of electrical consumption by 15%
• Reduced general energy consumption by 5-15%

Environmental and Safety Services

• Reduced Certification time by 35%